The illustrious Sawan Khan while shooting in Bikaner.
It’s a road trip that has been gaining premium mileage over the past few days. Writer-director Imtiaz Ali’s much awaited (aren’t they all) film, “Highway” starring an unlikely pair of Randeep Hooda and Alia Bhatt has gassed up and accelerated its journey towards its final destination. En route, however, we’re being treated to Ali’s “Highway Diaries” – neatly packaged miniclips of the drive through India.
Presented by Sajid Nadiadwala, the film traverses six states of India and captures the landscape of the different regions as it goes along. And sharing this on cinemascape via the internet are the diaries – be it the folksy tunes of Manganiyaars, the sand dunes of Bikaner, the dhabhas of Punjab, the gaddi keeps going on. The crew shot with the local Manganiyaar folk singers in Bikaner- Sawan Khan and his group. A pahadi gojari folk song sung by a local artist, Begum Jaan, was recorded in Kashmir and will be heard in the film too.
Short takes on the making of the film, behind the scenes and other little juicy nuggets, the videos offer a glimpse into the myriad experiences that the cast and crew went through during the shoot, and are not more than a minute or two – the perfect time for any Internet junkie with limited attention span and patience.
Streaming already, each of these episodes - and there will be 18 to 20 of them – will be punctuated over the next couple of months – lending a feel of the journey. And no, these are not the first look of “Highway” the movie.
“I have never seen a film being as influenced by the incidents during its making as “Highway.” These adventures of the north Indian road journey have many stories to tell. We bring these to you in “The Highway Diaries,”" says Ali.
Some of the episodes:
Intro:
Bikaner:
Ferozepur:
