Rock On!
Dir : Abshiek Kapoor, Prod : Farhan Akhtar
*ing : Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Prachi Desai, Shahana Goswami, Koel Puri, Luke KennyWhen one has grown up listening to Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd or Eric Clapton, a movie based on the lives and times of rock stars, automatically draws you onto the theatre. If one adds one's own middle life retrospect of one's own career, the theme of idealism verus realitic survival or rather.. a battle of 'what i could have become' and 'what i became', begins to resonate.
This was what exactly happened last weekend or rather when I had that extended weekend - thanks to Independence Day - I could see three classic movies of recent times. The first one was 'A Wednesday', and then on the next day, that truly amazing trendsetting 'Dil Chahta Hei (DCH)' and on the third day, to round off that weekend, the amazingly made 'Rock-On!'. Seeing Rock-on was my second attempt at that movie, and when i finished it, i couldn't help myself from refurbishing my diary note on that movie to this post.
But as I said, its not a movie about rock music. but its about that too.. but its mostly about dreams. the ones that you put away in some long forgotten recesses of your heart hoping you will never find them again simply because of the things that you've lost along the way to make them come true. it tells you its never late to live your dream, and all you need is the courage to pick up where you left off.
The Movie is familiar and not original.. half an hour into the movie, one can see shades of Dil Chahta Hai, Jhankaar Beats or some 70's Hollywood musicals...but it does what it intends to do.. to get ur sympathy for the protagonists...you end up enjoying the music and feel you shud do a session of jamming urself...and as said earlier.. the movie is familiar.. it touches our chords too...! and at another level.. it is a movie which inspires you to live life again...as the motiff of movie suggest 'Live your dream'...! when i said the characters are etched on the same canvas as DCH, there is a difference too.. they are more mature this time and reality of life has occured to them. But still somewhere along the line, it fails to match DCH which rather became a cult classic. a movie which gen y can claim as their own.
.. it is a movie all 30 somethings will identify with coz it is only when in you a certain age that you sometimes realise that you hae given up things you were passionate about, just because they werent meant to be for reasons only youth and its vagaries can explain.
Performances are the strongest point in this movie.. if u take the new crop of actors that have come up in teh recent times... one name leads the pack.. Arju Rampal..a find of Designer Rohit Bal, He is really come of age..from his model days... and in this movie..Tall, and elan, he brings shades of the old 'Method School of Acting'.. He has the body, the face, the maturity and the grace to carry the role... of the quiet understated and effortless...in the sense that he literally lives the life of the fallen rock star turned struggler... his moves in the rock sessions are just way too perfect.. he literally is a lead guitarits.. both in his body language and his looks..
Whatever farhan does.. or rather did till now.. has always caught out attention.. from his very first movie.. Dil Chahta Hai, thru lakshya to this one.. he literally carries this film on.. he practically does everything here with ease and elan...making every role his own...! he has sung all the songs himself (to cent percent perfection) and defenittely is a better actor than a director...! the particular scene where his hands shiver as he stares himself on teh mirror stands out... if it was the perfections of Arjun Rampal's face and his body language that makes us drool over him, then it is teh imperfections of Farhan's face that make him lovable... He manages to bring his young urbane personality into every role that he plays...!
In a film set on four friends, two female characters keep their feet firmly on.. both Prachi Desai and Shahana Goswami impress and brings themselves across very well... the movie comes a thumbs up due to the performances of its lead actors, subtlety of the theme, and the involvememt of some very talented people around. The movie is defenetly a thumbs up..!
In all.. the movie tells u that life though more adept at dealing you an unfair deal of cards, sometimes gives you a second chance too... and it is a movie that asks whether you will take that second chance or not...
This was what exactly happened last weekend or rather when I had that extended weekend - thanks to Independence Day - I could see three classic movies of recent times. The first one was 'A Wednesday', and then on the next day, that truly amazing trendsetting 'Dil Chahta Hei (DCH)' and on the third day, to round off that weekend, the amazingly made 'Rock-On!'. Seeing Rock-on was my second attempt at that movie, and when i finished it, i couldn't help myself from refurbishing my diary note on that movie to this post.
But as I said, its not a movie about rock music. but its about that too.. but its mostly about dreams. the ones that you put away in some long forgotten recesses of your heart hoping you will never find them again simply because of the things that you've lost along the way to make them come true. it tells you its never late to live your dream, and all you need is the courage to pick up where you left off.
The Movie is familiar and not original.. half an hour into the movie, one can see shades of Dil Chahta Hai, Jhankaar Beats or some 70's Hollywood musicals...but it does what it intends to do.. to get ur sympathy for the protagonists...you end up enjoying the music and feel you shud do a session of jamming urself...and as said earlier.. the movie is familiar.. it touches our chords too...! and at another level.. it is a movie which inspires you to live life again...as the motiff of movie suggest 'Live your dream'...! when i said the characters are etched on the same canvas as DCH, there is a difference too.. they are more mature this time and reality of life has occured to them. But still somewhere along the line, it fails to match DCH which rather became a cult classic. a movie which gen y can claim as their own.
.. it is a movie all 30 somethings will identify with coz it is only when in you a certain age that you sometimes realise that you hae given up things you were passionate about, just because they werent meant to be for reasons only youth and its vagaries can explain.
Performances are the strongest point in this movie.. if u take the new crop of actors that have come up in teh recent times... one name leads the pack.. Arju Rampal..a find of Designer Rohit Bal, He is really come of age..from his model days... and in this movie..Tall, and elan, he brings shades of the old 'Method School of Acting'.. He has the body, the face, the maturity and the grace to carry the role... of the quiet understated and effortless...in the sense that he literally lives the life of the fallen rock star turned struggler... his moves in the rock sessions are just way too perfect.. he literally is a lead guitarits.. both in his body language and his looks..
Whatever farhan does.. or rather did till now.. has always caught out attention.. from his very first movie.. Dil Chahta Hai, thru lakshya to this one.. he literally carries this film on.. he practically does everything here with ease and elan...making every role his own...! he has sung all the songs himself (to cent percent perfection) and defenittely is a better actor than a director...! the particular scene where his hands shiver as he stares himself on teh mirror stands out... if it was the perfections of Arjun Rampal's face and his body language that makes us drool over him, then it is teh imperfections of Farhan's face that make him lovable... He manages to bring his young urbane personality into every role that he plays...!
In a film set on four friends, two female characters keep their feet firmly on.. both Prachi Desai and Shahana Goswami impress and brings themselves across very well... the movie comes a thumbs up due to the performances of its lead actors, subtlety of the theme, and the involvememt of some very talented people around. The movie is defenetly a thumbs up..!
In all.. the movie tells u that life though more adept at dealing you an unfair deal of cards, sometimes gives you a second chance too... and it is a movie that asks whether you will take that second chance or not...
Comments
DREAMS!!! Yes dreams… really the movie is about ur dreams… which all of us have in our heart & mind but which gets lost somewhere in our life’s journey due to some reason or the other ... Such movies r like a vacation, a real breakthrough from our hectic machine life…. A good entertainer cum reminder saying Live Your Life & never let ur talent that u really want to take higher get lost. God is kind enough to give many chances in our life to pursue your lost dream… the only thing required is to grab that chance & give ur BEST to turn that DREAM into REALITY…..
I firstly thank God for giving me the chance to watch this movie with u :) & then to Farhan Akhtar for such a wonderful movie with great songs…
My favourite songs are “Aasman hain neela kyun, Pani geela geela kyun Socha Hai... Socha Nahi To Socho Abhi...” & “Tum Ho To Gaata Hai Dil, Tum Nahin To Geet Kahan.. Tum Ho To Hai Sab Haasil, Tum Nahin To Kya Hai Yahan..”
Anxiously waiting for next movie from Farhan!!!
Preeta Prasanth