Highway movie review: Anand Deverakonda's serial killer film tortures you more than the killer his victims

Highway movie review: KV Guhan’s serial killer film starring Anand Deverakonda and Abhishek Banerjee is illogical, bland, and lackluster in every way conceivable.

There is a scene in KV Guhan’s thriller Highway, where the serial killer D (Abhishek Banerjee in his Tollywood debut) tapes his victim’s eyes open so that they can witness their own torture. Frankly, watching the film for two hours felt a lot like that--tortured, painful, and waiting for it to end. Highway is a simple film with a promising premise, which falters so badly in execution that you wonder how one can make such a lackluster film with a decent plot and good actors.

Abhishek Banerjee and Anand Deverakonda in a still from Highway.

Highway, set in the outskirts of Hyderabad, introduces us to photographer Vishnu (Anand Deverakonda), who is travelling to Bangalore for an event. Along the way, he helps a runaway teenager named Tulasi, who needs to get to her estranged father. A parallel track sees police officer Asha Bharath (Saiyami Kher) hunting a dangerous serial killer, who has killed five women and is on the hunt for more. How these two stories converge and Vishnu finds himself in a dangerous situation forms the crux of the film.

As I said, an interesting premise but it all goes downhill from here. The plot has more holes in it than a kitchen sieve, the acting is either monotonous or over-the-top (there’s no middle ground), and the background music is a serious assault on the senses. The comedy is so cringeworthy, sexist and forced that it often feels like you are watching something from the 90s.

It seems the makers and writers of the film have never met real people or observed how real people behave. Because in this film, everybody behaves as illogically as possible, as if it’s a stupidity contest. Cops can’t see an obvious clue dangling in front of their eyes, the killer tries his best to behave like a killer at every possible moment without any worry about getting caught, and women disregard safety while a serial killer is on the loose. I stopped noticing logical flaws halfway into the film because it was hard to keep up by then.

Abhishek Banerjee delivers the only watchable performance in the film.

The film lacks finesse and subtlety, with every character repeating what is happening on the screen just so that the audience do not miss it. It is like hammering a nail that is already all the way inside the wall. It’s redundant and infuriating. But is there anything redeeming in Highway? Abhishek Banerjee, of course! The Pataal Lok-fame actor has been handed an undercooked and unidimensional character with no coherent back story and he still manages to do something special with it. He is menacing, scary, and at times, even fun to watch. Everyone else falls flat sadly. Saiyami Kher, normally a reliable performer, has been reduced to just standing at crime scenes exasperated. She and her character both deserve better. Anand Deverokonda is lackluster and frankly looks like a cardboard cutout at times. Manasa Radhakrishnan tries to play the part of a hapless, innocent teenager to the best of her abilities. But sadly, the script and direction do not help her much in the process.

Highway began streaming on Aha Telugu from Friday, August 19, and frankly it is a good choice that the film chose not to release in theatres. On OTT, it may find some audience. But it’s hard to see why anyone would voluntarily watch this film. It’s a cautionary tale on how not to approach an interesting subject. Watch it only if you are prepared to be disappointed in more ways than you can count.

Highway

Director: KV Guhan

Cast: Anand Devarakonda, Abhishek Banerjee, Sayami Kher, Manasa Radhakrishnan