Rock On!! (2008)

The way some goals are so worthy that it's glorious even to fail, the same way some dreams are so lovely that even when they are not turning into reality, we should live them and allow them to live in us. And to the extent possible, we should pursue our dreams which are positive for us and negative for none. That's what is the message of Rock On (2008).Rock On tells the story of four friends who had dreamed to make it big in the world of music when in their early twenties - 1. Aaditya Shroff aka Aadi (Farhaan Akhtar), 2. Joseph Mascarenhaas aka Joe (Arjun Raampaal), 3. Kedar Zhaveri aka Killer Drummer aka KD (Poorab Kohli), 4. Robert Nancy aka Rob (Luke Kenny). They participated in a contest whose prize an opportunity to make own music album. These foursome known as Magic won the contest and then set to get own music album recorded. But the so-called practical world is populated less by the innocent dreamers like them and more by the manipulators who occupy chairs of power and authority to dictate terms to them despite not having an ounce of worthiness for that. And the truly deserving, talented ones have to listen to them and follow their dictates because the moment of time is on their side. These youngsters also had to endure everything and swallow all the bitter pills thrown at them by the chair-holders who controlled the resources. Aadi being more practical and adjusting digested everything so that the way towards the arrival of their first ever music album is paved. However Joe being a short-tempered man of self-respect fell prey to the irritating situation, leading to end of everything for these dreamers including their association.A decade has passed. Now these four friends are no longer a foursome. Each one of them is leading or struggling in his individual life. Aadi and KD are leading their lives which are comfortable though not internally satisfying whereas Joe and Rob are still struggling in the lines chosen or forced on them to make both ends meet. Aadi is a successful investment banker and happily married with Saakshi (Praachi Desaai) who feels that her husband has been hiding something as high and heavy as a mountain in his heart, not allowing herself to see it. He attempts to appear as happy but his inner reality is something else. She does not know that her husband is carrying the burden of a broken dream within him. KD is associated with his father's jewellery business being out of alternatives for himself. Rob is still struggling in the world of music and keeps in touch with Bollywood composer - Anu Malik. The most pathetic situation is that of Joe who has been fortunate enough to marry the love of his life - Debbie (Shahaana Goswami) but the struggle to make both ends meet for the family moves from day to day. Joe who wanted to be a great violinist is forced to sing here and there to get some money whereas Debbie who had dreamed with Joe to become a fashion-designer is taking care of the small scale fish business of his family which is the only main source of income for them.Fate makes KD meet Saakshi and then Saakshi comes to know of the bygone era containing the shattered dreams of the foursome. She tries to bring the separated friends together again and her success in this regard not only rekindle the hopes of the friends to do something worthwhile in the world of music but also bridges the decade old rift between Aadi and Joe. Debbie, being too much concerned with the poverty-stricken condition of their household arranges an overseas job for Joe but destiny has other plans. The magic band is revived but when it is about to take the stage for the second opportunity given to it by fate, Joe has to board the ship and Rob has to face death (because he has been suffering from a fatal illness for long). The climax takes place on a highly emotional note and when the movie is over, the viewer feels a throbbing in his / her heart.Rock On is a movie with its heart in the right place. It's a movie with a soul. Despite certain flaws here and there and the fact that the musical score of a movie based on a rock band should have been far superior to that of this movie, let me say loud and clear that Rock On is a superb movie. Very few mainstream movies are made in India with this level of sincerity. It's a movie of dreams. It's a movie of relationships. It's a movie of determination. It's a movie of survival in the cruel world.The style of narration is simply mindblowing. Cutting the narrative back and forth in the past as well as the present without even a drop of confusion, deserves lots of applause. All the principal actors have done superbly. I choose Shahaana Goswami as the best performer and Arjun Raampaal after her. But others are no less. Even supporting ones like Koel Purie (Saakshi's friend whom KD falls for) and Nicollette Bird (the ex-girlfriend of Aadi) have done complete justice to their roles.Rock On is a must watch for every dreamer. Fulfillment of dreams depends on certain external factors too and everybody is not fortunate to have his / her dream fulfilled. However our dreams are our babies. Let's not abandon them. Even when unfulfilled, they have given us a lot and hence they deserve to be cherished in our hearts. And if still there is a scope to make our dreams to be turned into reality, let's believe that it can be done.

Abhishek Kapoor's 'Rock On!' is definitely an improvement when compared to his directorial debut 'Aryan' which was a 'Rocky' plus 'other boxing movies' ripoff. But, as a film itself, 'Rock On' struggles to be just strictly average. It's not a movie I would be willing to revisit. After discussing this movie with a friend, we agreed that 'Rock On' is a half-baked product. The story is too clichéd and predictable that I easily lost interest. For example, killing off the Rob character because he has no girlfriend. The rockband Magik is comprised of a typical Bollywood group of friends where Rob is the one who the audience shouldn't give much of a damn about, Joe the quiet one, KD the 'virgin' wooing the women without much luck and Aditya, the 'main one'. The characters just aren't interesting. The ending is laughably bad.Moreover, there are just too many plot holes that irritated me. Since we're all supposed to believe that these guys are so passionate about music, why do they give up just after one fight? So the band dismembered but they could have pursued their own individual career. Only, Joe is seen to be struggling with his career in music but that too is apparently because 'he's no good in anything else'. Why does Aditya dump his girlfriend? If he wanted to break all ties with Magik, such that he'd dump his girlfriend through a note, why keep the photos etc?On the technical side, it's not so bad. I liked the jump cuts. The background score and cinematography are alright. For a movie about rock, well, the music isn't rocking at all. I wonder what kind of the drugs the lyricist when writing those truly abysmal lyrics. The songs lack soul and energy.The performances are a mixture. Shahana Goswami performs well and for a newcomer Prachi Desai is good too. Despite of having a clichéd role, Purab Kohli is perhaps the best of the male cast. Luke Kenny is adequate. Arjun Rampal is passable. Farhan Akhtar looks confused and is wooden at times.Overall, 'Rock On' has nothing new to offer. It's not exactly a terrible film but I'll put it somewhere between average and below average. It's overrated. This movie just does not rock.

I'm surprised to see that so many people liked this movie. For me it had bad direction, bad acting, bad songs all bundled together in 2 and a half hours. The main character played by Farhan Akhtar was one of the worst performances by a lead actor. He is better off sticking to direction only. The rest of the cast's performance was no better except a couple. But overall the movie was just dull and boring. Had a hard time keeping awake. Its not even one of those bad movies which you can enjoy by making fun of the scenes and characters. If you have difficulty going to sleep, keep its DVD/cassette handy for bed time viewing. Still wondering if I saw the same movie which others liked so much.

The quality of Bollywood movies has drastically improved in recent times. Just a couple of weeks ago I was compelled to write about "Mumbai Meri Jaan", because it is one of the best movies I have seen this year… and I guess that's not all for this year! Last week we saw "Rock On!!" and again I am at my laptop typing a few lines on it.I hate to give out details about the movie in my short reviews and so I am going to stick to it. Anybody with half a brain would say that this is a movie about a "Rock Band"! Well… now if you ask someone with a "full"one he might say it's not a movie about Rock and Roll at all… it's actually a movie about "perusing your dreams"… or maybe about "true friendship" or "marital relationship" or even "dealing with difficult a situation and accepting the phases of life".The most important and impressive part of the movie was the débutant actor "Farhan Akhtar". Yes! Not only can this dude act but he has sung all his own songs too!! I am no authority on singing or music but let me tell you this guy sounds pretty good. To play a lead singer in a rock band he has worked-out and flashes his chiseled 6-pack a couple of times in the movie... I am sure that took tremendous motivation and commitment to the role. He has set the bar so high with his first film as an actor that I am sure all the Khans ruling the industry must be hiding right now.Arjun Ram plays a character that is very quite and sort of dim-witted. He pulls off the character so well, I didn't know if he was acting or just being himself! Ouch! I'm sorry I know that was under the belt… but that's what I felt about Arjun "Rampant" until I saw this movie. Prachi Desai, Lenny Luke and Purab Kohli, all act really well and make this movie a memorable one. I think one of the best scenes in the movie is when the band (who's in dire straits) is forced to play at a Dandiya Raas to make some quick bucks. Abhisekh Kapoor proves himself as a worthy director… must be a tough gig trying to direct someone like Farhan Akhtar.Watch this movie to get nostalgic about college days, rock shows, old friends or even if you enjoy good music. But see it for Farhan who is a decent singer and great actor and we already know a phenomenal director. Is there anything he can't do? I doubt it. I have just 2 words for him, "ROCK ON!!"