Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year

Wow. What an unexpected surprise! Fresh out of the box... Rocket Singh looks you in the eye with an innocent yet promising look - as if it were saying, "I'm sweet, amn't I?" And you have no choice but to agree.

It's full of everything - subtle, clean, sensible, humane, but, above all, GENUINE humour; witty dialogues that make you smile; a good flow; touching moments; moments that make you smile... and what else do you want? Oh, yes, ladies and gentlemen, Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year is worth every penny you spend on it. It starts with a humorous yet touching scene, where our very own Harpreet (Ranbir Kapoor) finds out that he's passed his MBA - with 39%. You expect him to cry, be frightened, sweat... but no. He smiles, and thanks Wahe Guru. And then he says, "Number kam hai, dimaag nahin." Rocket Singh is that boat-ride that makes you want more and more of it. This year has been full of disappointments for the industry, starting with the strike, moving on to some drastic releases... but here we are! One of those gems that bollywood has produced this year... after Dev.D, Kaminey, Paa... Rocket Singh.

It has a soothing soundtrack and some amazing moments, and it once again reminds us why Sardars are some of the most amazing people on this earth. The biggest disappointment to me was that the first day first show hall here, in Punjab, was only 1/5th full. What could be more disastrous? We have people rushing to see an SRK or an Aamir Khan production, but why are the seats empty in better movies like Paa, Kaminey, and now Rocket Singh? Why don't we have to FIGHT for the ticket? I give it a well-deserved 8/10, and I'm cutting off 2 merely because it ended.

And yes, people. Go watch it.

I promise you'll smile.

This film is truly ahead of its time, i just watched this film and it's hard to believe that this film released in 2009. At a time where bollywood movies were still typical hero heroine and villian(infact most of them still pretty much are), this movie was different and innovative from the rest of the industry. Moreover the message that this movie gives "having ethical business practices, valuing and understanding the customers and their needs is what helps a business to ultimately grow and be succesful instead of deceiting and conning them" is something people have realised quite recently(atleast here in India) and so companies and businesses have quite recently started taking ethics and customer satisfaction more seriously, so yeah this movie is quite ahead of its time. It's sad to see such amazing bollywood movies being underrated and hardly known.

The way the opening credits are presented, they raise your expectations from the film. And the first 30 minutes are typically reflective of a salesman's life. It is easy to connect with the situations and giggle at the workplace jokes. Our protagonist has just barely graduated & wants to make a career in sales. But he is naive, and has to learn the tricks of the trade soon. To complicate matters, he has demanding bosses & non co-operative peers. Been there.

But soon enough, our guy, with a few other employees of the same company, hatches a plan to prove a point & make some money by creating a dummy company that provides superior service & works on ethical lines only. A good intentioned simple storyline from Jaideep Sahni, but a bit too far-fetched. So, once again, it is up to the director & the actors to elevate it. And they do. Once you get past the fake moustaches & loose wigs, the movie engages you. The script is kept tight & there are no silly song & dance routines to break the flow.

Ranbir Kapoor & Prem Chopra (who plays Ranbir's grandfather) have very good chemistry & all their scenes together are so real & touchy. Ranbir's friends & his love interest do have their moments in the sun, but the movie is not about them. As the director did with ChakDe India, the characters who take the movie forward, including the office peon & the receptionist, are developed well & are given ample screen time & they also carry their characters with ease. Salim-Suleiman have little to do barring the title track (which is missing in the movie), because the movie is not a dramatic melting pot a la Chakde. The screenplay is good, direction is good, and the actors deliver. What the film really lacks is a climax. It ends without a bang; it ends all so smoothly, with a social message thrown in.

One thing that this film confirms is that, in Ranbir Kapoor, we have found the next big thing. As with all his other movies this year, he gets right under the skin of the character, hence making it utterly believable. A director's actor, never the star. 2009 may well be the year in which all his movies came oh too close to being the biggest hits of the year. Rocket Singh may well be the next in that category.

This is not an usual Bollywood flick with songs, action and comedy. The movie revolves around a Sikh graduate(portrayed authentically by Ranbir Kapoor) who aspires to be salesman. As he steps into the corporate world, he is shocked by the reality of sales business where unethical practices, cut-throat atmosphere, unrealistic targets, selling products with high markups are norms & customers are seen just as numbers. He doesn't wishes to abide by these norms drawing a lot of flak from seniors and colleagues and gets isolated by them.

He realises that by being nice one can never survive in this competitive world. So he decides to crave his way through the sales business by following his ideology of treating customer as people with heart not as numbers as they are the one who gives business to them and not the other way around. Also stressing on services before sales.

Realistic movie, definitely worth a watch.

I went to watch Rocket Singh with the expectation to see a good movie knowing that the same creative team (Shimit Amin and Jaideep) had put together a good movie previously with Chak De India. By the time "Rocket Singh" was over I sat in my seat spell bound and amazed by some excellent story telling by the same creative team. Half way thru the movie I was certain that I was witnessing a special piece of work by a talented team. What works for Rocket Singh is an absolutely crisp script, screen play, dialogues (some of which are very witty), sharp direction and awesome performance by an amazingly talented cast. The casting fits perfectly and Ranbeer deserves special mention for his performance, it is hard to believe that he is only a handful of movies old as an actor. In fact I could not pick anything negative or faulty with the film in my first viewing. Coming to the plot itself, it is about a fresh graduate with ordinary grades who lands a trainee salesman job and is shocked to see the cut throat methods used to succeed both at individual and team levels. He is soon found wanting in terms of the "killer" instinct necessary to survive. But he continues to believe in his ways and shows everyone how success is achieved with out resorting to cut throat/unethical means. The climax is very interesting; the conversation between "Rocket Singh" and Mr. Puri (his ex-employer) is one of the highlights of the movie.

In summary Indian cinema needs more of these movies - engaging stories of "real" people made with utmost attention paid to the story itself. Indian cinema can do with out "Love stories that have blood on them".

--S Rao