Why was Alia Bhatt cast in the movie 'Highway'?

 As Imtiaz Ali was dealing with a mature subject he had originally planned to cast older women (above 30–35 years) someone like Aishwarya Rai for the lead role of Veera in Highway.

However, he changed his mind after meeting Alia Bhatt.

Imtiaz met Alia at the screening of Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana. After meeting Alia at the screening, he felt a strong soul-to-soul character connection and changed his vision to feature a younger protagonist.

He realised that Alia’s inner spirit inherently mirrored Veera’s essence. She possessed a rare emotional depth and high emotional quotient.

Alia was given the script. She was scared to take the intense role as she was there in almost every scene. Finally, she was convinced by her father Mahesh Bhatt to accept the challenge.

Alia was indeed a very unexpected actor for Highway. Even the unit was wondering how she would pull off the character but Alia stunned everyone with her performance in the film.

Image(s) Courtesy: Google

Which is the longest National Highway in India?

Previously known as National Highway 7, National Highway 44 (NH 44) is the longest-running National Highway in India. It is 3,745 km long and covers the North-South Corridor of NHDP. It starts from Srinagar in the north and ends in Kanyakumari in the south. NH-44 was laid and is maintained by Central Public Works Department(CPWD).

The NH-44 came into existance after merging full or parts of seven previous differently numbered national highways like NH 1A from Srinagar in Jammu & Kashmir, NH 1 starting from Punjab and Haryana and ending at Delhi, part of NH 2 starting from Delhi and ending at Agra, NH 3 (famously known as Agra-Bombay highway) from Agra to Gwalior, former NH 75 and NH 26 to Jhansi, and finally NH 7 via Nagpur, and Adilabad, Nirmal, Kamareddy, Hyderabad, Kurnool and Mahbubnagar, Anantapur, and Bangalore, Dharmapuri, Salem, Karur, Madurai, Kovilpatti and Tirunelveli terminating at Kanyakumari.

States connected by NH 44

This highway passes through the 11 Indian states of Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.

Cities connected by NH 44

The highway connects several important Indian cities from Srinagar to Kanyakumari such as Srinagar, Jammu, Pathankot, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Ambala, Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat, Delhi, Mathura, Agra, Gwalior, Jhansi, Narsinghpur, Nagpur, Adilabad, Hyderabad, Jadcherla, Kurnool, Anantapur, Bengaluru, Dharmapuri, Salem, Namakkal, Karur, Dindigul, Madurai, Kovilpatti, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari.

Chenani-Nashri Tunnel which was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, on 2 April 2017, is a significant addition to this highway.