What’s it about?
I am a big sucker for those ‘coming of age-breaking free-follow your dreams’ kinds of movie. That’s precisely the reason why I enjoyed ‘Rock On’ so much. And of course, the great music helped.
The story of four twenty-somethings’ tryst with their own ambitions is inspiring and heart-warming. The movie starts off in an abandoned basement with Rob (Luke Kenny), Aditya (Farhan Akhtar), KD ( Purab Kohli) and Joe (Arjun Rampal) setting up their music equipment. There is trivial banter, a bit of leg-pulling and some awesome music. You are drawn in from the first take. It’s not difficult to relate to a bunch of goofy guys sprouting smart one-liners, making music on the go, living for a dream. You see the faces of your friends in them. You feel young and inspired.
The narrative flashes forward to the present. Ten years have passed, the band and friendships broken. The four friends are living clichéd lives that are far from what they had dreamed, their ambitions frustrated. Aditya’s wife’s desperate attempts to bring happiness into her husband’s life creates a chance for a band reunion. They find an opportunity to perform together. The movie goes back and forth, unraveling the reasons for the band’s split up. The story is simple, unoriginal and yet it engages you.
So is it any good?
‘Rock on’ is Farhan Khan’s acting and singing debut and he is brilliant. Arjun Rampal perfectly plays the part of the talented loser and his performance is very well supported by Shobhana Goswami. You instantly empathize with a wife who is caught between the practical realities of life and has no time or patience for her husband’s dreams. Prachi Desai is convincing in the role of a rich socialite though the acting is a little rough around the edges. Purab & Rob also fit their roles well.
The main appeal of the movie is that it appears to be real and not over the top. You want to know what happens to these characters and for me, that is a good enough reason as any to watch this.
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2 comments
A very innovative concept that Bollywood could come up after a long time! but it so reminds me of the Beatles story. The music is great though.
Hmm…Beatles huh? Well Beatles were much bigger and lasted much longer. Do you remember the movie by Tom Hanks “The Wonders” I think? It is really much closer to that – atleast for the first half.