When I saw the trailer of NH10, it seemed just like one of those road movies that you have seen several times before. You know the ones where a couple or group of friends leave on a trip and counter a killer on a remote road who chases and kills them one by one! As it turned out NH10 was anything but usual.

The film starts off with Meera (Anushka) and Arjun (Neil) heading off on a weekend getaway. Meera has been traumatized by an event that happened a few days before, so the trip is more to get her back to her usual self. While stopping for lunch at a highway dhaba,they notice a group trashing an eloping couple and try to intervene. A few scenes later, they notice the same group on a remote road and Neil just on a whim, rather stupidly decides to teach them a lesson. The chain of events this decision leads them through, forms rest of the story.

This film is one of those few ones where you will find it hard to find any faults. Everything about the film right from the gripping screenplay, the near perfect acting performances (even from actors in brief roles),cinematography and background score are so perfectly in place. The director Navdeep Singh needs to be commended immensely for delivering a suspenseful gripping drama while at the same time highlighting the topical issue of honor killing and how entrenched caste is in the rural India's psyche. The honor killing sequence in particular is so raw and real that it sends a chill down your spine.

The film is interspersed throughout with subtleties which capture the sad and tragic realities of urban and rural India beautifully. The cop blaming the victim by asking why Anushka was out late at night when she tries to lodge a complaint; The xenophobia towards people from other states;the scenes with the brother and his friends capturing the crude patriarchy that exists in rural India etc are fine examples. The scene which takes the cake is the one where the rural cop mentions that Manu and Ambedkar had the same ideology!

Another common perception that prevails amongst most of us is that, only men are responsible for these horrible happenings. While this may be true in most cases, the film in a very hard hitting way conveys that women are equally to be blamed.

Its always heartening to watch a movie which is entertaining and conscience provoking at the same time. NH10 is a fine example and walks this tightrope with great élan.