‘NH10’ Movie Review – Bollywood Bubble

Directed by: Navdeep Singh
Produced by: Vikramaditya Motwane, Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, Anushka Sharma, Sunil Lulla, Karnesh Sharma
Cast: Anushka Sharma, Neil Bhoopalam, Darshan Kumar
Duration: 1 hours 55 minutes
Bollywood Bubble Rating: 4/5

Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma’s debut production ‘NH10’ hits the screens today. The Navdeep Singh directorial, is a dark film that offers its viewers little relief, as there are few songs and no dances. The movie is a tense drama intensely gripping but violent in a way. Navdeep Singh’s ‘NH10’ is a highly relevant film in these times where women’s empowerment is the need of the hour.

‘NH10’ is a non-stop edge-of-the-seat experience of two hours. It narrates the story of an unaware new age couple, wandering into the rural locales of the North that is dominated by the alpha male and how their life changes after their encounter with them. “NH10” tells the story of a couple, played by Anushka and Neil, and how their life changes when they meet Darshan, who plays the negative role in the film. It captures a relationship between a loved-up couple realistically. ‘NH10’ doesn’t bow to that time-tested tradition of showcasing love and conflict.

We have Mira (Anushka Sharma) and Arjun (Neil Bhoopalam) the standard double income, no kid couple. One night, when Mira is alone in her car and driving through Gurgaon’s empty streets, she gets a taste of the lecherous Delhi male when there’s an attempt to molest her. When Meera and Arjun go to file a complaint at the police station the next morning, the inspector says unapologetically, “Yeh shahar toh badhta bachcha hai. Kood toh lega hi.” Mira is traumatised by her encounter. Arjun burdened with guilt plans a holiday tour to pull Meera out of her vulnerable state outside the city, to cheer her up.

On the way they witness an honour killing. Their run-in with the killers headed by Satbir (Darshan Kumaar) takes a nasty turn. They turn to the police for help but they too are in cahoots with the gangsters. In all this Arjun gets seriously injured and Meera has to fight out of the situation on her own to keep them alive.

Sudip Sharma’s script has some tackiness. Also there are some details that do not make much of a sense. But you soon forget about it and get immersed in some edge of the seat moments, like watching Mira and Arjun negotiating their way through the nightmare in which they’ve found themselves. Or the moment Arjun leaves Mira in the car alone, where you’re certain something horrible will happen. Also when Arjun forgets his phone in the car while running after the bad guys, you feel a chill running down your spine.

Anushka Sharma has excelled in the role of a battered woman. Anushka Sharma plays Meera an independent professional who is violently thrown in a situation where she has to not only save her and her husband’s life, but also hold on to shreds of her dignity with admirable conviction. Her growth from uncertainty and fear to inherent intelligence is commendable.

Neil Bhoopalam gives good support. He does a good job of of playing a supportive husband with an immature streak. A man who has made a few bad judgement calls. He has delivered it with a solid performance.

Darshan Kumaar is excellent as the ruthless Satbir. It is a violent contrast to the calm-n-collected husband of Priyanka Chopra starrer Mary Kom. Truly a pleasant revelation.

Deepti Naval’s small but powerful cameo, is beyond her comfort zone but she delivers it with a punch. Her dramatic shift from empathy to antipathy is electrifying.

On the whole NH10 is a wonderfully made film with an outstanding performance by Anushka Sharma. Do watch it.