I have to say Rock On has surprised a lot of people with its popularity. For a genre of music which is popular among only 4% of the population, this is quite an achievement for the people behind the film. I remember all the arguments we had in PFC when the trailer first came out, all those 4% Rock junta were really worried that Bollywood is going to rape their world. I remember telling them that from the trailer it seems like its the best we can expect for a genre which has never taken off except for the 4%, majority of whom have a very high self esteem just because they listen to Rock Music. And let me tell you that is exactly why Rock music has not taken off in India.
I have lived in the world of ROCK ON. You can say a very de-glamourised version of that. I was a roadie of my college rock band & later on to a few Heavy Metal bands from Bangalore. After a while I got very disillusioned by that scene. The condescending attitude that most of these guys had towards anyone who was not into their music became unbearable after a while. It was a self-masterbatory world at its best. OFcourse there were a lot of other external factors which happened to me at the right moment to have realised that, but thats a long story & irrelevent in this post.
When I saw the trailer of Rock On I was just happy that a movie about a Rock Band was made in mainstream Bollywood. Something unthinkable just a month back. All the bands in the film sing in Hindi & seem very popular. Which is not how that world is. But the irony is if we really had Hindi Rock artists, the genre would have really taken off. Instead we have everybody trying to be Megadeth or Slayer. And thats the reason Pakistani Sufi Rock is so Huge. The artists there sing in the language of their & their people's soul. And not in the language of their favourite band from UK/USA.
I think I should start talking about the film at this point. The 1st thing that impressed me was the Lighting of that basement. The DP( couldnt find his name on IMDB) did a great job in the film. Its very painfull to watch all the mainstream bollywood films trying to be "MTV Stylish" with no subject to match that. I can say after DCH this was another film where the style finally found its subject. Because of the subject all that jazzy camera angles( which dominates every mainstream film out of Bombay) didnt seem over the top.
The script was pretty well crafted. My favourites would be the consistency of Debbie's(Shahana Goswami) character & the way Aditya's(Farhan Akhtar) ex-girlfriend track was tackled. Shahana Goswami was the best actor of ROCK ON. Hands Down. Where did they find her? I really liked the fact that Debbie never gets senti in the whole film. Even in the climax she's doesn't wanna let go of Joe. In the end she is defeated by their passion. I was so relieved that she didn't get senti & let Joe go like any other film. It was also a rare film where the Husband was very cool with his Wife's ex-Boyfriend. Esp since they were rivals(BTW I had guessed this was gonna happen when CHAKRAVYU were walking off the stage). But I feared that the Husband might turn out to be the Villain of the 3rd act. And was relieved & surprised to be proved wrong.
ACTING -
Shahana ruled the movie all the way for me. Purab had the best lines in the film & he did a good job of it. To some his character might be the most likable. I thought Luke Kenny was as good as him. It was sad that they had to force the ultimate movie cliche of brain Tumor on him in the climax. Farhan did a very decent job of acting. I really liked his reaction shots. He is not any great actor for sure. He is a director who was playing a character he understands well. Like Jaideep said, he might be playing himself, but he played well & we should acknowledge that. The one actor who dissapointed me most was Arjun Rampal. Esp in the dinner table scenes where Debbie is nagging & complaining. He had this same expression throughout the film. Perhaps his take on the character was different & valid, but it didn't work on me. I thought his character could have been the guy that the audience would most empathize with. Arjun just seemed a bit stiff to me. Arjun knows this world. He has sang a great song for Sandeep Chowta's band PULSE called "Don't Marry" years back. I even saw them live in 1995 in Bangalore.
MUSIC -
For a film about Rock Scene of India, should the music be done by people who came out of that scene? Like Vishal & Shekhar? I have to say it was very weird that the weakest part about a movie about rock music was its lyrics. And that bothered me to no end. It was ridiculous. I mean SINDBAD THE SAILOR? I mean What The Fuck! With all due respect to Javed Saab & his genius, maybe this was a form a music he shouldnt have given lyrics to. Except for the song in the climax dedicated to Joe, Farhan's singing abilities left much to be desired. But That song was really well sung by him. Maybe they should have had the music of PAANCH in ROCK ON.
BTW the best band/song of the film I thought was the band of kids that we see before Magik in the [V] Launchpad in the climax. Even the lyrics were not that atrocious.
In the end I would say it was a good film. When Rock fans were bitching about it after seeing the trailer I told them that they are asking too much & when people were going ga-ga over it I didn't raise my expectations one but. I didn't have any high expectations from the film, & got exactly what I expected from it. I don't think I can expect a movie about a Rock Band to be really Raw & real with this kind of budget. What I hope is it will inspire a few rock bands who will sing in Hindi & make the genre more popular. Thats one thing we can learn from our Pakistani brothers.
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