Release date:
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November 11, 2016
|
Director:
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Shujaat Saudagar
|
Cast:
Language:
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Farhan Akhtar, Shraddha Kapoor,
Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Shashank Arora, Kumud Mishra, Prachi Desai,
Shahana Goswami, Guest appearances: Usha Uthup, Summer Salt Band, Vishal
Dadlani
Hindi
|
The boys are back, but will they
rock the screen once again? Rock On 2
reunites Aditya Shroff (Farhan Akhtar), Joe Mascarenhas (Arjun Rampal) and
Kedar Zaveri a.k.a. KD (Purab Kohli) whose journey-to-their-true-selves story
resulted in 2008’s wonderfully warm, relatable and inspirational Rock On directed by Abhishek Kapoor.
Back then, after being pulled in
many directions away from their music, they had come together as the band Magik
along with a fourth friend, Rob Nancy (Luke Kenny). Eight years later, Magik
has dispersed, Joe and KD have managed to make careers for themselves in music
and Adi is in Shillong desperately trying to exorcise a traumatic memory while
helping the local people through a farmers’ cooperative.
Rock On worked on the strength of its
solid writing by Pubali Chaudhari and Abhishek Kapoor, the credible situations,
heartbreak and hope they conjured up with their words, Kapoor’s spot-on
direction, the chemistry between the four male leads (a pleasant surprise since
none of them were acting stars), the novelty of a Hindi film revolving around a
struggling Indian rock band and the true hero of that venture: Shankar Ehsaan
Loy’s throbbing, pulsating soundtrack. It was evident that this was a milieu
the team understood perfectly. Everything seemed to fit just right.
With such a formidable
predecessor to live up to, Rock On 2
should have doubled its efforts to draw viewers in. Instead, its problems lie
right at the conception level. Chaudhuri and Kapoor’s story from which the former has
derived her screenplay (with dialogues by Akhtar) comes across as a half-hearted shot at cashing in on a successful brand.
The sequel has appealing individual elements and moments, but in its
entirety it feels semi-baked.
Let’s start at the
very beginning, a very good place to start, as Maria from The Sound of Music might have reminded them if they had asked:
Adi’s motivation for leaving Mumbai remains unconvincing. That’s because we do
not, in the first place, get to understand the motivation for his behaviour
that led to tragic consequences five years previously thus causing him to seek
an escape from the big city and bright lights. In Rock On, it was true that Adi, spoilt rich kid that he was, was
initially impervious to the feelings and insecurities of those around him –
leading to the break with Joe, for one – but he had evolved through that film
and you will remember in the end the group had formed a talent search agency to
find and promote new musical artistes.
(Spoiler
alert for this paragraph) Revved up as they were at that point, driven to
help those who had struggled like them, how did he (and they) so soon turn so
disinterested in the plight of the people for whom they had launched that
agency, which was the mainstay of their careers as we understood it at the end
of Rock On? What explains Adi’s
attitude in particular, his apathy towards that one singer-composer who
approaches him repeatedly? Is it arrogance or indifference? If it is the
latter, then what exactly was their agency doing? And for that matter, why does
that boy pursue them alone without exploring options? (Spoiler alert ends)
With no answers in
sight, the film kicks off on a contrived note and there is little that director
Shujaat
Saudagar can do to lift it off the ground. The completely contrasting battles
being fought by new entrants Jiah Sharma (Shraddha Kapoor) and Uday (Shashank
Arora from Titli), the reason for her
fears and his desperation, the secret behind the reclusiveness of her father
Pandit Vibhooti (Kumud Mishra) all tug at the heart strings, but are not given
sufficient depth. There is another sidetrack about the commercially led
compromises talented artistes feel compelled to make, but that gets only a
fleeting mention.
Worse, the sub-plot about Adi’s
efforts to rehabilitate several villages in Meghalaya after a natural disaster
unwittingly smacks of condescension. Instead of insightful detailing, what we
get is a touristy visit: DoP Mark Koninckx’s
spectacular shots of spectacular locations, but not a single local resident who
is fleshed out well enough to make a lasting impression.
The people of Meghalaya are
shadows, not substantial characters here. They are either victims or villains,
thrown in as a matter of convenience to take the story forward. The villains
are the enemy within. The victims have no agency, they take no initiative and
they sit around suffering, thus leaving it to the great mainlanders and their
chieftain Adi to save them and vanquish the bad guys. It reminded me a bit of
simpering heroines in old Hindi films who would stand around helplessly,
waiting for the hero to rescue them from the gangster’s underground den.
If you view this aspect of Rock On 2 in the context of the
alienation of the entire North-East from the rest of India, the treatment of
the region in the film is almost offensive. Thing is, Rock On 2 seems to have had no political ill intentions. It is
evident that Meghalaya serves no purpose for the maker/s beyond the
picture-postcard visuals it offers. With almost no locational specifics in the
screenplay, the film could just as well have been set in any other non-urban,
naturally stunning location far from Mumbai without the change making an inch
of a difference to the narrative.
Meghalaya is not all that is
given short shrift. No one utters a single line throughout about the late Magik
member Rob (after whom Adi’s child is named), and Joe’s wife Debbie (Shahana
Goswami in a guest appearance) is dispensed with via a single line about her
going off to France. For what? Why? Who knows? Akhtar’s
dialogue writing for Jiah and Uday too is strained.
With so many superficialities in
the writing, Rock On 2 runs up
against hurdles that were forgivable in Part 1 because of that film’s
wholesomeness and overall effectiveness. Abhishek Kapoor
had managed to use Akhtar intelligently, camouflaging both his acting
and singing limitations in excellent packaging and positioning. Here though,
since director Saudagar is building on a weak foundation, Akhtar’s every
deadpan expression and the sub-ordinariness of his singing voice stick out. It
does not help that Rock On 2 bears
the added burden of Shraddha Kapoor singing as Jiah. To be fair to her, she is
not a terrible singer, she is just ordinary.
I understand Saudagar’s
compulsion to let Akhtar sing in this film, He is, after all, the producer.
Besides, the use of his voice – polished and straightened out with the benefit
of the technology that recording studios offer these days – was an experiment
that clicked in Rock On. But why oh
why wasn’t a professional singer used at least for Jiah?
Not surprisingly, the most
enjoyable part of Rock On 2 is the
finale concert in Shillong where we get to hear back-to-back performances by
real singers, not actors aspiring to be singers. Redemption comes in those late
moments through, among others, Usha Uthup and Meghalaya’s Summer Salt Band performing the delightful Hoi Kiw, and of course Shankar Mahadevan
himself. They are so lovely, that when they are followed by Akhtar and Kapoor
doing a so-so remix of the original film’s title song, that too is fun to watch
because the pulse is already racing and the adrenaline is already pumping. In
that moment, less than the flaws what I noticed was this: Akhtar is no great shakes as a singer, but seeing him
move on stage is a reminder that there is no question this man loves music. I
wish he would play to his strengths rather than remind us of his weaknesses.
Shankar Ehsaan Loy’s compositions
for Rock On were fantastic. Their
work in Rock On 2 is a mixed bag in
the nice-but-not-great mould. I refuse to blame them. The blame for this film’s
average-ness lies entirely at the doorstep of the writers.
Rock On 2 is not insufferable, it is just
hugely disappointing. They should have given it an alternative title: How To Fritter Away Goodwill For A Fondly
Remembered Brand in 139 Minutes and Seven Seconds.
Rating
(out of five stars): *1/2
CBFC Rating (India):
|
UA
|
Running time:
|
139 minutes, 7 seconds
|
This
review has also been published on Firstpost:
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