Long drives on empty roads, accompanied by loud, upbeat music and the occasional deafening noise of blaring truck horns, is what constitutes a regular night on a highway. The wide, lonely expressway greets its travellers with delicious food of roaside dhabbas and a handful of interesting stories to remember. 

Similar is the case for an ageing, overworked lorry driver who gives a lift to a young, chatty sex worker one night. In the first half of their drive, she tries to turn him into a patron by working information of available rooms and her pricing into the conversation. The driver simply replies with stern looks and silence. When they both eventually get off at a dhabba, the young girl moves on to find other potential customers. She states the rate to them, gulping down the food offered to her, but soon enough things turn ugly. 

As the rest of the night develops, we are introduced to a brutal reality of a world where it is often the familial, domestic space itself which exposes women and young girls to abuse in all its grotesque forms. This assertion is further proven true as the girl before us completes an entire journey that begins with her chirpiness and an expert handling of her trade, only to reveal a life of betrayal, cruelty and the desperate need to survive. However, as the two characters head towards the final stop, the film unpacks its layers gradually, allowing the viewer an uplifting, hopeful message that rests patiently within its conclusion.

Highway Nights | Short Film of the Month

The film opens with a bloody image that portends the violence that will define the entire story. A doctor heads back home late into the night. A police officer makes it in time for his daughter's birthday. A young woman wakes up in her bed with paralyzing nightmares, while her concerned loved ones are unable to make sense of what truly plagues her. 
The rest of the plot becomes an exploration of any potential links between these seemingly unrelated characters - the doctor, the woman, and the police officer. The film endeavors to draw the audience’s attention to the extremely regressive, oppressive, and violating practice of determining the truth of a sexual assault by a two-finger test, as is also referred to in the title. A disconcerting, but important story of a young woman’s terrifying ordeal in small-town India is roped in to elucidate the same. The approach adopts overt drama, not nuance, for this communication. The result is sincere and shares a fictional, but crucial example about the state of things in the country despite changes having been made at the policy level.

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