Highway- Your take on the relationship between the main characters?

Okay folks, my Highway obsession isn't quite over yet. 😆

There has been a fair bit of debate on forums and social media over whether or not the relationship between MB and Veera carried romantic undertones.

Just wanted to know what the IF film watching public thought of it in their opinion.

Thanks for reading 😊

I was shocked to say the least when Mahabir got shot. Clearly, I wasn't expecting him to die for some odd reason 😕 Coming on their relationship, I am pretty confused about it. First I thought their was a one side attraction from Veera's side and then even Mahabir started warming up to her. But when it became clear that Veera just wanted more time with him, It shaped up as being platonic.

The best thing about the movie for me was the relationship between Veera and Mahabir...I'm still not sure whether it was platonic or romantic...They were like two broken souls who found solace in each other...Maybe if Mahabir was alive, their relationship would be more of romantic so i went with the 4th option...😳

Complicated tending towards being platonic.

A tad surprised that no one here saw a direct romance, well not amongst the handful of folks who've voted in this poll 😉. If Veera hadn't explicitly mentioned those words re non marriage and no kids behind the bus, I might have been one of those going for a one sided romance at the end.

Some arguments both for and against, collated from various threads.

I think there were enough hints of romanticism if one wanted to find it. It was a love story, but not the kind we expect.

The way Mahabir looks away when Veera adjusts her bra strap, the way they are almost always physically close to each other, the way he freaks out when he does not see her on bed in the morning, the way Veera cuddles up to him while he is carrying her- everything points to the subtle romantic connotations of the film.

I like how Imtiaz has deemed us intelligent enough to decide for ourselves. And about that beautiful surrogate parent-child analogy, that is the case with most relationships. We all look for the image of our parents in our relationships. For them, it was more obvious because they were so damaged and complicated.

Their relationship is beautiful that way. There were hints of friendship, romance, physical attraction and oedipal-electra complexes at the same time. Which makes the love story so unique.

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The editor's chopped off a couple of scenes that could have hinted at budding romance (1:46 of the official Maahi ve song by the Tseries Youtube channel for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHLnZMjJ8bY)

Why I could see romance

1.) The Chandigarh bus stand scene. When he smiles and she sighs and smiles in relief.

2.) Blocking his path in the bus with her knees.

3.) The English dance, felt somewhat sensous to me, and Hooda's reactions.

4.) The parts on top of the bus.

5.) The "cute lagne lage ho" dialogue in the beginning.

Maybe we need to start a poll to see how many people saw romance in the movie, and how many did not. Would be very interesting to see.

This last bit is completely my POV though- people would have veered more easily to a romantic relationship if the lead actress was closer to Randeep's age (Anushka, Deepika, Sonam or others)

By selecting someone like Alia (who looks very, very young in comparison to Randeep), Imtiaz has left the option of a platonic, non romantic relationship as a real possibility.

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More interestingly, the love here is also that of a mother for her son, of a father for his daughter. Veera baby-talks to Mahabir, the way a mother would respond to her son's cuteness. She strokes his head when he sleeps, and she sings him a lullaby, making up itty-bitty staccato words to fit the tune she overheard him humming. (In contrast, the words sung by his mother, in the flashback featuring the lovely Sooha saha, are more free-flowing.) In some ways, Veera becomes the mother Mahabir has left behind, and he becomes the father she never had. When she runs away and returns after finding that she has nowhere to go in the desert, he instructs the members of his gang not to help her. "Apni marzi se bhaagi, apni marzi se bheetar jaayegi." And the next morning, she asks for permission when she wants to step out. This disciplinarian aspect of a father is also brought out when he asks her to dress properly. But elsewhere, when she gaily climbs a tree, he watches with worry from below. And he buys her new clothes, which she parades before him. (She's like a child in a fancy-dress competition, with every state presenting the opportunity for a different look.)

And in a stunning sequence towards the end, Veera and Mahabir take turns being the parent. They find a cottage in the mountains. She orders him to stay outside while she tidies up the place and makes lunch. He steps out, then returns and opens the door cautiously - and this scene of a woman keeping house, the sheer domesticity of it all, is too much to bear. He crumbles. Hooda is extraordinary here. (And how nice to finally see him in a big film, where his performance will be seen by many.) Mahabir steps in, steps out, steps in, steps out, torn between wanting to enter this world and knowing that it's not really real, that it comes with an expiry date. He breaks down. She holds him. Shh... sab theek ho jayega. He cries out, Amma. She's a mother consoling a distraught child. And then, when he carries her to bed, the act doesn't carry a sexual charge - not even when she lies on top of him. She's like a little girl sleeping on her daddy's tummy.

Voted for platonic😊

I wrote a lot of things on this. 😆

I think I will choose the fourth option..The ending or Mahabir's death was something that I expected the least in the movie...I thought..may be they will end up going their own ways..Just like we meet people in a journey..and when we reach our destination..we move on..Randeep played his character so well..that there was an automatic connect with him and Aliya's character right from the start..even though he was being evil..😛..Ofcourse the story ended with hope..A hope that its always an individual's choice to live in the shackles of the society..or choose to live the way you want to..But that small wish remains in my heart.."Oh!! how I wish they did not kill Mahabir" ..

Originally posted by: Debarati7

I think I will choose the fourth option..The ending or Mahabir's death was something that I expected the least in the movie...I thought..may be they will end up going their own ways..Just like we meet people in a journey..and when we reach our destination..we move on..Randeep played his character so well..that there was an automatic connect with him and Aliya's character right from the start..even though he was being evil..😛..Ofcourse the story ended with hope..A hope that its always an individual's choice to live in the shackles of the society..or choose to live the way you want to..But that small wish remains in my heart.."Oh!! how I wish they did not kill Mahabir" ..

Exactly my feelings...😛 I wasn't able to digest it that Mahabir was killed so abruptly...I sat on my seat even after the last scene with the hope that Mahabir would return...