Let’s address the elephant in the room. Anushka Sharma, known for roles in Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Band Baaja Baaraat, completely sheds her "cute girlfriend" image. She is terrifyingly good.
For the first half hour, Meera is the anxious, slightly irritable partner. But once the sun sets on NH10, a switch flips. Sharma does not turn into a superhero; she turns into a survivalist. Her performance is visceral—sweaty, bloody, and exhausted. You feel every scratch, every scream, and every moment of hesitation before she picks up a weapon. This was the year Bollywood finally got a believable female action lead, and it came in the form of a producer (Sharma co-produced the film) who took a massive risk.
Anushka Sharma had played the bubbly love interest before, but Meera is different. She is not a "fighter" in the sense of having martial arts training. She is a corporate professional who vomits after her first kill. Her evolution—from a woman begging for mercy to a blood-soaked avenger wielding a handloom khaddar—is visceral. The film argues that violence is not glamorous; it is ugly, desperate, and exhausting. nh10 -2015-
When you think of Bollywood road movies, you usually think of scenic landscapes, coming-of-age epiphanies, or quirky comedies. You don’t think of a two-hour anxiety attack. But that’s exactly what Anushka Sharma’s production debut, NH10, delivers.
Released in 2015, NH10 isn’t just a film; it’s a punch to the gut. It’s lean, mean, and utterly unforgiving. A decade later, it still stands as one of the most daring and disturbing thrillers Hindi cinema has ever produced. Let’s address the elephant in the room
The film opens with a deceptive calm. Meera (Anushka Sharma) and Arjun (Neil Bhoopalam) are a wealthy, urban couple from Gurugram. They are ambitious, slightly reckless, and living the fast life. For Meera’s birthday, Arjun plans a weekend getaway—a long drive through the desolate highways of Haryana.
What begins as a romantic escape turns into a nightmare when they stop at a roadside dhaba (eatery). A young couple, Pinky and Chotta, are dragged out of a car and brutally attacked by a gang of upper-caste vigilantes led by the menacing Satbir (Darshan Kumar). The reason? Pinky has dishonored her family by eloping. For the first half hour, Meera is the
Meera, possessing a conscience Arjun lacks, calls the police. But when the law fails to arrive, the couple finds themselves pursued by Satbir and his mob. Arjun is swiftly incapacitated (a shocking pivot that subverts the "hero" trope), and Meera is left alone. For the remaining hour, NH10 (2015) transforms into a relentless cat-and-mouse game. Meera must drive through the titular highway, outsmarting a pack of predators who know the terrain better than she does.