MOVIE REVIEW: ROCK ON

A movie like Rock On is a very very risky venture, because:

1. Rock music plays an integral role in the film. Now, leave the interiors(meaning smaller cities and towns), even in urban centres like Delhi and Mumbai, rock is a very niche genre. So, this limits the audience by a good degree.

2. Farhan Akhtar has been synonymous with cinema with a very strong urban feel to it. There are no two ways about the quality of cinema he has made.... they have had excellent content. But his biggest handicap has been that his treatment hasn't found acceptance with the masses.

3. The most well-known face among the cast is of Arjun Rampal, who himself isn't an actor who can guarantee a great initial start to a film, even though he has been noticed for his performance in Om Shanti Om. Farhan Akhtar is making his debut, as is Prachi Desai (of Kasamh Se fame), but the crowd at which this movie is targeted, would not have watched her serial. Plus, Luke Kenny and Purab Kohli are no crowd-pullers.

4. Very little is known about Abhishek Kapoor's directorial skills.

When your film is loaded with 4 solid handicaps even before the first show is screened, the content of the film HAS to be bang on target, otherwise it's a Titanic.

So..... does Rock On really rock???......Well, keep reading :-)

Rock On tells the story of 4 friends: Aditya Shroff (Farhan Akhtar), KD(Purab Kohli), Joe Mascarenhas (Arjun Rampal) and Rob (Luke Kenny), who are passionate about their music and form a rock band called Magik. Everything moves smoothly till something happens that breaks the group. 10 years down the line, the 4 are leading lives, which may seem normal, but is incomplete without their music. How they re-unite for that one last rocking finish to their dreams forms the rest of the story.

Rock On can be termed as Dil Chahta Hai 2. The premise is very similar: story of 4 close buddies, due to a tiff they break up, and years later patch up. What happens to each of them in those intervening years is shown in the movie. But do not mistake it to be a wannabe DCH. The film has a soul of its own, it has a story to tell.

The film starts off sluggishly, when all the 4 characters are introduced, 10 years after the band broke up. Then the narration keeps flip-flopping between flashbacks and present, very smoothly and in an easy-to-comprehend manner. The cause of the split is shown in the second half.... and the reason given is well-justified and purely circumstantial. The film finally culminates in the perfect setting of a rock concert and with a very soulful ballad followed by a rocking number.

Those expecting DCH "coolness"(read: the kind of youthful masti that the trio shared in DCH) would be a tad disappointed. Rock On is an emotional story of 4 friends with rock forming a background. Actually, it's more like a supporting actor.... it's like the 5th friend.... it is what actually brings them together. So, for those thinking that Rock On is only for lovers of rock, let me tell you it is much more than that. Coming back to my point, the comic portions are few and far between, so even though the emotional portions are very well executed, you do feel the need of some lighter moments in the flick. But on the positive side, the emotional sequences are not loud and melodramatic..... they are very real, very human feelings, and Abhishek Kapoor should be praised for displaying such sensitivity, that too in his very first venture.

Abhishek Kapoor, if you remember, was launched some 8-10 years back, opposite Twinkle Khanna in a film called Uff Yeh Mohabbat. The film sank without a trace, and with that, his acting career as well. As a director, he belongs to the Farhan Akhtar school of direction,i.e, making English films with Hindi dialogues and songs; films which are very urban, both in setting and in mindset. But one aspect that Rock On has that DCH lacked was control over the script. The film is very tight from start to finish, with at no point, the hold of the director loosening over the setting. The emotional moments, as already mentioned, are beautifully executed... the director shows his maturity in handling those moments with dexterity. The odd comic scene is also very subtly slipped into the goings-on without making them conspicuous by their presence, and making the viewer smile.

Cinematography is top-notch as is the art-direction. Editing left a lot to be desired. The film could have been wrapped up in 2 hours straight.... there are a number of sequences which unnecessarily prolonged the film, and could have been done away with (especially the scene where KD starts to sing in the party and then asks Sakshi to sing).This is,perhaps, the only negative aspect of the film, in my opinion.

Music has to be bang on target in a film where music forms the backbone. Shankar,Ehsaan and Loy have given music which is as fresh as a spring morning. The tunes and the orchestration perfectly mimic a rock concert, and the songs do set your pulse racing ( a special mention for the rock guitaring portion). But they are most severely let down in the lyrics department(Javed Akhtar). It is true that the first impression of a song is made by the music; the lyrics are noticed thereafter. But here the lyrics for a few songs (the title track, "Socha Hai") are so out of place with the genre and the tune, that they are easily noticed. They completely deflate the songs. However, the mellow numbers (" Yeh humaari mulaaqaatein" and the last ballad) do salvage some pride for the lyricist.They are both, musically and lyrically, very soothing and soulful.

Farhan Akhtar makes his singing debut here as well, and sings as much as 5 songs. I won't say that I was blown away by his vocal skills, but he was also not cacophonous as the lead singer. His singing suited the genre to the T, so even though his singing is not anywhere close to conventional Hindi singing (which requires perfect sur with a decent vocal flexibility), he was pretty "hearable" here.

Now over to the performances:

Barring Arjun Rampal all are newcomers or 1/2 films old, so the director had a huge task of extracting good performances from the cast. But he wouldn't have had to worry, because every single actor gives a knockout performance here.

I really can't believe this is Farhan Akhtar's first film as an actor. He displays that rare maturity and gravity in a very complex role. His expressions are just perfect, be it as a rock star, or as the serious investment banker unhappy with his life. A scene worth mentioning is his outburst, when confronted with his wife, which comes just before the intermission. At no point does it seem that he is trying very hard to come up with the right emotion; he just flows naturally with the story. A very IMPRESSIVE debut!!!

Arjun Rampal finally gets a role that suited him to the T. This role was made for Arjun Rampal, and no other actor would have done justice to it better than him. Be it the young,impulsive and hot-headed lead guitarist of the band, or the quiet and brooding unemployed man, who leads a hollow life without music 10 years hence, Arjun Rampal conveys a gamut of emotions through his eyes and facial expressions. Plus his overall personality lends that extra bit to the role, with the long flowing locks and the handle-bar moustache he looks every bit the rocker that his role wanted him to look. His performance can be summed up in one word..... BRILLIANT !!

Purab Kohli is, as usual, very dependable. He is to the film what Saif Ali Khan was to DCH. The character is a bit of a buffoon, but acts as a buffer between the two hot heads Aditya and Joe. Everytime he is on-screen, he does extract that smile from the viewer.

Luke Kenny is a revelation. With his slightly foreign looks, his rocker status (he is an actual rocker) and this being his first film, I was slightly apprehensive about how he'd perform. To my surprise, he was effortless and, in fact, very much into the character throughout the film.

Prachi Desai also marks her debut with this film. Coming from the Ekta Kapoor brand serial background, I expected nothing but full-on hamming, if it was a big role, or a small miniscule, insignificant role of a sidey. But she stunned me. She played a pivotal role in the movie as Farhan Akhtar's wife, and with great care, maturity and sensitivity for the character. In an age where being an actress means shedding all your clothing, and exposing your washboard flat tummy, without a care in the world for your expressions, she is a breath of fresh air. She not only emotes well, but looks beautiful and elegant as well. I was very very impressed.

Among other actors, Shahana Goswami as Joe's wife Debbie registers a strong impact. Koel Puri as Devika is competent.

Overall, a GREAT film to watch, be it with family(because of the rich emotional content) or with buddies (because of the youth factor in the film), though it's slow pacing does take a wee bit of its shine away from it. I loved it.



My Rating: ***