By
the time this movie got over, I said to myself
atleast umpteen number of times “WoW,
what a direction”.
This movie really rocks at the edge –
reverberating, pulsating, throbbing and charging
the audience in an altogether new consciousness
of entertainment. If you want to feel a new
definition of entertainment-energy, an altogether
new singular genre in filmmaking, an altogether
new electric-punch in freshness – ROCK
ON is the answer!
Right from the beginning where titles are innovatively
dispersed on the silver celluloid, the screenplay
is gripping and rugged. The way the flashback
is handled shows the maturity of the director
– there is no deliberation to highlight
it is flashback, but left to the intelligence
of the viewer to understand that. The camera
is never hanging and carries off well till the
end of the movie much like the concept and storyline
itself – dynamic and vivacious. Even though
there is no significant storyline (Friends of
a music band MagiK part due
to a misunderstanding and reconcile their friendship
in the end), nevertheless, the script, the screenplay
and the direction keeps everyone glued to the
seats. Yes, I am tempted to say there is a strong
resemblance of the directorial style to Farhan
Akhtar’s Dil Chahta Hai (even
though director Abhishek Kapoor would not agree
to this in his interviews); but who cares –
so long as the impact is terrific (which is
what it is), it does not really matter whether
Abhishek Kapoor was influenced by Farhan Akhtar
(or whether Farhan Akhtar controlled some of
the screenplay given that he is the producer
of this film). In a few words, I would rate
Rock On better than even Dil Chahta
Hai.
Now time to bring the multi-talented Farhan
Akhtar to limelight: In my opinion, Farhan Akhtar
has given a brilliant performance. Even though
his role doesn’t require to produce over
- energized acting, the way Farhan has carried
off his role is simply magical. It’s very
easy to under-act / overact such a role, but
Farhan has shown to everyone, what a debutant
actor can teach even to the ones experienced.
His precision to gestures, body language, subtle
eye movements, pauses – is simply perfect
– too difficult to criticize, even if
you made an attempt. Perhaps Farhan has set
a classic mark for debutant actors, a mark high
enough for even stalwarts like Nasseruddin Shah
or Mohan Lal to take notice of (yes, Farhan
deserves this credit). Farhan is not just the
dominant actor and the producer (it takes guts
to produce a movie of this sort), but also deserves
special mention to five of the songs he sung
for the movie. What really pulls off the corners
and shows is the way Farhan has effortlessly
portrayed his character – be it on the
corporate side, or as a family man or as a singer.
The scene where Farhan involves the audience
to synergize the song “na-na-na-na-na-na-na”
cannot be anything less than magical moments
of the movie – it is this moment that
is the turning point of the movie, the point
of no return for the audience into a speechless
journey till the end. Yet another noteworthy
scene of Farhan is the way he dissipates his
energy thumping, jumping and dancing especially
during Joe’s return into the final concert;
I was taken aback to see the way this emotion
was carried – simply superb!
There is of course another huge wave of credit
that’s waiting – the invaluable
priceless contribution by SEL (Shankar Eshaan
Loy) – the real battery-power of this
movie. Phew! What a contribution!!! The music
palpitates and hammers the audience to the core.
One may debate whether the music is pleasant
to the ears, but it does not matter. To me what
appealed was the sense of music (real hard Rock)
used to suit the theme both as a background
score (sound engineered by Baylon Fonseca) and
as a treatise of songs. The way the electric
guitar and bass guitar is exercised, the way
drums symbolize the emotions, the way the song-tempos
are built – is simply remarkable. I would
think it’s quite natural for SEL to have
created this musical-enchantment, given that
they can relate so closely to the characters
and storyline (in fact, for moments one may
get a feeling the movie is a true story of SEL).
SEL have broken all boundaries and conventions,
they have let their emotions flow wild and honestly
from their heart to create this oceanic effect.
I am neither a fan of Rock music nor do I understand
it any better – yet I lived every moment
of the music to my heart’s content; and
to add, there are reviews floating on the web
saying the music is unpleasant to the ear; this
could be true in a way if you were to independently
listen to the songs even before you watched
the movie (but not after you watched); the reason
is – unlike other movies, here the music
works at a very earthen level, at the level
where it really cares for the concept and storyline
(more than merely giving a set of hits just
for the heck of it to MP3 world). It does take
a while to realize this and I will be glad if
atleast the reviewers did, if not everyone.
Abhishesk Kapoor has done a fantastic job a
director. He has shown how songs can be blended
(perhaps after Rang De Basanti, it
is Rock On that has exhibited this
sort of maturity), he has shown what characterization
means to a movie (it couldn’t have been
more realistic to show the way a music band
dresses, the way a music band practices and
the way a music band gives performances), he
has shown what freshness and energy is, he has
shown how to bring in mature comedy through
the character of Purab Kholi (the way Abhishek
Kapoor engages a scene of Purab Kholi in a freeflow
dancing at a pub amid beautiful ladies cheering
him is noteworthy). In short – Abhishek
Kapoor has shown what it means to create a new
genre (after his earlier fiasco debut Aryan
that miserably bombed).
As special mention of the title: I am tempted
to say that the name of the band chosen as MagiK
(note the K instead of the C at the end) is
just apt; MagiK is different
from Magic in that the term
Magik in the world of supernatural
science is used for anyone who creates the miracles
out of his spirit (rather than a bunch of tricks
or illusions – Magic). The four friends
of the story work honestly out of their spirit
and passion (and not merely for money) to create
the much desired MagiK (and not magic). I don’t
know if Abhishek Kapoor himself realized this?,
atleast this is my take of the title.
Deepa Bhtatia is phenomenal at the Editing,
she has given a new feel to dissolves, mixes
and slip-transitions. The camerawork by Jason
West is yet again a new definition in terms
of lighting, filters used and framing. Rock
On really works beyond boundaries, barriers
and languages. There is a paradigm shift in
the way movies are made. Rock On is
a pride to showcase the world that Hindi cinema
has once again attempted to put the bar higher
(after movies like Rang De Basanti, Life
in a METRO, Johnny Gaddar, Taare Zameen Par,
A Wednesday) in the realm of filmmaking
which deserves every director across the globe
to raise the brows and give a standing ovation.
Hindi Film Industry today (with the explosion
in experimental / parallel cinema), has grown
leaps and bounds and is evolving continually,
continentally and contemporarily – much
like the Italian, French and Portugal films.
Hollywood might be good just in using cameras
and special effects, but I guess it is time
Hollywood came out of their socks and learnt
filmmaking from movies like Rock On (this is
no exaggeration and is a true compliment to
a great cinema like Rock On).
Sreesha Belakvaadi
Sreesha.buddha@gmail.com
