Rocking Rock-On

A shaadi-ka-song in a rock album – this is exactly what Rock On turned out to be. The switching of the storyline between the “rocking” past and the mundane present was brilliantly done. This aroused curiousity in the audience to find out what went wrong among the friends. The characters of the film were well-designed. I could, kind of, associate myself with KD or Aditya. Now, don’t get me wrong here. I don’t mean that I am as rich as Aditya/KD are shown – nor I was part of a rock band – nor were the characters inspired by me – I bet u didn’t see my name in acknowledgements. But, rock was an integral part of our college life - rock competitions during fests, rock performances during freshers’/farewell, rock songs played in gachhtolas and canteens. I was never and am still not into rock, but somehow, rock did get into me, though very little. And now, I am leading a corporate life where disco nights have taken over rock shows and cafeteria over canteen. Outwardly, it all appears great. But somehow, there is a yearning to go back to the good ole days. This was portrayed in both KD’s and Aditya’s character.

The movie went well , given that it was targeted for not-so-rock-savvy Indian audience who thinks that Boyzone in a rock band. It doesn’t get into the darker/harsher side of the rock genre. The music was good and went well with the story – kudos to Shankar Ehsaan Loy. The movie and the friendship did reminded me of DCH but then, any movie showing urban-contemporary friendship is bound to be compared to or associated with DCH.

But. the brain tumor thing was too much of melodrama – though not explicit. The movie could have been just about a rock band. Why does someone need to have brain tumor, of all the deseases? This was similar to the stand of the music company owner. When Magik won the Channel V contest and was offered an album , the audio company asked it to add a shaadi-ka-gaana to the rock album. C’mon, this is the limit. This is highly unrealistic. Given the era in which the movie was set, it unrealistic and irrational of the audio company owner to insist for a marriage song to a rock album. The company should have analyzed the taste of rock fans. Which rock fan would have bought that album if it had a marriage song? Also, which non-rock fan would have bought it if it had 7 rock songs? – This reminds me of the behavior of a lot of politicians! Similar to this shaadi-ka-gaana thing was the brain-tumor saga. This made the film lose it’s realistic treatment it was given before Rob’s tumor case. Also, the PJs cracked by KD do not go well with rock stars – I don’t blame the director/writer for this - as the kind of jokes rock stars crack wouldn’t have got censor certificate. Also, the “response” of the audiences shown in the rock concert was too made-up. No headbangs, no rock-on gesture by hands. Rock show is not complete without these. The director/choreographer should have visited at least one proper rock show.

Overall, I’d rate this movie 7/8 (in proportion to 7 rock songs out of 8 songs in the album and 1/8 of the film having the brain-tumor stuff. The treatment of the film is fairly realistic. The music is superb – goes well with the movie. The acting of each of the actors is brilliant. The screenplay is amazing as wel. You don’t feel guilty of wasting some 2.5 hrs. I’d say it’s worth spending not only for the ticket but also for cola and popcorn