I can’t get enough of it. There it goes in my brains again… (Na Na na na na; Na Na…). Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy have completely floored it. They’ve got the sound of the movie bang on. This is the freshest compilation of music in a long long time to hit Bollywood; and what a movie to go with it. Farhan Akhtar continues to shock us with his talent. Be it directing, acting or singing.
ROCK ON is a cult movie, it’s nothing like anything I’ve seen before. I remember when I’d seen “That thing you do”, I searched frantically for the song in local music stores coz. I just loved it. The song made me high and ROCK ON (the entire album actually) is no different.
If you’re wondering whether I’m writing a movie review or a music review, then let me put it this way, this is a great music album which has an interesting story to it. So if you do not like the sound of its music, you might not like the movie. But then again, you might start liking the music once you see the movie. Rock On is a story of a rock band “Magik” – Adi (Farhan) as the vocalist, Joe (Arjun) as the lead guitarist, KD (Purab Kohli) as the drummer and Rob (Luke) on keyboards. They fall apart when they are really close to making it big. Ten years on, the suffocation of not fulfilling their dreams brings them back. Pretty simple storyline you’d say. Isn’t it; except that the tight script with intermittent flashbacks makes it very interesting to watch.
There are basically two things going for the movie – 1) the look and feel of it; and of course 2) the sound of it. The look is very contemporary and rock-ish. Everything, right from the band members, their look, the way they speak, their mannerisms, their relationships, everything reeks of a carefree rock attitude. Kudos to Abhishek Kapoor, he doesn’t lose focus from the main plot by diverging in unnecessary sub-plots, like Adi’s girlfriend, Rob’s illness; all of this has a subtle presence without being very loud. I mean, Adi’s wife never asks him about the girlfriend she saw in the recordings. Add to the director’s maturity, the brilliance of the actors. I mean, they seem just right for their roles. All of them could come on stage and you would believe, this is a Rock band. Prachi Desai as Sakshi (Adi’s wife) and Shabana Goswami as Debbie (Joe’s wife) have really surprised with amazing performances. Arjun Rampal, I guess, could now win the air guitar competition – he looks so real strumming the strings. Purab and Luke are superb in their characters. They aren’t just sideys, each one’s character has been defined and has depth. The revelation, of course, is Farhan. He looks suave in his suits and weekend dressings as an Investment banker and equally cool in his rocker t-shirts and long hair.
The sound of the movie is actually what makes it a success. It is rock and it feels real. The concerts, the live songs, all of these feel authentic and great. It is a pity that Arjun Rampal can’t actually play a guitar. He just kills it when he comes on stage with his hair flowing, strumming the opening piece for Sindabad the Sailor. As I mentioned, I can’t get enough of the songs and have been playing them in my car ever since I’ve watched the movie. I might be oversold on Farhan’s singing skills but for me, forget the surs or taals, whatever sounds good is good (and his voice btw, sounds great). Javed Akhtar has done a fab job with the lyrics; fresh and stirring. I’m actually looking forward to Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy concert featuring Farhan.
I could recommend this film singularly for its music but, there are so many things going for it that I’d have to classify it as ‘Must Watch’. I’m not sure what Farhan is going to come up with next but right from Dil Chahta Hai and Lakhsya to Don and now to Rock On, I’m sold over his genius.
Leave a comment