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Release Date: 11th November 2011
Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: Imtiaz Ali
Star Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri, Shammi Kapoor, Kumud Mishra, Piyush Mishra
Rating ****/5
Despite what the title may suggest, ‘Rockstar’ is at its core a love story. The film traces the story of Janardhan Jakhar (Ranbir Kapoor), a middle-class Jatt boy from Delhi who dreams of making it as a big-time musician.
He starts to believe that all good musicians have had some sort of tragedy in their lives and have experienced some sort of deep pain. So he decides to woo the most popular girl in college, Heer Kaul (Nargis Fakhri), in a bid to get his heart broken.
The film is a brave attempt from Imtiaz Ali who manages to move away from the lighter aspects of his previous films ‘Jab We Met’ and ‘Love Aaj Kal’. Spanning over seven years, ‘Rockstar’ traces the journey of the innocent Janardhan, who has since made the transition to the troubled, angry, and rebellious singer Jordan. It’s hard to believe that the innocent young college-going Janardhan who was searching for pain finds himself in the middle of such tragedy that there’s no going back.
Imtiaz Ali takes the audience on a breathtaking visual journey as the movie skips from Delhi to Kashmir to Prague. Ranbir Kapoor is a real treat to watch and completely loses himself in his character. He looks just as comfortable playing the geeky college boy as he does playing the bad-boy rockstar. Nargis Fakhri looks absolutely gorgeous, and does okay for her first appearance on screen. The duo certainly have great chemistry on screen.
The screenplay of the story goes back and forth and doesn’t have a clear-cut beginning, middle and end, which may prove to be a pain for some people. There were a few things which remain unanswered throughout the film. I don’t think Imtiaz made things clear enough in some parts, which leaves the audience guessing. The abrupt ending of the film is definitely one of those moments.
The script could have been a little tighter, and a little shorter as there is a feeling that it drags on slightly in the second half.
In addition to Ranbir’s acting, one of the major plus points of the film is AR Rahman’s music. Every song is a delight on the album and the choice of Mohit Chauhan’s voice for Jordan worked really well. My pick of the tracks would be ‘Tum Ho’ and ‘Sadda Haq’.
What I like about the film is that everything is not served to the audience on a plate and some thinking is required. It is a brave attempt by Imtiaz to take on such a different style of film. It may not be flawless, but it’s definitely worth a watch.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2bgVITJjVA
