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Imtiaz Ali is one of the most well-known and respected directors of Bollywood. There are many who likes his directorial ventures, those ventures including SOCHA NA THA, LOVE AAJ KAL, ROCKSTAR (Ranbir Kapoor's acting in the film was immensely appreciated). However, there is one film that is widely loved and many would consider to be Imtiaz's best film: JAB WE MET. Simply put, Imtiaz Ali is one of those directors to enjoy praise from both critics and audience.
Imtiaz Ali returns to direction after a gap of more than 2 years, with his previous film being ROCKSTAR.
There is more than just Imtiaz that makes HIGHWAY an important film though. One of the other reasons that makes HIGHWAY important is Alia Bhatt. This is her second film after making her debut in Karan Johar's Hit film STUDENT OF THE YEAR. However, that film was more about Alia displaying her good looks. In HIGHWAY, she is given a chance to showcase her acting talent.
HIGHWAY also has Randeep Hooda, who has been appreciated for his acting talent by many. Also, AR Rahman has given the music for the film.
With a lot of factors in its favour, will HIGHWAY be able to take the highway to success at the box office?
The theatrical trailer did receive appreciation. But the film seems to be a niche film. A film which seems to revolve around few character and seems to be a road film, appeals to a smaller section of the audience (mainly the multiplex audience) and such a film with a run-time of approx. 2 hours and 15 minutes needs to have a lot of power to keep the audience engaged throughout the run-time.
A film like HIGHWAY is always bound to have a slow start at the box office, with the ability to gain momentum IF the word of mouth of the film is positive.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be the case here. Film critic Aseem Chhabra, who watched HIGHWAY in Berlin recently, said that the film is "extremely disappointing" and gave the film 2 stars (out of 5).
As mentioned, a film like HIGHWAY is bound to have a slow opening at the box office, and it can only gather momentum if there is appreciation for the film. As this type of film is more for the intellectual audience, they are the audience that more often reads film reviews, and with a negative review of the film already on display for the public to see since last Friday, it makes chances for HIGHWAY to succeed a lot more difficult.
Now sure, this is just one film critic, and this critic's views can be different from the views of the public. But, as I have said, for a niche road film like HIGHWAY to work, it has to be engaging throughout, and if there are any cracks throughout the film, it will negatively affect the repeat value of the film. Going by the review, it seems as if there are cracks, which is a bad sign.
Some of the songs in the film have caught on, in particular "Patakha Guddi" and "Maahi Ve".
Due to this being a niche film without any bankable stars, the film will take an overall slow opening, with mass-dominated areas in particular set to be very poor. Big cities/metros and multiplexes will fare better in terms of opening, but not by much.
After the opening weekend, I don't think the film will sustain much, due to lack of audience appreciation and due to the Farhan-Vidya starred SHAADI KE SIDE EFFECTS releasing next week, which is also a multiplex film and will eat into the business of HIGHWAY.
My Box Office Predictions for HIGHWAY:
Opening Day: 4 crores net
Opening Weekend: 15 crores net
Lifetime Collections: 25 crores net
Overall Box Office Verdict: Flop
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