Friday, September 5, 2008

Movie review - Rock On! SEL - take a bow.....Farhan Akhtar - welcome!!

so there was farhan akhtar....who i think is the symbol of the new man.....the intelligent, talented, in touch with his feminine side type of man we women are suckers for...refreshingly intelligent as opposed to the filmi …….i was all ready to fall in love with him.... The buzz about the movie has been with us enough to intrigue and interest…..wondering what farhan akhtar had up his sleeve this time….i have a hard time believing gattu Kapoor had anything to do with the directing of this movie that has farhan akhtar written all over it….

the music released... I was blown away.....listening to the songs, made me want, this time for real to put himesh reshammiyya to death..... i had a feeling Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy had just given their best.....the guys are undoubtedly the most talented set of music makers, with a fabulouys good range of music that they've made for the movies over the last few years.... 

we finally made it to the movie a few days ago........first up, we had terrible seats.....right next to the entry point of the screen(adlabs) which meant all those who came in late (and there were loads of them) plus the usher flashing his torch to show them their seats and all other people who annoyingly wanted to answer their calls were all a bloody nuisance...... 

the story is about the four friends who dreamt of making music together.....their camaraderie....hopes and dreams for the future..... the movie goes back and forth in a brilliantly edited montage of flashbacks....it tells you where they wanted to take their band "magik" and where they landed up.....

aditya shroff (farhan) is now an investment banker living the dream life with a lovely but bored wife Sakshi (Prachi Desai) who feels she's living with a zombie she can never know completely.... kedar zaveri (purab kohli) gets into the family business of jewellery..... Rob Nancy( luke Kenny) who still makes music ..... Albeit for Anu malik (in a cameo) because in his words he "does'nt know anything else"..... and Joe Mascarenhas (arjun rampal - fabulous job) the lead guitarist who walks with the weight of a dream gone bust and a life gone awry on his shoulders......his wife Debbie (shahana goswami) becomes the one who has to hold their dismal life together by giving up her dream of being a fashion stylist for the more practical one of handling a failing fish business.....

how they get to be where they are, you know that they enter and wins a music contest where they win the chance to make a video and album.....but the pressures of the real world (read remix additions onto their album) and differences of opinion, ego and insecurity and the sheer magnitude of hurt that comes with young dreams shattering tear them apart and they part…only to carry the burden of that parting through the next part of their lives, which seem empty without their music, but they seem to scared to pick up where they left off….......

they finally get back together to battle the demons of the past and finally put them behind them….. they have to face all the things they ran away from and shed all the bitterness they harbor for one another and a dream gone sour…..

the soul of the movie is the music which makes it possible to believe that this motley crew could be a rock band.......and takes you through some funky yet meaningful lyrics set to great songs.....my favourite is Sindbad the sailor..... and the ballad "ye, tumhari meri baatein" sung beautifully by dominique cerejo (whoever she is) has a lilting voice..... 

the movie sees some superlative acting from an ensemble cast..... the camera clearly loves farhan akhtar(and he loves it back as passionately)..... despite everyone saying he needs to work on his voice, i think it lends credibility to his character.... he emotes effortlessly and with such sincerity that its difficult to think this is his first outing as an actor...... the angst that makes him want to build a tower around himself to protect himself from the past he is running away from is played to perfection.....

Arjun rampal as joe in this movie is a revelation....... in the best performance of the film and his modest outing as an actor…he endears himself to the audience and his body language is perfect….the hunched shoulders....the brooding, disinterest in life, the passiveness to the nagging of an equally frustrated wife.... a man so defeated in life he cannot lift a finger..... he is also the most credible guitar playing actors in indian movies!! to his credit i read somewhere that he learnt chord positions for this role....and kudos to the director to film it in such angles that you aren’t desperate to see his fingers pluck the strings to be convinced that he is the lead guitarist..... 

purab kohli as kedar, the boy who still has a twinkle in his eyes at the sound of something exciting after all these years is endearing. Luke Kenny in the role of rob nancy ….. the keyboardist who still makes music, but leads a lonely sad life…..does an adequate job  with his role…..

Prachi desai as the demure bored wife of a man who seems to exist but not quite…..brings a quiet dignity to the way she really wants her husband’s happiness even though she may not find a place for herself there…..

Shahana goswami as joe’s wife (Debbie – take a bow girl) does such a job of losing her sheen as the frustrated wife trying to hold on to straws to make her miserable life better is so believeable, you want to sit her down and offer her a cup of tea…..

Tho the movie in the second half seems like it wants to quick fix all the problems so that we can have a picture perfect ending, seems to rush through and suddenly everything falls into place…..isnt as good as the first half….Rock on will be remembered as a movie that is slick, yet all heart, and possibly the best we have had till date on music.

Camerawork is topnotch and so is the styling of the movie and the attention to detail makes you want to shout and dance with joy…..

While this movie wont exactly make you want to dust your dreams and charge after them….it does make you look at them fondly…..this movie also is just what it is….a very well made, hindi film that will stand testimony to the talent of the people who made it possible……...its a must watch….so Rock On!!

 

 

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