Nov 11, 2011 08:42 AM
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Rockstarsuffers from the same pathetic syndrome that the Hindi film industry has been suffering from in recent times – a brilliant first half and to match that, an equally pathetic second half. I guess, our directors do not want to do anything that is not in moderation. If they deliver like maestros, they also make sure that they look like amateurs to compensate for their brilliance. I loved Jab We Metby Imitiaz Ali but I was not really impressed by his second venture Love Aaj Kal.But I still considered him bankable, plus the music by A.R. Rahman at least gave me assurance that while the songs were on, I could relax and close my eyes and just hear the melody in peace. Frankly, Ranbir has never impressed me, except in Rocket Singh,so I didn’t have high hopes from him. And to make matters worse there is an American Born Confused Desi model turned actress by his side, as if our film industry isn’t already full of models who think they can pass off as actresses. So, Imtiaz and Rahman were the reason I went for Rockstar.
Plot:
What you saw in the trailers is exactly what the plot is. There is nothing more to it, literally. Our desi munda Janardan Jakhar (Ranbir Kapoor) dreams of following in the footsteps of his idol jim Morrison (which I must say is a good choice for a rock idol) while wasting away his time at Delhi University. However, he is told that to achieve greatness as a rock ‘star’ he must fall in love and experience the pain of heartbreak for the music that flows as the aftermath of a heartache is just magical (I would have thought that the most important ingredient to become a rock idol was not heartbreak but drugs.. oops! Who said that? To each his own). So our dear Janardhan, before he can become ‘Jordon’, finds out about Heer (Nargis Fakhri) and asks her straight out to be his girlfriend. Our dear Heer is all set to be married and is destined to enjoy domestic bliss. But she wants to experience the wild side a bit before settling down and who better to show her the wild side than Janardan? A friendship that begins with Junglee Jawaani ends with our dear Heer realising that she has fallen in love with Janardan, that too just before the intermission! Then the second half comes…
Of course Heer realises that she loves our desi munda. Of course she rejects him and rebukes him in favour of her husband because that is the ‘right thing to do’. Of course our heroine says the “I never want to see you again” dialogue even though she desperately does. Of course she still pines for him sitting at the windowsill. Of course, our hero thinks that his girl never loved him and starts churning out dard bhare geet (songs of heartache). But you know what, in the process Janardan does become Jordan. And what about Heer? Its not just the marriage that is the problem. Heer is also restrained by ‘natural forces’ that bring about her demise (in Hindi film terms, we call it tragedy, in literary fiction, we call it superfluous death because the author could not tie the loose ends, in scriptwriting, we call it the ‘character suicide’ plot device. Call it whatever you want). The climax of the film is weak, very weak. The only thing going in the second half is Ranbir’s changing looks and Rahman’s melodies. In fact, if possible, watch the first half, go out, buy the album of the film and listen to all the songs instead of watching the second half.
Ranbir actually surprised me in the film. He was very good and has most definitely delivered the performance of his career. His range has improved a lot, especially his restraint in melancholic scenes. Watching him scream and just tearing himself apart just shows the manic intensity of his performance. This is in stark contrast to his role in the first half. In fact, Ranbir gets to play two roles in one film. Janardan and Jordan are two dynamically opposite roles and Ranbir does justice to both of them.
It felt like there were two alter egos of Imtiaz working on the film. In the first half, we get to see the dependable Imtiaz bringing back the flavour of JWM, while in the second half it felt like he was directing an episode of Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi. There was too much of melodrama and not enough of melancholy. The pain was already shown symbolically through the songs. There was no need of heavy handed and clichéd dialogues and the amount of crying that was shown. I wonder how much glycerine was used. The word ‘tragedy’ has been taken a bit too liberally by Imtiaz and instead of seeing pain and pathos we see bathos and even unintended comedy at times. The comedy results from the fact when the viewer gets disconnected and starts to laugh at the ridiculous antics on screen. The problem is the film goes nowhere in terms of plot in the second half. The rise of ‘Jordan’ is shown via songs and that does not take a lot of time. After that, all that is left is the demise of Heer. There is no great conspiracy, no murder, no twist in the tale. Its just a death. Jordan has to live on with the broken heart. In that sense, the whole second half could have been literally just a compilation of songs because they were what kept me going. I did not like anything else about the second half. Imtiaz struggled miserably with the transition from bubbly to anguish ridden. Dard aur sardard mein bahut kum faasla hota hai (there is a thin line between ache and headache). I recommend that you keep an aspirin or two for the second half because it will be heavy.
Nargis did well in the first half. Her emotional range can improve by leaps and bonds but her comic timing is naturally present. For a debut she did a decent job. It helped that she had dialogues in English not that her Hindi is bad accent wise. It is definitely better than when Katrina’s when she came to the industry. I do not know if her Hindi dialogues were dubbed. If not, she did very well. She does not have much to do in the second half except look desolate before she is killed off. Frankly, I would have preferred if would have been given a more screen time. The film is almost certainly Ranbir’s and Nargis is more like a filler.
A tear did come into my eye seeing Shammi Kapoor on screen knowing that he has passed away now. May his soul rest in peace. Ranbir does not have the ‘thehraav’ (the pacing) in his dialogue delivery. He rushes through his dialogues. Shammi ji on the other hand make an impact on screen by sheer virtue of the pacing of the dialogue delivery. The pauses, the eyebrow movement, the turn of the head, its all there. I should not reminiscence too much but Ranbir has much to learn.
A.R. Rahman’s music was ecstatically vibrant. All songs are a myriad of his versatility. Each song is different to the other. Orianthi Panagris is one of the more talented guitarists out there (and I’m not just saying that because she is Australian). She has this mixture of blues/rock which is unique to her. I knew she would reach great heights even before her collaboration with Michael Jackson on the ill fated ‘This is It’ shows. She reminds me a bit of Eddie Van Halen. Sadda Haq is already a rage. Mohit Chauhan has lent his voice to most of the songs and has shown his vocal range and versatility.
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