Rock On: Another feather is Farhan Akhtar’s cap
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August 31st, 2008

One of the most underplayed debuts of recent times, Farhan Akhtar is a winner all the way, despite the missing brouhaha that surrounds the first film of anyone belonging to of a Bollywood family, as he rolls out another endearing and young film much like Dil Chahta Hai.

The storyline couldn’t get simpler. A set of young close knit college friends start a band called Magic that goes on to win a rock contest giving them their first big break. But misunderstandings soon lead to their break up and consecutive estrangement with each of them locking up their passion for music to pursue more practical career options. What they all leave behind is their camaraderie and an unfulfilled passion for music only to lead superficially sated lives with a void that almost never goes away.

Ten years and an accidental meeting brings them all face to face with their past confronting them with their denial and incompletion. And what begins then, is a resurrection for their first love and another contest that would bring the band back together on the stage, this time for more emotional reasons than otherwise.

An undemanding story, portrayed with much ease and comfort, Rock On is absolutely fabulous and most believably real.

The music is great and Farhan Akhtar is as magical on the vocals as he is in his role play.

Other actors too have played their roles to the ‘T’. Newcomer Prachi Desai surely is multi-talented and shows great promise. Arjun Pampal, Purab Kohli and Luke Kenny have all done a great job in the film.

Farhan Akhtar and his director Abhishek Kapoor can surely look forward to a great hit at the Box office.

There Are 33 Responses So Far. »

  1. Comment by Achilles on 31 August 2008:

    DCH, Lakshya, Don, Honeymoon Travels … and now Rock On … a rmarkable fellow by all means … bollywood needs such multi-talents.

    If Rock On goes on to a big hit … Farhan may well be close to what Aamir has achieved in two decades .. a brand name for sensible cinema … in a much shorter time.

  2. Comment by Tony Montana on 31 August 2008:

    The best film of 2008 so far. A masterpiece IMO. Wow Just wow. I have not experienced this level of greatness in the cinema for a long time. I am def buying the DVD of this movie.

    P.S. IMO ‘Rock on’ is more consistent than DCH. DCH second half was stretched excessively. Plus you dont feel anything for Dimple kapadia’s character. Here you cannot help but feel emotionally attached to every single character. This is definately most ‘COOLEST’ bollywood movie ever.

  3. Comment by Tony Montana on 31 August 2008:

    Achilles ‘Rock on’, ‘DCH’ & ‘Honeymoon Travels’ r more of Farhan Akhter’s Cinema than ‘Don’ or ‘Lakshya’.

  4. Comment by neelu on 31 August 2008:

    Farhan’s 3 directorial ventures are different enough that we do not know what “his” cinema is. I wish Rock On had a big release in the US so I could see it now. But I agree with Achilles that he is quickly becoming his OWN brand.

  5. Comment by utkal on 31 August 2008:

    This is the coolest Bollywood film in years. I like it more than JTYJN and even DCH. This is as cool as DCH, but with more real characters and more sincere story telling.

    And yes, just like Amir, apart from promoting good cinema, by doing not talking, Farhan is also constantly extending his creative persona, producing, directing, writing, acting , and wow! even singing.

  6. Comment by Aarohi on 31 August 2008:

    Rock On has its moments but it never touches DCH primarily because it comes across as a DCH clone and it is full of cliches.

  7. Comment by sandy on 31 August 2008:

    “Rock On has its moments but it never touches DCH primarily because it comes across as a DCH clone and it is full of cliches.”

    Exactly, my point aarohi. For a film to be superior to DCH –it has to break a mould –not merely weave a story into the same paradigm with so many clichés. Yes, Rock On is a darker film – a well-made film on various counts but I don’t see it as extraordinary in any which way.

  8. Comment by utkal on 31 August 2008:

    DCH clone? This is bout music and one’s dreams. What has it got to do with DCH excepet that both are smart and wellcrfated movies with male bonding as a central theme? DCH is mainly feel good, with a lot of goofing around,. This is a more serious exploration of human drams, struggle, and relationships. Just the work it has done on Hindi Rock itself equals the achievemnt of entire DCH.

  9. Comment by Achilles on 31 August 2008:

    I also think Rock On is the best movie of the year till now … i havent liked much of this year’s releases except JTYJN and JA … and Rock On is a more entertaining and better cinema than those two.

    As for DCH comparison … i feel Rock On has outdone all that DCH did … As for cliches … DCH is nothing but an assortment of cliches … surely u cant say DCH is better with regard to the point on cliches! RO has a better script, more real and matured characters and does not drag … unlike DCH, it does not loose its edge and tempo in the second half.

    Storywise, Rock On is def better … DCH was timepass with goofy character sketches fooling around and falling in love … and in many parts the movie was a drag.

    DCH had good presentation … so does RO … infact RO breaks new grounds in the way it captures the amateur Rock band scenario thats a high point in the college and high school life in the metroes … and the movie captures the live acts much better than any shows shown in silver screen in bollywood till date. It has reached Hollywood standard and deserves to be appreciated. And Farhan has done a Val Kilmer with elan! another brakthrough for bollywood … specially after goofy crooning of the likes of Aamir and Abhi, its a breath of fresh air.

    As for performances … I like them better than the DCH … Farhan has underplayed the part with adequate subtlety … even a Rampal has done a great job … as has other actors like prachi, goswami, purab and luke.

    DCH was a more time-pass movie … so it connected well with the youth in general … as the highlight was running after girls, fooling around and falling in love. But Rock On will connect more strongly with anyone who is into music and is good enough a movie to be appreciated by the plex audience by large.

    As for Rangan, its his problem he went to see RO as an inspired ‘Doors’ movie … for what he cribbed that he did not get .. he shud just get a Doors DVD and kep watching it.

  10. Comment by Tony Montana on 31 August 2008:

    I dont agree with most of what Rangan writes. It is his Opinion newayz!

    I just cant believe this is the same Abhishek Kapoor who directed that crap called ‘Aryan’.

  11. Comment by Achilles on 31 August 2008:

    More than Abhishek Kapoor as the director, the more imp factor is its Farhan as the producer and his debut as an actor … its obvious who has pulled the strings.

  12. Comment by utkal on 1 September 2008:

    Rangan these days writes all kind of crap, trying to look different by pulling down what is generally being accepted universally ( TZP, TDK, and now Rock On). On the other hand he tries find merit with duds like Saawariya and average fare like BEH. Imagine, in the last Sunday’s issue of Indian Express, he was supposed to name 8 Bollywood films that he should check out as someone unexposed to Bollywood. He picked up DCH, CDI, Lakshya, Saawariya !!!

  13. Comment by Kaveetaa Kaul on 1 September 2008:

    The role of producer in making or breaking a films prospects cannot be underestimated. Show me a hit and I will show you a producer who has been exemplary in terms of cooperation,support and on the same wavelength as the Director and his team creatively, often contributing without being bullying. The reverse is painfully true as well. Farhan and Ritesh have undoubtedly been ideal backers. If Bollywood needs to rise from its rank regression, creatively, we need more such.

  14. Comment by Aarohi on 1 September 2008:

    I seem to have seen a different Rock On. The only area where RO outdoes DCH is in employing the cliches. DCH had many cliches especially in the 2nd half but RO goes further and adds a few more.

    Rock On has many positives and it is one of the better flicks I have seen recently, but it is too early to call it a masterpiece and all that.

    My biggest problem with the film was that I didn’t bought into the, so called, struggles of the main characters at all. Perhaps that’s my problem. ;)

  15. Comment by Aarohi on 1 September 2008:

    Rangan these days writes all kind of crap, trying to look different by pulling down what is generally being accepted universally

    Yeah, all kind of crap except for the kind of crap you like.

  16. Comment by utkal on 1 September 2008:

    aarohi, will you tell me which were the cliches in Rock On? Excepet for the Luke characyer stricken with terminal illness, the film was refreshingly free of cliches. And even the illness was handled much more elegantly when compared to films like KHNH. Right from the fiemlae characters, to the children, to the fish-business woman, to the music-loving Gujju jeweller,to the restrained Anu Malik ( any other film would have tried to make him look like a buffoon, the way earlier lovers / friend Aditya and Tanya react when they meet again, the dialogues ( I loved Farhan closing his investment banking talk with Jai Shri Krishna), the songs, the lyrics, everything was remarkably free of cliches.

  17. Comment by rks on 1 September 2008:

    Apple of the hip urban tree-ANASTASIA GUHA

  18. Comment by Aarohi on 1 September 2008:

    utkal: some thing which might have been considered hip in earlier days becomes a cliche over a period of time, which is fair enough; but Rock On has a bunch of cliches which were cliches even a decade ago. Impoverished Anglo Indian family, the music company folks, the convenient climax, brain tumor, etc. And the instances you mention where the films tries to be restrained and subtle, the effort shows. Anu Malik is restrained but his scenes are the most unnatural ones as if someone his holding a gun to his head asking him to be restrained. Didn’t work for me

  19. Comment by Dionysiac on 1 September 2008:

    “Rangan these days writes all kind of crap, trying to look different by pulling down what is generally being accepted universally”

    One might have strong disagreements with Rangan on a particular movie but to totally write off the review saying it’s a crap is ridiculous.Again since when movies accepted universally being labeled as classics or masterpieces?!Do universally accepted ones automatically transcend into quality movies?

  20. Comment by Achilles on 1 September 2008:

    I have found Rangan’s take on TDK and RO not doing justice to the films … he kind of sees films at times from his own perspective, which at times acts like a baggage in his reviews.

    Aarohi - On the cliches you mentioned, the terminal illness was not stressed to a death scene and mourning tears as happened in DCH, is a reunion of frds on a death bed less cliched than Rampal joining the show in the middle?

    As for the way the music company is portrayed, be it Anu or the record deal signing clown, u need to talk to any guy in the rock scene to know what it signifies … Rock is still being horrendously neglected in the indian music scene … with bollywood music industry being of least help … if u expect those narrow minded music industry guys to be shown as Gods and what not … no comments then.

    As for the struggles of the characters, i have said before it will be difficult for everyone to associate with it … young musicians who go deep into music are often forced to abandon their dreams due to family pressures, career pressures and what not … & they dont compromise without a grudge about it! A guy like Aditya who cannot accept the breaking up of his cherished band and his dream as a poet and musician, can force himself to do an mba and have an alternate career life, but can he ever let go of the past? … he is still an achiever no doubt, but if thats not what he really wanted, his unhappiness is not unnatural. Poets cant make compromises with lives as easily as you and me.

    The guitarist had too much of an ego (which lead to the breakup) .. and its natural that he cud never attend the glory he always wanted without his band … he can still be associated with music by running a music shop and playing at parties … but he is supposed to be happy with that? Maybe u have not met such characters in life … but i assure you they do exist.

    Luke and Purab were victims of the ego war between the lead guyz … and the unhappiness in KD’s life was because he knew he is terminally ill (something that Rangan could not grasp!!!!) … and Purab is too much of a happy-go-lucky chap to mourn over anything .. and he does not.

    A good band gets formed once in a lifetime … u need like-minded musicians to make ur kind of music … and when it happens, its very precious to all the band members … but then thats not the case with every other band out there in the street .. and watching the film in their kind of trivial perspective is doing injustice to the subject .. specially Mr Rangan.

    This is not a time pass girl woo-ing adventure … RO is all about passions … passions that get buried in life … but still survives and burns strongly deep inside the heart.

  21. Comment by Aarohi on 1 September 2008:

    Ach: Let me phrase it a bit diffrently; perhaps due the fact that you know some people similar to the ones portrayed in Rock On, you were more willing to overlook the film’s shortcomings than I was.

  22. Comment by Achilles on 1 September 2008:

    I will add a bit more … this movie is of and for dreamers and the truly romantic kind … not the kind of romance bollywood loves to believe in - woo the girl, woo the dad, woo the mom, shake ur ass, marry the girl, and end up with a kid.

    Each character out there is a romantic in the truest sense … Prachi after 4 years of almost empty marraige still loves her hubby to the extent that she goes all out just to bring a smile in his life … a man who is conventionally so successful can be so grudgingly unhappy, cynical & mechanical, only when he had to let go something that was really close to his heart. Joe’s love for music and the band … his storytelling abt broken dreams & memories of the past heydays to his son … KD’s wish to reunite and play together for the one last time before he goes out … its a movie about ultimate romantics … take it or leave it.

    As for practical people, they only have Debby to enjoy … and man dont they love her! (obviously i dont!!!) :D

  23. Comment by utkal on 1 September 2008:

    I am not writing off Rangan. He used to write intelligently earlier. Now, after getting total freedom to as mnay columns as he wants in New Indian Express, he seems to be on an ego trip, writing a lot of inconsequential nonsense. And he is trying too hard to go against the stream.

  24. Comment by Aarohi on 1 September 2008:

    Ach: That explains why you liked it more than a few others and why I liked it less than a few others. ;)

  25. Comment by Aarohi on 1 September 2008:

    utkal: “inconsequential nonsense” such as: Throne of Blood and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer. :)

  26. Comment by sandy on 1 September 2008:

    Why is it a problem to say that one didn’t think of Rock On as a masterpiece? No one’s saying it’s a bad film at all. I gave it three stars but to insist everyone think of it as a cult -before it becomes one— is strange to say the very least.
    It’s no Lagaan or Munnabhai yet and even there one can have a difference of opinion- though their stature cannot be denied!

    Let Rock On reach there and we will see. To jump on everyone who doesn’t see this is as anything less than a perfect film -when it’s just released last week - is strange to say the very least.
    For a film to be a cult or classic in my view, it needs to either break a mould(DCH, Lagaan) or be exceptionally superior in content. (Munnabhai). Rock On is a neat film - even an excellent film– but in my view, its framework was already defined by DCH. To say, it is better than DCH is no argument at all- as any film that is essentially paying a tribute to the original in terms of form and style — can never make its predecessor remotely lesser. This is simple common sense. Yes, a film can be superior in content but how can anyone take away from the structural change in filmmaking that DCH brought about? This was a paradigm shift.

    Taking a literary analogy, perhaps Salman Rushdie has succeeded a great deal with magical realism in recent times but does that take away from its masters, Virginia Woolf and Marquez. Let’s learn to differentiate between content and form.

  27. Comment by jeegs on 1 September 2008:

    I agree with Sandy that Rock on is basically Set on DCh structure if one sees it superficially . it has predictable graph of buddy films . But Director does not do anything wrong in this and creates wonderful characters , relationships and live shows are captured superbly . Rock on basically doesnot have the wit of DCH but its captures relationships superbly . What helps Rock on immensely is Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s music and Bakcground score and how its put together in the film . it’s feels like a MAGIK in theatre .

  28. Comment by Achilles on 1 September 2008:

    No hurry …a Rock On outdoing DCH shudnt worry much …coz its the same guy outdoing himself … i can understand Aamir fans not willing to accept it … it runs a risk of deconstructing a theory carefully built around DCH… anyways, in reality its Farhan getting better with time. ;)

  29. Comment by Achilles on 1 September 2008:

    This movie to running to packed houses even on a Monday at Kolkata … its already a rage among college students … and my college band connections inform me it has already been acceped very well by the young music fraternity all over.

  30. Comment by Achilles on 1 September 2008:

    A housefull of college students in the morning show clapping and singing nanananana with the chorus … thats the reception the movie is getting 2-3 days after release … what else cud Farhan ask for?

    never seen a movie going audience turning the theater into a live show ambience … the rolling stone cover is not much compared to this … if this is not indications of a cult film …ok … got it, by NG standards it has to be a JBJ to become a cult film

  31. Comment by rks on 4 September 2008:

    Saw Rock On. A good film wrt BW standards.

    **Contains spoiler**

    1. First 45 minutes, you might want to walk out of the hall.
    2. But story picks up after that and it is a good ride with certain shortcomings.
    3. I would say it is DCH-2 (broad contours, Male bonding, non-linear story, character’s chronic disease ) with more emphasis on relationships.
    4. Acting is good throughout the movie. Shahana Goswami, Farhan, Luke all of them were good. I wouldn’t say Debbie (Shahana Goswami) stole the show as she was given ample scope.
    5. Liked the last song. First few songs gave me headache. The constant NaNaNa felt like I am listening to Bryan Adams. But I assume that is the chorus with rock concerts?
    6. Music was good in the sense that it was complementing the movie.
    7. Arjun and Farhan’s characters were well etched out but Luke and Purab’s characters were little hazy in whole scheme of things (Probably they were not married).
    8. Things I think, director took liberty (I might be wrong)
    a. I believe girls/groupies get attached to a successful groups. They were a struggling group.
    b. Fight on the set leading to break up was contrived.
    c. When Purab and Luke characters were asked to join Aditya’s birthday party they readily agreed inspite of knowing the history. Prachi’s character mysteriously didn’t ask for breakup reason and was expecting all three to join.

    Overall good watch.

    ps: Aajkal sab log RGV ki tarah light mei paisa kyon baccha rahen hai? Aditya and Joe’s house were barely lit.

  32. Comment by Arun on 4 September 2008:

    Saw the movie the other day. Liked it to a certain extent but was heavily disappointed and saddened. Saddened, because the makers decided to settle for so less here when they had the world to explore. This movie could’ve easily been as big a movie as DCH, had they cared for a script to support the basic theme.

    But still, I did like the movie. All the actors were competent. Arjun looked every bit his character. Sahana was brilliant. But the major credit must go to SEL and Javed Sahab. The movie wouldn’t have been half as interesting but for it’s music. Farhan isn’t too bad a singer, actually. His singing does lend some much need believability to the movie.

  33. Comment by rks on 5 November 2008:

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