Rocket Singh was a huge surprise last year. Not only did it meet the expectations, it did surpass them by a good enough margin to be a must watch film in a year dominated mostly by mediocre to above-average films at best. I, no doubt have a weakness for 3 idiots for its strong repeat value but this one gets my vote as a better film in the quality segment.
The film tells about the story of a young Surd Harpreet Singh, who has always been a below average student. He barely manages to pass his final year exams to become a graduate. Things don’t seem very bright for him however he has decided that he wants to choose sales as his profession. Although he seems very enthusiastic about it and lands up a job in a reputed computer company, he soon realises the pitfalls of working in an unethical corporate environment. He is almost fired because of some unintentional deed and has to struggle to save his job. A chance encounter with a small scale business owner gives him a brilliant idea for a setup to help his customers in a much better way.
Rocket Singh, released last year under the banner of Yash Raj films, was another of Yashraj’s slew of flops which they haven’t been able toavoid for quite some time now. Blame it on their poor scripts and mediocre storytelling in an age where Bollywood has moved out of the regular commercial fare. Nowadays, for a film to succeed, you need to either back it up with good content or excellent marketing.
But what was the most dissappointing thing about last year, on the box office front was that finally a good film from Yashraj didn’t find many audience.
One of the bigger reasons for its failure, as per my understanding, wasnot enough fun moments which could have given a reason for the crowd to celebrate. Another was because of a poor marketing strategy which simply didn’t work for the film. The film’s promotion left a lot to be desired for and considering they had made a genuinely fine film, they could have easily spent more money on its marketing.
Still, whatever the reason was, Rocket Singh cannot be ignored for a variety of reasons:
First, it explores an interesting concept which has rarely been discussed or shown in the history of Bollywood cinema - office politics with undercurrents of the pressures faced by employees in modern corporate environments, with an equally original story for which Mr. Sahni’s work needs to be applauded. The team of Jaideep Sahni and Shimit Amin resurface after delivering Chak De here under the same banner.
Secondly, I loved the way the whole idea/concept was overall executed and eluicidated on screen. To start with, in this matter, I know many people who had one common complaint about the film - its pace. On the contrary, I had had watched it from a completely different point of view. Considering the story they had in hand, they had an ample amount of oppurtunity to go overboard with crowd pleasing moments. This had worked wonderfully in Chak de India. But they kept things subtle and restrained, which was misunderstood for it being dull and lifeless. It was the restraint which helped the film in maintaining the same tone it had adopted in the first few scenes, and not letting the commercial factors affect the makers’ view of it.
Thirdly, a major aspect which contributed to a large way in making the film what it is, was the super-efficient performances by just about everyone in the cast. It won’t be incorrect to call it a script driven film.Right from Ranbir Kapoor to Gauri Khan to D. Santosh, every character’s role is well sketched and developed. Kudos to the casting director as well for choosing the right people and making a substantial contribution in helping with the characterization.
Jaideep Sahni as a name in the story credits always makes me eager enough for a theatre watch. I have been his fan since the Khosla ka Ghosla days. The icing on the cake was Shimit Amin’s directionwhose Ab tak Chappan and Chak de India were great films and immediate classics. Rocket Singh, in any way, is no less an accomplishment as an example in good stoytelling than their other good films. However, its release and failure did highlight an important thing, which may be discouraging for upcoming talented filmmakers. Audience complain of the industry not giving good enough films. Many intellectuals often talk about today’s films relying more on outdoor locations and great advertising campaigns to fool the people. But when something like RS happens, it gets ignored.
Is independent cinema being recognized? I think its still a long way to go...Unless patronizedby entertainment in sufficient doses, no unique concept can work in a big way. 3 idiots is a fine example of that!
I hardly know many salesman. I am not aware of what they all go through in their daily lives. Commission earning might be what they live for. For sure, its not an easy task. But neither is film-making. Commission is earned though audience. Such films need to be encouraged. If not on the ticket window, then at least on award functions. Sadly, it worked neither ways.
And thats whatis a tragic end to a great cinematic piece!