Rock on Rocks

Movie: 

Rock On (2008) tags: musical In 1998, rock music had a shot in the arm with the emergence of Grunge. The voice of teenage angst found an audience across the globe and rock music seemed like it was on the threshold of becoming the leader in mainstream music. Magik was one such band that wished to ride this wave.

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"Meri Laundry Ka Ek Bill, Ek Aadhi Padi Novel… Na na na na na..."

I am still humming the tune after watching the film second time. Before I write anything, first a disclaimer about my bias. I was a guitar player from a band in school, has continued suppressed desire to relive those moments of music creation, now stuck in the rigramole of being a silicon valley entrepreneur and a wannabe filmmaker. Yeah! this movie hits the old spot.

Story of the film is pretty straighforward. Music band friends split apart and then reunite. But what really packs a punch is simple melodic rock music, some new promising actors, and flow to keep you on your seat. The urban setting of the movie is well depicted with the set design. Arjun Rampal is a known face that plays the protagonist and in my opinion his performance is completely shadowed by the Shahana Goswami (his wife in the film). Shahana's performance is the best in the film and portrays great latitude of emotions.

Although I haven't seen his earlier film "Aryan", the director Abhishek Kapoor has potential. Farhan Akhtar of "Dil Chahta hai" fame is obviously a great asset as writer and actor (Aditya) in this film. I agree with a another reviewer here about the length of the film. Editor could have easily shaved off 30-40 minutes and made it even more brilliant.

However, I am not sure how well this movie would have connected with people with not much of interest in music. At least some people I talked to gave a "so so" response.

I sincerely hope to watch many more movies in this genre.