Rock On!! Magik

After all that I have been saying so far, after all that I have written so far, this is the only one place where it has come true. Now I know for certain that someone else shares my views and I know that people appreciate it. Now I can stand with a certain amount of conviction. What have I been saying, you ask?

Make it from the heart and you make Rock On!!

It’s just not the name of the band, but it is the whole ride that is magical. Everything is so perfect. Everything fits into everything so well. And yet it is not preachy (hearing Mr. Bansali?) and yet it touches every nook and corner of the heart. It has drama, a certain amount of (if I may use the term) suspense, a certain amount of humour, pathos and thereby, you get wholesome entertainment. No one thing or no one person has tried to hog the limelight –the actors, nor the musicians, not the cameraman, and least of all the director. And the last point that I just mentioned is as per my definition, the best value to have in a film. When a movie can be felt without the director, without the presence of a person governing everything that you see, only then does the whole process become absorbing. You lose the thread between the real and the illusionary.

I have noticed this in many Hindi films lately and of course, you will now definitely add things and understand why I talk of Indian films in most of my articles these days. I felt that this process started completely from Dil Chahta Hain and carried on through many films, right up to Johnny Gaddar. As soon as the director becomes invisible, the movie becomes enjoyable. That is also primarily the problem with movies like Black and to name the most recent one, The Last Lear. Obsessive, self-focused directors more often than not, mar their own movies.

But back to the song that we have on hand as of this moment, I think we were discussing Rock On!! And I still need to tell you what a wonderful picture it is. I won’t divulge the story, because that is something I never do, and no one really reads this site – so that is just a lot of hard-work for no actual purpose. But anyways, we all need to Rock On!!

What makes this movie so great within its own story line and onomatopoeic existence is the marvel of the flow. The to-and-fro screenplay is so well written that there is never a nagging thought left somewhere at the back of your mind as to what happened where. The flow is completely sanguine and comfortable. And it is not an easy story to tell. It flows at two parallel levels and it manages to focus on both, without leaving anything abrupt. That is the power of a magical story-teller. For instance, if you compare this to Benegal’s Trikaal, you will understand what I am getting at. Trikaal focuses on the retelling of a story by a man who has come back home. Therefore there is no parallel track that lies in the movie. The whole story is set in the past. Here, the attempt is different. Past events lead up to the future and a unilateral progression would make the whole feature boring and monotonous. By keeping both sides of the coin at bay, the whole system is wonderfully created.

The dialogues by Farhan Akhtar are also of top quality. They are not poetry, and that is the point. They are what we speak, what we here. No corny euphony, no stereotypical catch-lines, no slumbered rhetoric – just plain and simple speech and dialogue. I saw that in a Hindi movie after a long, long time. Brilliant!

And that is just the point that I am making. Every aspect of film making has delivered to the T. All right, everyone is going to say that Akhtar sang badly. But every heard any singer in a live performance? At least the ones who sing on stage and don’t lip-sync? If you have, you’ll know what I mean... His songs therefore give me another high before the changing face of Hindi cinema. The attention to detail is immaculate.

Obviously, it goes without saying that all the roles were performed magnificently. The characters were sketched in truism and the players played it to perfection. Farhan Akhtar was a revelation and now he will be a joy to watch both in front and behind the camera. Arjun Rampal has gone miles in these last few years. The sentimental artist is written all over his face and to his credit, he seems to have also learnt some simple guitar chords. Luke Kenny, as well all know, is a master of all trades. And he never seemed to have become a rolling stone. And Purav Kohli – man, you really are a Killer Drummer!

Finally, a rock film which does justice to the genre. Not just a hotch-potch with stupid songs all claiming to be rock songs – you know, people screaming and banging their heads... That’s metal, Rock On!! is pure and simple rock!

Rock On!!