Cast: Anand Deverakonda, Abhishek Banerjee, Saiyami Kher, Manasa Radhakrishnan
Director: KV Guhan
Producer: Venkat Talari
Music: Simon K King
The latest film of Vijay Deverakonda’s brother, Anand Deverakonda, Highway, has been released today, directly on Aha, skipping a theatrical release. The film is directed by KV Guhan, and let’s take a look at how the film has turned out to be.
Story:
The Hyderabad city police are trying to figure out who Das (Abhishek Banerjee) is, and why he is on a serial killing spree, as there seem to be no motives for any of his murders. Asha Bharath (Saiyami Kher) is leading this investigation, trying to find the killer. On the other hand, Vishnu (Anand Deverakonda) is a photographer who has just started a new job in Bangalore. We also get introduced to Tulasi (Manasa Radhkrishnan) living with her single mother, working in a poultry farm. Tulasi meets Vishnu when she escpaes from the farm due to a bad incident. How do all these characters come together, and is Das finally caught forms the rest of the story.
On-screen performances
Abhishek Banerjee clearly stole the show with his performance. He is convincingly very menacing as a serial killer, making a spectacular debut in Tollywood. Anand Deverakonda is good enough in his role, and did justice to his character. Manasa Radhakrishnan is also good in her role, and a made a good debut. Saiyami Kher fit her role perfectly, and the other actors too very good enough in their parts.
Technical aspects
The direction falters a lot, and the editing could have been a lot better and a lot more crisp for sure. The camera work is brilliant, with KV Guhan most certainly not faltering in that department. Music director Simon K King has give a lot of depth to every scene with his wonderful background score, which elevates every scene with just the music, even when what’s playing out on the screen is not that good enough. The production values are fine, as well.
Plus Points
Abhishek Banerjee
Negatives
Improper screenplay
Lack of depth to lead characters
Non-Engaging narrative
Weak performances by others
Verdict
Highway did contain some promise, but it seems to have lost it during translation. It is a tedious and tiresome journey at best, with some parts working for it while most of them do not.
Rating: 1.5