Revealing the bitter reality, a film like NH10 can be reviewed by two set of distinctive mindsets. One by the people who have actually lived in those areas personally, feeling the horror and nature's beauty together and the others who have never been to the region but are simply judging the film as a project depicting a harsh realistic truth in a somewhat filmy manner.
But keeping the discussion for the later part of the review, as a film, no doubt this is another impressive venture from the director Navdeep Singh, who once again comes up with a script that beautifully incorporates the western inspirations as seen in his MANORAMA 6 FEET UNDER (2007) borrowing much of its inputs from the classic CHINATOWN (1974). Returning to the screen after a long gap of 8 years, this time Navdeep and his writers choose another English film titled EDEN LAKE (2008), add to it the current in-news theme of "Honour Killings" and then end it all like a typical Hindi film reminding you of the fiery heroines from the 80s taking their revenge in PRATIGHAAT, PHOOL BANEY ANGAAREY or KHOON BHARI MAANG.
NH10 opens nicely with a much focused vision that keeps you guessing about what's going to happen next in its first half. The unpredictable excitement continues till the roadside scuffle happens with a sudden twist that also seems to be a bit foolish and deliberate one too keeping in mind the particular district. The noteworthy lonely locales, brilliant camera-work, natural lighting, minimal-well composed background score and all superlative performances build-up the momentum in a superb manner and you feel like coming on to the edge of your seats repeatedly before the intermission.
However a short song inserted just before the interval looks like out of place and then the film as usual goes back to the same predictable as well as monotonous plot of revenge in its second half. Yes, the brutal execution of its finale terrorizes the viewer well representing the woman-power strongly in all the bold sequences. Yet the lack of novel twists and turns in the second hour hamper its overall impact severely and one doesn't feel like watching anything out of the box in real terms as it ends.
Having said that, the director's (expected) sharp, intelligent insertions are right there in NH10 throughout its 2 hours of duration. For instance, just watch out the scenes where the husband brings a cigarette pack for his wife on their fun-trip, Anushka rubbing a derogatory word written on the door of a Dhaba toilet, the group of hooligans talking in Haryanvi hinting towards a rape, Anushka lighting up the cigarette just before going for the killings, the kid asking for the missing light in the watch, Deepti Naval cleaning the almirah of her dead daughter and the Daughter-in-law not giving her the ear-machine fearing the consequences.
The engaging script and sharp editing progresses well keeping your interest alive before it all goes back to the routine towards the end. And the performances actually add a lot to NH10's overall impact which ideally should have been a song-less venture without using even that single well-written and soulfully sung track in the mid. So it was indeed a relief to notice the much publicized song "Chhil Gaye Naina" and many more listed in the end credits not getting featured in the movie as per its dark and bloody theme.
Being there on the screen from the first frame to the last, Anushka gives an intense, spirited performance as the victim girl but the act still falls short of anything path-breaking due to the usual, melodramatic and clichéd second half diluting the end result to a big extent. Neil Bhoopalam is fine as the helpless husband and so is Deepti Naval as the mother fighting with her own inner-self. But its Darshan Kumaar who truly excels playing the extremely violent character post his silent, emotional avatar in MARY KOM, along with the actor playing Mamaji.
Coming back to the point stated in the beginning, you can easily review NH10 from all cinematic angles if you have never been to the region and don't actually know what happens there in reality and how.
But for the ones, who actually know the sad, questionable state of affairs, the whole fight sequence at the road side dhaba turns out to be too filmy or fake since this is not how anyone intervenes in such matters in these specific highways, even if you have a revolver. In fact showing a revolver can even worsen the things, since its nothing more than a toy for that particular region to be honest. Interestingly the fact gets literally proved in the film too wherein the (city) hero has got the revolver but the (village) goons have simply got iron rods in their car to make an attack.
For many friends this may sound strange but that's what the shameful reality is, where no heroism of any sort works as falsely shown in the film. So for me, if the scuffle was there through some other natural angle in the dhaba sequence, it would have been much more impressive and realistic. But the present one certainly seems to be a deliberately written scene just to make up a storyline around a socially relevant plot of 'Honour Killings'. Also, when Neil had already called the DGP informing about the serious issue then it was simply fool of him to go after the hooligans trying to teach them a lesson all alone with a girl in that unknown scary jungle.
Hence for many it might be a much relevant film talking about 'women empowerment'. But for me it was another of those technically appreciable as well as inspired (well-performed) attempts with a routine second half that fails to deliver the required punch.
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