Have you ever dreamt of living in mountains? Ever felt home away from home? Veera did, but her journey till the realisation was a long one. Blowing life in every aspect of the frame with storytelling is an art and director Imtiaz Ali is a master at it. It was February 21, this same day when Highway released five years back in 2014. It’s been five years and Veera and Mahabir are still with us.

Quick recap, Veera (Alia Bhatt) a young bride-to-be gets kidnapped by a criminal Mahabir (Randeep Hooda) when she goes on a long drive one night with her fiancé whom she doesn’t love. Mahabir keeps on travelling with Veera from location to location as to not get tracked. In the journey far from being afraid of her kidnappers, Veera explores an adventurous and liberating life.

Both of them have gone through a lot in their lives. Veera is a city girl, rich, beautiful, seems like what problem can someone have who has every luxury in the world. They say family is the place we are safest in, Veera was sexually abused when she was a little girl by her uncle. Her parents didn’t listen to her. Even living around her family and blood relations, everyone in her home was a stranger to her. It was claustrophobic for her to breathe in there. The film begins with her coming out for a drive because she wants to breathe. She is getting married to a guy she doesn’t love just to get away from the strangers that call themselves her family. The trauma and the whirlpool made her go inside her cocoon.

Mahabir grew up in a rural set up and under a very cruel father. He has seen his father pushing his mother to sleep with his bosses. He has seen domestic violence, and also had a violent childhood himself. Eventually he craves for fondness and love in his life. To not be overpowered by emotions he portrays himself as rude.

Veera and Mahabir are those two pieces of a puzzle that complete each other. Their story is not a conventional love story, rather they fill the voids in each other’s life. Mahabir becomes the protector and a father figure which Veera always felt was absent in her life. On the other hand Veera fills in his world with care and love. They join and become one.

Though Veera gets a chance to run away and lands up into a barren white dessert when she realises that’s her life back at home, empty,  and runs back to the kidnappers. That’s when Stockholm syndrome enters. Yes, the movie is based around a syndrome. Stockholm syndrome is when a hostage develops good feelings for his/her kidnapper or just accepts the way as to survive. Highway in a subtle way is the execution of Stockholm syndrome. That is the power of Imtiaz Ali’s storytelling, he discusses many problems in his films without naming them even once. Highway talks about child abuse, domestic violence, kidnapping, Stockholm syndrome, and though you won’t find a single mention but the point is proved and you have already loved it.

When she tells Mahabir “Me Chahati Hoon Ye Raasta Kabhi Khatam Na Ho” her eyes say she has finally found home. Home is a feeling that she never got with her family. She opens up to her kidnapper, cries, dances, talks to herself and realises it is him who has bought the real Veera out and the cocoon no longer exist. When they finally fulfilled Veera’s dream to have a home in mountains, it was no longer a film but emotion. Every Mahabir needs a Veera and every Veera deserves a Mahabir.

It’s been five years but still I don’t want to give out the end and spoil the story for anyone who has not seen it. Go relive the journey.

Everything with this film was on point, acting, music, cinematography. The mountains came alive, the paddy fields danced and story touched our hearts.

Imtiaz Ali gave us a story that will stay with us forever. This isn’t just a film but Veera and Mahabir’s journey through the sarso ke khet, snow clad mountains, their life, her dream and also a dreamland where we would love to live in.

Apart from India-Pakistan cricket match, Bollywood films have the power to stir up the feeling of patriotism amongst the masses. Since India and Pakistan’s conflict dates back to Independence, countless number of films have been made on this very subject since 1947. Recently, when India faced another terror attack in the Pulwama district of Jammu & Kashmir, a lot of Bollywood celebrities condemned the heinous act and expressed their grief and anger on social media. Every time, India’s freedom has been threatened, Bollywood stars have always come together and have often projected real stories from the border directly on the big screen, to make an impact in their own little way. While we are sure there are many stories about unsung heroes which are yet to be told, as of now we are listing down 10 films which are high on josh and patriotism too.

Uri: The Surgical Strike

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if we said Uri is one of the finest films made on the Indo-Pak subject till now. Starring Vicky Kaushal in the lead, the Aditya Dhar directorial venture is based on India’s controversial surgical strike that took place in 2016 after the country witnessed a terror attack in the small town on Uri in Jammu & Kashmir. The film shows how India retaliated and successfully carried out the secret mission. The Vicky Kaushal starrer is so good that it give goose bumps and at the same time will fill your heart with a lot more Josh!

The Ghazi Attack

Directed by Sankalp Reddy, this one is based on the true events that unfolded during the 1971 Indo-Pak Starring Rana Daggubati, Taapsee Pannu and Kay Kay Menon in the lead, the film mostly opened to positive reviews and ended up making a solid impact on the viewers. The Ghazi Attack, in a nutshell, is about the PNS submarine which sank off the coast of Visakhapatnam in 1971. It belonged to Pakistan and was destroyed by Indian submarine INS Karanj.

Deewaar

This war film, which released back in 2004, features Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, Amrita Rao and Aditya Shrivastava. Deewaar is about an Indian Army Major and his 30 colleagues who get captured in Pakistan and are held captive for 33 long years under brutal conditions.

Hindustan Ki Kasam

Hindustan Ki Kasam is a beautiful film which tells the story of two brothers who get separated at birth.  While one grows up in Pakistan, the other in India and two are eventually forced to face each other during war. Starring Ajay Devgn, Amitabh Bachchan, Manisha Koirala and Sushmita Sen in the lead, the film came out in the year 1999.

Vijeta

Going back to the year 1982, a film named Vijeta was produced by Shashi Kapoor which had a small story of its own from the 1971 Indo- Pak war. Apart from producing the film, Kapoor also starred in the lead role alongside Surpriya Pathak, Rekha and Amrish Puri.  The film is most memorable for showcasing some rarely seen aerial photography of combat aircraft which was active with the IAF in 1980s.

Border

This film by J P Dutta, which released in 1997, has remained a classic. Apart from featuring actors like Sunny Deol, Suniel Shetty, Akshaye Khanna, what really worked for Border was its music. Not only the music expressed every emotion but it even evoked the feeling of patriotism in everyone’s heart. It also depicted the pain of the suffering families very sensitively.

1971

This film is purely based on the 1971 Indo- Pak war and tells the story of six Indian soldiers who were captured as prisoners by Pakistan. Directed by Amrit Sagar, the film also showed the brave soldiers ultimately managed to escape from Pakistan. That year, it won the National Award for Best Feature film in Hindi.

Aakraman

In this film, two army officers fall in love with the same woman but things turn ugly between them when India-Pakistan  declare war on each other and the two are posted together at the border. Starring Sanjeev Kumar, Rakesh Roshan and Rekha, Aakraman is directed by J Om Prakash.

Lakshya

This coming-of-age story is set against the fictionalized backdrop of the 1999 Kargil War. Directed by Farhan Akhtar, Lakshya has Hrithik Roshan in the lead who has delivered a nuanced performance in the film. Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta also play important roles in this war-drama.

LOC Kargil

After Border, JP Dutta made LOC Kargil but failed to replicate its success at the box office. Nonetheless, this war film is still worth watching at least once. As the title suggests, it’s based on the Kargil war and released in 2003.

For more such Bollywood news and updates stay tuned to Cineblitz.

That Amitabh Bachchan has completed 50 years in B-town today is already a topic of discussion of social media. In fact, earlier in the day, AB’s baby Abhishek Bachchan even posted a heartfelt message for his father on his Instagram account and wished him for completing half a decade in the film industry. Apart from Abhi, even Shweta Bachchan Nanda has paid a tribute to her superstar father on social media. But unlike his brother, Shweta did something very unique for Big B.

Since Shweta has started her own clothing line MxS in collaboration with designer Monisha Jaisingh, she took full advantage for her designing skills and came up with the coolest sweatshirt ever dedicated to his actor father. The 44-year-old selected her favourite picture and got it printed on a black sweatshirt along with the words ‘ICON’.

The official Twitter handle of MxS shared a picture of Shweta wearing the same sweatshirt and quoted her saying “The picture we chose to design on the sweatshirt is one of my favourite pictures of my father. It lies in my room, and it provided us with the inspiration to design something around it.” The way Shweta has conveyed her message with so much admiration for her father is nothing but heart touching, no?

(Also read: Amitabh Bachchan completes 50 years in Bollywood; Abhishek Bachchan pens a heartfelt note for his father on social media)

“The picture we chose to design on the sweatshirt is one of my favorite pictures of my father. It lies in my room, and it provided us the inspiration to design something around it.” – @earth2angel wearing the ICON sweatshirt.#50YearsofAnICON #50YearsOfAmitabhBachchan pic.twitter.com/dVKqdUv6vd

— MXS (@mxsworld) February 15, 2019

And yes, it’s the same sweatshirt that Abhishek is wearing in his Instagram post dedicated to his father. Guess these two siblings share the same love for each other as do they for their father. Knowing Shweta is daddy’s girl, we are sure her sweet gesture will warm her father’s heart to the core. Anyway, stay tuned with Cine Blitz for more Bollywood updates and gossip.