Rock On!!

Easily my fave movie of this year.

Rock On!! portrays the essence of friendship albeit in a different narration, does call for a round of applause for a theme which might not be so popular in India i.e. Rock.

The story revolves around four friends forming a rock band called Magik with Aditya ( Farhan Akhtar) the lead vocalist and lyricist, Joe ( Arjun Rampal) the guitarist, KD ( Purab Kohli) on the drums and Rob ( Luke Kenny) on the keyboard, out to cut out an album. Somethings go awry and the friends who shared the same passion drift away, each leading their own life.

A decade later, some circumstances bring these four friends together and Magik is in action again to give the most memorable performance ever.The story of course has more to it but you rather watch the movie to learn that.

Director Abhishek Kapoor has captured the fragility of relationships on the celluloid with compelling ease. Farhan Akhtar has emerged as an actor and as a super singer, with no signs of débutant syndrome to be seen in his performance. Arjun Rampal surprises with one of his finest performances till date. Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy;s music just rocks.

The movie Rock On has the blended concoction of some outstanding performances, engulfing emotions and topping it is the execution of the entire theme. I have a gut of the film Rock On is going to rock the box-office as well.

Rock is all about employing electric and bass guitars, thundering drums with a mix of organ or piano or synthesizers giving you all a severe head-banging session. Well, that's what rock means to me and Rock On! is a great attempt bringing the same feel to 70MM! Rock On! is an ideal example of bridging cult with mainline Hindi cinema. Kudos!

The movie is about how 4 talented friends with same passion for music creates a band called Magik and wanted to become 'somebody' in music industry. The movie focuses on how they stay together, achieve what they want to, broke up with each other and re-unites one last time. Director has done a marvelous job in bringing all characters alive. He didn't allow more characters floating all around and coming in between. He simply focuses on Magik and their select close ones.

Soul of this movie lies in its music. The music of Rock On! is packed with extremely catchy kick ass numbers. Though all the numbers are rocking but my top three favorites are 'Zehreelay' 'Pichhle Saat Dinon' and 'Ye Tumhari Meri Baatein'. 'Zehreelay' is the heaviest soundtrack of any Indian movie so far. It's wild, full of energy and extremely noisy. Lyrics are weird and the interesting part is the vocal. You can do extreme screaming when you sing in English but when it comes to Hindi, it's a different ball game. It is tough to sing so loud and extreme that too with perfect vocals in Hindi. Simply hell yeah! 'Pichhle saat dinon' is a song that grows on you and later, you can't live without. The song is so popular that they have made a spl video for it. 'Ye Tumhari Meri Baatein' is beautiful song with a tinge of jazz to it. It will make you feel as if it is made for you and your love. Another wonderful track is 'Socha hai'. It's like back to roots, real rock song where lyrics come out from no where. Title soundtrack 'Rock On!', 'Sindbad the sailor' and 'Fir Dekhiye' are simply outstanding. Another special song is a slow rock ballad 'Tum ho to'. In age of one song wonder soundtracks Rock On! is a surprise package. Each and every song is a chart buster. In fact, I'm now so used to listening Rock On! songs where ever I roam! Office, Pubs, Music stores and channels, Radio its every where! It's like rock music in its purest form with a strong, insistent back beat, and a catchy melody!

The movie is well crafted but the plot is not something new. It's a predictable movie and you know exactly what will happen next. Also, dialogs don't have that punch like the songs and its theme. I like Farhan Akhtar as a director, singer, and actor but excluding his voice. I do not know why but some how he is not that great when he talks.

There are so many well crafted scenes that had lit up this movie. My favorite scene is where Magik performs at a local society to raise money. I will not reveal much of it but I just couldn't stop laughing like mad while watching it. Also, the scene where Magik performs at a music contest then fights with each other and split. Its sheer delight as director sketched those scenes brilliantly.

Rock On! truly justifies its title with some heavy dope of rocking music and acting. More important, it's the simplicity of the movie which will make you happy while coming out of the movie screen with a message to all- know matter what may come... keep rocking!

I didn't have many expectations from this one before the release. Then, came the reviews and they were surprisingly positive which raised my expectation bar. And after watching the movie, I realized that both (moive and the reviews) were Spot On!! Abhishek Kapoor's 'Rock On!!' is indeed a rocking and a refreshing film.

It tells the story about four young friends who put together a wonderful band called 'Magik' but could never make it big. The movie brilliantly depicts the life of aspiring rock stars in India and carefully handles their rise, fall and reunion. The whole movie see-saws between the past and the present which keeps the viewer interested.

Acting is also nice. Frahan Akhtar acts well and is a capable singer. Though I hope he doesn't become Himesh #2 and keeps his singing within limits. Rest of the cast- Arjun, Purab, Luke, Prachi and Sahana also do well.

As for the negatives, the movie was a little lengthy. Plus, I believe the incident with "Rob" was unnecessary which didn't suit the general "feel-good" mood of the film.

Despite some shortcomings, Rock on!! is indeed a noteworthy attempt and needs to be applauded. Well done.

If you loved Dil Chahta Hain, there's no way you'd not like 'Rock ON'. I have just returned from a small screening of the movie last night and it was 'Fantabulous'. I had been waiting for it since long and the wait was worth it. If you think that the movie is all about Rock and being cool, its not. It's about desiring something and breaking all the rules to get there.

I don't want to speak out the story here as it is among the best written screenplays I have seen in any movie so far – be it Indian Cinema or Hollywood. The flashbacks and the montages and the cuts were brilliantly placed. There are a few things that I'd specifically ask you to watch out for. First is Jason West's cinematography; absolutely commendable. Then there is the music and sound design which is powerful yet sweet and the star attribute of the movie – the performances. They are flawless, Farhan is good, Prachi is amazing, Suhana is complete and Arjun Rampal has delivered the best performance of his life (watch out for the climax).

The live performances in the movie were well done, Magic could have been more aggressive but they had good presence. 'Shair n Func', came and went and their song was pretty catchy. Chakravhyu was super sexy…and sheer evil and none the least RADIO were rocking as usual with 'Musafir' – beautiful song that one.

In the end Rock On is a really sweet movie and a must watch for the people, both young and old, who dare to dream and are willing to walk that road in order to achieve it. I absolutely loved the movie and am definitely going for it again. Indian Rock Bands rule!!!!!!!

"Rock On!!" is an Indian film about a group of guys who made up a rock/pop band a decade ago. The film begins in the present day and the lead singer of this group, Magik, is now a very successful businessman. He's so wrapped up in his job that he pushes his wife out of his life. She doesn't even know about this past life--and only stumbles upon his being in a band by accident. However, when she does, she contacts his other band mates and tries to get them back together. But Aditya isn't grateful--instead he treats his old friends like they are a part of the past he'd like to keep in the past. Can Aditya come around and finally open up his heart to these guys? And, he's not the only one with problems. Joe loves music and never left the music business...but his wife is a serious detriment and seems bent on squashing his dream. And then there is one other member with a serious problem...one you only learn about late in the film. Can all these problems be worked out so that Magik can once again find the magic?

This film is different from a typical Bollywood film because it's clearly targeted towards a younger and hipper sort of audience. This isn't a complaint---just an observation. I really like the style in which the story was told and the story is enjoyable. The only negatives I noticed are that the story seemed a bit predictable and only offered one big surprise. The other wasn't the fault of the original production but the DVD had serious issues. Instead of playing properly, often the film would play a portion and when it came to the next segment, it would bounce back to the scene menu! This is very odd and I've never had it happen before.

By the way, if you do watch the film, watch Joe when he plays guitar. Every time he does, a hidden wind machine catches his hair and it's actually unintentionally funny.