> Rock On!!

Rock On!!

Cast & Crew

Synopsis

Rock On!! is the story of 4 friends who put together the greatest band this country has ever seen, but never makes it. Years later fate conspires to bring them together again and set them on a journey back to where they left off... a soul-searching pilgrimage into their past.





I literally forced my friends today to a cinema hall to watch Rock on!! The movie looked really interesting from the promos and since I am into rock music , I was even more tempted to watch it. The Positive reviews all around only increased my expectations from this movie. I must say i am a little disappointed. The movie is not the rocking ride that I had hoped it to be. But that said , its not a bad experience either.

STORY

At first glance the story of Rock on!! feels very much like Dil Chahta hai. A group of friends separated due to some misunderstandings and then later on reunited by fate. So chances are that if you loved Dil Chahta Hai , you are most likely to like Rock on!! too. But there is one thing missing from Rock on!! which separates it from the now cult classic Dil Chahta hai and turns it into a fairly mediocre experience. That one thing is Humor. If you are expecting a lot of laugh out loud moments then be advised , you are going to be disappointed as this movie is a fairly serious affair. I am not saying that it completely lacks humor , its there but is very subtle which is more likely to bring a smile to your face rather then making you burst out in laughter. The storytelling is somewhat slow and drags in the preliminary portions. Of course this is another reason why my friends were cursing me all the way back home for ruining there afternoon. We expected Rock on to be a very youthful film with lots of laugh out loud moments but it turned out to be a serious drama instead. Anyways, there is not much to the story , its a story of a Rock band which gets separated and then several years later reunite to give one final performance. The story is told through flashbacks which are brilliantly placed btw. In the end i feel a little more humour would have really helped with the whole expereience. Also the story is highly predictable which kind of makes it a little boring.

ACTING

This is where this movie performs even better then my expectations. Farhan akhtar has made his acting debut and has passed with flying colors if i may add. I was quite surprised by his performance actually , he fits in the role of a rockstar with ease and later on shows a great maturity in his acting. Next comes Purab Kholi , I love this guy. He is such a versatile actor and he fits into every role with such elan whether its a sensitive role of "My brother Nikhil" or the rough gangster role of "Awarapan" , so far he is yet to disspoint me. This movie is no exception , his acting and look especially in the flashback scenes is awesome. You gotta love the gottee Luke Kenny , the newcomer doesn't dissapoint. He is above average and his performance is good towards the end of the movie. But the show stealer is none other then Arjun Rampal , the higly underrated actor of bollywood. He delivers without a doubt the best performance of his career. He perfectly fits into the shoes of a Rockstar and his Rocking!! entry & performance on the stage in the climax is nothing short of spectacular . For all those who believe Salman Khan is the Rock star of bollywood , meet Arjun Rampal. Talking about actresses , the new comer Prachi desai looks stunning. She is a very cute girl and acts well too. Shahana Goswami as Rampal's wife gives a solid performance too. Overall this film has not dissapointed me as far as the acting department is concerned.

MUSIC

This was a very important part of the movie as the story practically revolved around it. The Music had to be really good in order for this film to be a success and good it is. The Good Music is a major crowd puller for this movie. Shankar Ehsaan Loy has provided the music but its really different from what they have done before. Rock Music isn't exactly a popular genre in Bollywood but they have manged to provide some good tracks. There is a great variety in music too , we have soft and romantic tracks in the form of "Tum Ho toh" and " Ye Tumhari Meri Baatein" which are really very soothing to hear , we also have a very peppy number in the form of "Sindbad the sailor". The Title track is good but the best song which left me humming it long after I had finished watching the movie was "Pichle Saat Dinon Mein". Then there is an out and out rock song called "zehreelay" which doesn't make much sense , the less said about it the better. You may not like the music of this film at first but trust me , it grows on you. Before you even know it , you will be humming its tracks. There's also a hilarious spoof on how the band merges rock with dandiya to gain some quick money. Overall the music is very well done. With that said , one thing which I was disappointed with was the lyrics of the songs. Javed Akthar has provied the lyrics but he is better off writing the lyrics for some Ghazals or sad love songs. Lyrics is the most important part of the Rock n Roll genre and sadly although the music in this movie is good , the lyrics are below average. Many of them doesn't make sense and the few ones that do aren't as hard hitting. As mentioned earlier there is a track called "Zehreelay". The lyrics go something like 'Yahan Pe Saanp Baste Hai, Sabko Saanp Daste Hai'. Now you can easily imagine how a song with such ridiculous lyrics will sound like

DIRECTION

Lastly comes the direction. I wasn't expecting much from him after watching his last Directorial venture "Aryan" but he has plesantly surprised me. Director Abhishek Kapoor handles the camera well. He has managed to give this movie a very realistic look. Not only has he managed to capture the true spirit and feel of a Rock band but he has also managed to capture the fragility of relationships on the celluloid with compelling ease. Talking of feel , the live performances in the movie are really very well done , it actually looks like a real concert. Especially the lighting during the concerts is nothing short of spectacular. Overall a Job well done.

VERDICT

Rock On is pretty decent movie which could have been much much better. The Movie feels very fresh and is a welcome change from all the slapstick comedy movies which are in offer from bollywood these days. Do not expect a mind blowing experience though as the movie is fairly over-rated. I recommend a one time watch.

My Rating : 7/10


Bluff~