Just came back from the first day, first show screening of this film! I must say that, due to all the pre-release hype and going by the excellent (and a very original) music score achieved by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy, I had very high expectations. To say that I'm a little disappointed won't be wrong but hey! Rock On!! isn't a bad movie! In fact, its far from it. Director Abhishek Kapoor (Aryan) does a fine job donning the director's cap but one can't help but see the influence that Farhan the director must've had on the movie for there are scenes which have his typical trademark style! Well, honestly when the end product is a movie like Rock On!!, I couldn't be bothered more by who's directed it and who's credited for it.
The story of Rock On is all about following your dreams and, as the tagline says: Living it! Now coming to the story, its about four friends: Aditya (Akhtar), Joe (Rampal), Rob (Kenny) and KD (Kohli) and their band that they choose to call "Magick". Their struggle to follow and accomplish their dream of making it big with "Magick". Cut to present day, Aditya is a businessman, Rob works under Anu Malik (yeah! watch out for the cameo by Malik lol, also look out for Javed Akhtar in the movie..... you'll be surprised to find him there, and where!! lol again!), KD does a job and Rampal runs a music shop and gives guitar lessons to kids. What caused the band to break up and will these guys get back to pursue their dreams again is what forms the rest of the story.
To say that Rock On!! succeeds in reminding you of Dil Chahta Hai in parts, of your schooling / college days, of the good old times that you shared with your friends, of the rare innocence you had when you started out would be nothing but describing the strong points of the film. There'd be parts where I'd feel "ditto" coz I've been there, done that... so have all of us at some point of time or the other.
Talking about the strong points of the films, well, there's more that needs to be written about! In terms of performances, this is, undoubtedly, Rampal's film. No other character has been more well defined or better performed as Rampal's Joe Mascarenhas. The scenes in which he emotes some of the feelings that his character goes through are the the high-points of the film. Oh, and btw, that's a sexed-out Santana look that Rampal carries and pulls off with panache. Watch out for him during the climax-- he steals almost every scene that he's in! Following Rampal is debutante-actor / singer, Mr. Versatile, you make Mr. Javed Akhtar proud with almost everything that you do! Farhan Akhtar gives an impressive performance and its hard to tell that this is his first (keeping in mind that The Fakir of Venice is yet to be released). Of course, the lisps and his cracked-up voice are some of the biggest flaws that Akhtar needs to work on. Surprisingly, its the same husky voice that works to his advantage as a singer. I don't know whether SEL worked on his voice in music editing softwares to get the desired results but truth be told, he sounds amazing, at least on record he does! In terms of whether Akhtar has a very bright future as an actor or not, is hard to tell just basing it on one film but if I had to go with my intution and understanding of the industry, I'd say that Akhtar the actor doesn't have a very long life span (no complaints about his performances at all! Just a word of what I feel). Prachi Desai, Purab Kohli, Bird and Luke Kenny provide apt support and all the four cast members mentioned here manage to stand their own ground, in short- impressive performances! Now coming to the music, there is nothing I could say or write that would justify the brilliance of the job done by S-E-L. Truly truly different soundtrack after such a long time. In fact, its the soundtrack which made me want to watch the film on the first place. Javed Akhtar matches the trio at every step of excellence that they tread. Its tough to point out a single favorite in an album that so many. Tum Ho To is according to me, the best-sung track by Mr. F. Akhtar in this collection of musical gems. A clever move on SEL and Akhtar's part, taking the theme music of Lakshya and making a Rock On title track out of it that truly rocks, way to go!! Zahreelay, of course, in terms of lyrics, composition, and performance is the most hatke track of the album! Listen to it carefully and you'll realise it has genius written all over it. Finally we have our first Hindi Metal number!!! Phir Dekhiye is another very, very beautiful track. Socha Hai has been my callertune for a month now--- need I say more? And of course, Pichle Saat Dino Mein: the track that soooooo defines one's life in the early years! Yeh Tumhari Meri Baatein sort of reminds me of a track that SEL had delivered in one of their earlier flicks, Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai but then, who's complaining?? In fact, to seal it, it wouldn't be wrong to say that this is Akhtar-SEL-Akhtar's greatest album to have released since Dil Chahta Hai and that is, a very bold statement but true!
The story of Rock On is all about following your dreams and, as the tagline says: Living it! Now coming to the story, its about four friends: Aditya (Akhtar), Joe (Rampal), Rob (Kenny) and KD (Kohli) and their band that they choose to call "Magick". Their struggle to follow and accomplish their dream of making it big with "Magick". Cut to present day, Aditya is a businessman, Rob works under Anu Malik (yeah! watch out for the cameo by Malik lol, also look out for Javed Akhtar in the movie..... you'll be surprised to find him there, and where!! lol again!), KD does a job and Rampal runs a music shop and gives guitar lessons to kids. What caused the band to break up and will these guys get back to pursue their dreams again is what forms the rest of the story.
To say that Rock On!! succeeds in reminding you of Dil Chahta Hai in parts, of your schooling / college days, of the good old times that you shared with your friends, of the rare innocence you had when you started out would be nothing but describing the strong points of the film. There'd be parts where I'd feel "ditto" coz I've been there, done that... so have all of us at some point of time or the other.
Talking about the strong points of the films, well, there's more that needs to be written about! In terms of performances, this is, undoubtedly, Rampal's film. No other character has been more well defined or better performed as Rampal's Joe Mascarenhas. The scenes in which he emotes some of the feelings that his character goes through are the the high-points of the film. Oh, and btw, that's a sexed-out Santana look that Rampal carries and pulls off with panache. Watch out for him during the climax-- he steals almost every scene that he's in! Following Rampal is debutante-actor / singer, Mr. Versatile, you make Mr. Javed Akhtar proud with almost everything that you do! Farhan Akhtar gives an impressive performance and its hard to tell that this is his first (keeping in mind that The Fakir of Venice is yet to be released). Of course, the lisps and his cracked-up voice are some of the biggest flaws that Akhtar needs to work on. Surprisingly, its the same husky voice that works to his advantage as a singer. I don't know whether SEL worked on his voice in music editing softwares to get the desired results but truth be told, he sounds amazing, at least on record he does! In terms of whether Akhtar has a very bright future as an actor or not, is hard to tell just basing it on one film but if I had to go with my intution and understanding of the industry, I'd say that Akhtar the actor doesn't have a very long life span (no complaints about his performances at all! Just a word of what I feel). Prachi Desai, Purab Kohli, Bird and Luke Kenny provide apt support and all the four cast members mentioned here manage to stand their own ground, in short- impressive performances! Now coming to the music, there is nothing I could say or write that would justify the brilliance of the job done by S-E-L. Truly truly different soundtrack after such a long time. In fact, its the soundtrack which made me want to watch the film on the first place. Javed Akhtar matches the trio at every step of excellence that they tread. Its tough to point out a single favorite in an album that so many. Tum Ho To is according to me, the best-sung track by Mr. F. Akhtar in this collection of musical gems. A clever move on SEL and Akhtar's part, taking the theme music of Lakshya and making a Rock On title track out of it that truly rocks, way to go!! Zahreelay, of course, in terms of lyrics, composition, and performance is the most hatke track of the album! Listen to it carefully and you'll realise it has genius written all over it. Finally we have our first Hindi Metal number!!! Phir Dekhiye is another very, very beautiful track. Socha Hai has been my callertune for a month now--- need I say more? And of course, Pichle Saat Dino Mein: the track that soooooo defines one's life in the early years! Yeh Tumhari Meri Baatein sort of reminds me of a track that SEL had delivered in one of their earlier flicks, Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai but then, who's complaining?? In fact, to seal it, it wouldn't be wrong to say that this is Akhtar-SEL-Akhtar's greatest album to have released since Dil Chahta Hai and that is, a very bold statement but true!