If you consider ’Dil Chahta Hai’ as one of the finest films made on male bonding laced with witty sense of humour and great music, then ’Rock On!!’ is a worthy sequel. The only difference being that while in the former, Farhan Akhtar made a clever debut as a director and in the latter he makes a brilliant debut as an actor. Rock On!! rocks even in its understated silences of poignance.
The film is about a Rock band ’Magik’ comprised of Aditya (Farhan, fantastic, the intensity reminds you of angry young man of 70s), Joe (Arjun Rampal, underplayed to perfection), Rob (Luke Kenny, a revelation) and KD (Purab Kohli, hilarious)...how the flashback dreams of stardom while the present is a stark reality of investment banking and mercenary guitaring.
Aditya’s wife Saakshi (Prachi Desai, first rate debut) brings the band together and then there’s the proverbial ’twist’. One more performance that’s noteworthy is that of Shahana Goswami (who’ll be making full fledged debut in ’Ru Ba Ru’) as the realistic wife of Arjun. This is one actress to watch out for.
Music by Shankar Ehsan loy is electrifying (though it has a niche appeal considering not everyone fancies rock music). I am sure Tum Ho Toh will be a unanimous favourite...a soft ballad with wonderful chorus sections. Farhan the singer isn’t bad, for in the context of the film they are an amateur band (moreover, the groovy picturisation makes up for the loopholes too) trying to make it big. Here it’s important to mention that Farhan’s two looks in the film are diametrically different and the attitude corresponds to either of them really well. Also, the body language of a Rockstar has been emulated to perfection.
Although Abhishek Kapoor has been credited with story and direction but you can easily witness ’creative’ imprints of Akhtar junior (thankfully) in the dialogues written by Farhan. The story moves forward in a gripping manner and even though many won’t associate with the Rock Music context of the film yet the human side to it all endears you the plight of the characters. Cinematography by Jason West is excellent and at times it seems as if a handycam is shooting the proceedings...the raw edges making it even more exciting and ’real’ to watch.
On the flip side, the absorbing tempo of the first half dips in the beginning of the second half. But then it picks up pieces just fine to give a goose pimple evoking concert-climax.
Rock On!! is a film about friendship, misunderstanding, reunions and doing what makes one happy. It is one movie that will make you smile...effortlessly. Go Rock!