First a question. Where the hell was the bass guitarist? No seriously, where was he hiding? Or was the band Magic modeled after The Doors? Definitely the music did not sound that good.
Rock On pretends to be a journey of four members of a band that used to play together in college and then split up due to "ego" problems that are never really explained. The story begins in the present and we travel back and forth as the band tries to come together 10 years later. In the finale they perform on stage one last time.
Then why did they split up in the first place? During the band's college phase there is no build up of tension between the band members. All of a sudden when they are on the verge of signing a contract things go wrong. Maybe the reasons were vague but when they get back it seems all to easy. There is no conversation, no shouting sessions behind closed doors, no hearts are opened.
A quick comparison with That Thing You Do - a similar movie based on a band that comes apart on the verge of success, will make us realise where Rock On went wrong. First the music. There is no song that one can remember as one walks out of the hall. A film on a rock band and no good music? Jhankaar Beats had better music - both foot tapping and sing along stuff too.
Next the tension between the characters is not built up. In fact, Farhan (Akhtar) and Arjun (Rampal) have no chemistry between them. They are just not able to bring out the love/hate relationship that drives the band apart. The minor characters - Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny, Shahana Goswami (Arjun' wife) actually end up doing a better job.
What works in the films favour is the production design where each character's house/workplace is distinct thus showing how far they have grown apart. Everytime we see the houses, we are reminded that Arjun has been left to pick up the pieces of his life whereas Farhan has made it big in the financial world. Purab is busy with his father's jewelery business while Luke peddles his talent in under lit music studios.
Rock On pretends to be a journey of four members of a band that used to play together in college and then split up due to "ego" problems that are never really explained. The story begins in the present and we travel back and forth as the band tries to come together 10 years later. In the finale they perform on stage one last time.
Then why did they split up in the first place? During the band's college phase there is no build up of tension between the band members. All of a sudden when they are on the verge of signing a contract things go wrong. Maybe the reasons were vague but when they get back it seems all to easy. There is no conversation, no shouting sessions behind closed doors, no hearts are opened.
A quick comparison with That Thing You Do - a similar movie based on a band that comes apart on the verge of success, will make us realise where Rock On went wrong. First the music. There is no song that one can remember as one walks out of the hall. A film on a rock band and no good music? Jhankaar Beats had better music - both foot tapping and sing along stuff too.
Next the tension between the characters is not built up. In fact, Farhan (Akhtar) and Arjun (Rampal) have no chemistry between them. They are just not able to bring out the love/hate relationship that drives the band apart. The minor characters - Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny, Shahana Goswami (Arjun' wife) actually end up doing a better job.
What works in the films favour is the production design where each character's house/workplace is distinct thus showing how far they have grown apart. Everytime we see the houses, we are reminded that Arjun has been left to pick up the pieces of his life whereas Farhan has made it big in the financial world. Purab is busy with his father's jewelery business while Luke peddles his talent in under lit music studios.
For once the women characters seem to have something to do. It is Farhan's wife who actually manages to get the band members to meet again. And Arjun's wife keeps busy managing her in-laws fish business and her family always reminding her husband of how the band was a bad idea.
The scene where Farhan meets his ex girlfriend was the only takeaway. She tells him that when he left the music video shoot with a note saying that he would come back she knew he would not return. Farhan replies that in that case she understood him better. Later when he introduces his wife there are no histrionics. They smile since its all water under the bridge.
If only the same intensity was there in the rest of the film.
If only the same intensity was there in the rest of the film.