Showing posts with label ROCKSTAR MOVIE REVIEW. Show all posts
Rockstar Bollyspice review
Unlike other Bollywood guitarists and rockers who manhandle the guitar, using it like a coconut scraper and sporting some attitude, when Ranbir Kapoor thrashes his Rickenbacker like Pete Townsend, you just know here’s the original cinematic rocker.
Janardhan Jakhar (Ranbir Kapoor), a Delhi college boy idolizes his hero Jim Morrison and his provocateur antics in the rock ‘n roll canon. However, Jakhar does not have that certain ‘it’ according to all around him, and the ‘it’ being all that heartbreak that conjures up a song like ‘Love Her Madly’. Therefore, begins Janardhan’s quest to match his hero’s intensity and artistic heights, with mistakes along the way, to become a broody and neurotic performer with a stony face.
The one that got away or the object of Jordan’s obsession is Heer (Nargis Fakhri), the posh ‘dil todne ka machine’ that Jordan pursues with a persistence that is so endearing. Curiously, the girl who JJ coins as ‘neat and clean’ has a passion for getting up to naughty hijinks, which he indulges her in including watching desi blue films and country liquor. Though Heer is painted similarly like Geet in Jab We Met, the camaraderie between Kapoor and Fakhri works seamlessly. Imtiaz works so well in reinventing the old tropes of commercial cinema, and the blooming from platonic friendship to love is presented in such a witty and refreshing manner that you forget the predictability ahead.
Yet this is not one of those biopics into mythologizing like ‘The Doors’ we get both sides of the coin. With rock fame goes the famous adage, ‘sex, drugs, rock ‘n roll’, and when Janardhan transforms into the star Jordan, it would be inauthentic to shy away from all the voices offered at the top. Whether it is his onstage rant about free birds or passing the doobie around, Imtiaz makes the usual scenes of excess interesting because we are so invested in JJ’s trajectory.
The scope for this film is much larger and Imtiaz’s writing is much grander and operatic than before. This shift in Imtiaz’s own auteur’s touch is bound to polarize the viewers and the critics alike, but there is nothing better than a director attempting new directions. If Imtiaz presents us a rocker upset with fame, he also delves into the spiritual side of Jordan, who is a Sufi old soul at heart. The scenes where Janardhan hones his craft in the Nizamuddin Dargah and finds that spiritual high in the ‘Kun Faaya Kun’ segment work to peel away the layers of the Jordan we meet at the beginning. Jordan shows flashes of his boyish Janardhan, the hysterical Jordan and the whirling dervish Rumi and these many facets of his personality work so well in creating a multi-layered character that we care for.
The Heer-Ranjha allusions are all in place, along with a dash of rock and the study of fame and celebrity thrown in for good measure. It does not always work especially in the case of the second half, which dramatically drops and veers into ‘Love Story’ territory and coming off cloyingly cheesy. The open-door ending also may confuse and bother viewers and in moments as key as these, the film needed tighter editing. Toying with a non-linear storyline and using quick montages to aid in explaining backstory is equally interesting and frustrating at times. Jordan’s family strife is quickly mentioned and he is abruptly thrown out of the house? This may be nitpicking but the quick montage that act as ellipsis in the story do not serve the film very well, and the patchy editing does show during the second half
which tries to balance the right tone and mood.
One missing moment is the creative evolution of Jordan’s music. Why is it that rock music appeals to him? However, in a film showing how a wannabe attains the upper echelons of fame, this can be sidestepped. But the lyrical musings and the genesis of all of his best-seller albums, which become anthems for social movements is glaringly omitted.
Rarely does an actor these days go to such epic proportions of method acting retaining that innately desi hero mold as Ranbir Kapoor has here! From the manic whirling he does in early days to lashing out at the media, Kapoor never falls back into the archetypal rocker we have seen in other biopics and he just disappears into the role of Janardhan Jakhar and Jordan. Touted as ‘the next best thing’ this is the role that Kapoor just owns from the beginning making the transition seamlessly between the two personas. It would not surprise if he picked up many awards for this amazing role.
Nargis Fakhri is extremely beautiful, and shows promise considering this is her first role. Yet she is egregiously awkward and has only a few expressions that she uses repeatedly. However, she does have that waiflike and otherworldly quality and beauty that justifies why Jordan would fall for. Kumud Mishra as Jordan’s mentor-manager is amazing and conveys the exasperation at seeing the talented guy go through so much turmoil. Aditi Rao Hydari is equally good in her role as a cynical journalist and one wished she was onscreen for much longer.
The last cameo by Shammi Kapoor was absolutely wonderful and brought a tear to everyone’s eyes during his time onscreen. The meta moment of having two Kapoors sharing the screen together was worth ticket price and the soulful jugalbandi between the two was such a special moment for Indian cinema.
The music and background by A.R Rahman is wonderful. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and the music eventually grew on this reviewer’s earlier judgement of the album. Some of the songs were seamlessly integrated into the narrative, yet during the crux of the film it seemed one after the other which did grate. Yet Mohit Chauhan, who is just as much a character in the film, completely works in sync with Kapoor’s edgy and devil-may-care attitude, Chauhan adlibs and gives Kapoor that extra mile to make Jordan a complete character.
Rockstar is one of those films that surpass the regular fare offered at the cinema each week, as each performer here has given their all and have come up with a grand and operatic film that proves a risky gamble for winning people over but it just works here. The movie is that game-changer for Imtiaz Ali and Ranbir Kapoor, who attempt to scale the artistic highs and prove to the world what they can achieve within the commercial love story genre by pushing all the boundaries. A must watch!
Our Rating:
Rockstar is flawed, but fabulous-Rediff Review
Rockstar is essentially a love story between two very curious individuals, writes Sukanya Verma.
'Yeh bada jaanwar hai. Yeh chhote pinjre mein nahi samayega.'
Indeed, Ranbir Kapoor [ Images ] is not an everyday occurrence. He's proved himself to be more than a portfolio and a surname with his absolutely marvelous ability to connect with the audience in a brand new skin each and every time. And that he's accomplished this in merely four years and 9 films is no mean feat. Therefore, even though, the above-mentioned prediction, coming in the astute words of Shammi Kapoor [ Images ], is meant for the unruly, untamed genius of Janardhan Jakhar aka Jordan, it holds true for his grand nephew as well. Our lad is meant for epic things.
Imtiaz Ali's [ Images ] Rockstar gives us a fair glimpse of that and more in a film that rides and roars on the strength of its leading man and composer A R Rahman [ Images ], the twain dominate its every breathing, beautifully-lit frame (courtesy Anil Mehta's cinematography). As the behind-the-scenes Jordan, Rahman's contribution to this visual, vivacious, volatile treat is invaluable; the maestro conveys a myriad of moods, ranging from amorous to divine to ferocious to quixotic to melancholic, reflecting the erratic emotional graph of Ranbir's character.
For all those who expect it to be a contrived rags-to-riches story of how a gifted artist attains giddy heights of adulation, sells his soul to sex and drugs only to walk the path of destruction, delusion and redemption, all I can say is, get over Madhur Bhandarkar [ Images ]! Even though it's been projected as a tell-all tale of how a rebellious musician came into being, Rockstar is essentially a love story between two very curious individuals with an insuppressible connection and predilection for audacious to-do-lists.
In the tradition of Korean romances, the story is steeped in demure, picture perfect passions and unforeseen tragedy with Imtiaz-flavoured interjections every now and then. (As an interesting co-incidence, the filmmaker's next project is an official remake of a South Korean flick, My Girlfriend is an Agent.)
From an oafish North Delhi [ Images ] boy, sporting what looks like Big B's [ Images ] hand-me-down sweaters from Trishul, fishing for heartbreak at his mentor's suggestion in order to acquire a cool image like his idol Jim Morrison to an unshaven, troubled, defiant, long-haired music sensation with a peculiar, rustic wardrobe, the making of Janardhan Jakhar to Jordan is an offshoot of his fickle equation with the woman he loves.
Imtiaz chooses to keep it strictly about Jordan and his disastrous coming-of-age, blurring every other character or event in his life that doesn't take the story forward. The disjointed narrative cuts back and forth between flashbacks to present, across various locations -- Delhi, Kashmir [ Images ], Prague and Rome -- in a perennial state of winter, to sketch a deliberately haphazard picture of its wounded hero.
Things aren't always so bleak. As a matter of fact, a major chunk of Rockstar is brimming with a wit and chutzpah that is characteristic of Imtiaz's street-smart, local-flavoured humor.
Among its many laugh out loud moments, is one where Ranbir walks into the college canteen with mock sadness written all over his face. He believes he's successfully achieved Mission Heartache following an altercation with the campus hottie, Heer (Nargis [ Images ] Fakhri). And what are the first words to come out of the despairing fella? 'Itni si chutney mein do samosa khaon mein?'
Like most Imtiaz heroines, Heer is a closet drifter who wants to engage in every conceivable wild activity from desiporn to desi daru (country liquor) before she heads for a decidedly conservative lifestyle in Prague. Newcomer Nargis Fakhri ,who plays her, is a breathtaking beauty with a fair amount of screen presence. And even though her voice is dubbed by a grating someone else and her reaction while watching Jungli Jawani is akin to a school kid enjoying the circus, Nargis exudes a muted confidence and vanilla quality that is reminiscent of an earlier Katrina Kaif [ Images ].
The youngster shares an explosive chemistry with her co-star, which makes the impulses of their characters, however morally questionable, easy to believe and accept. Kudos to Imtiaz for handling the intimacy and rush of their most sexual urges with elegance and sensitivity.
Together with Nargis, Ranbir pays Shammi Kapoor (making his final movie appearance) a beautiful tribute that celebrates the verve of the late legend and the dramatic scenery of Kashmir (Mehta's spectacular, snow-clad aerial shots of the lost paradise are alone worth the price of admission). The Yahoo star has not more than five scenes but every time he shows up, it's a moment to devour and cheer in awe and admiration.
Rockstar isn't entirely above flaws though. The irregular narrative could do with some smooth editing avoiding the uneven, jerky feel to the proceedings.
At some point, Jordan's deterioration starts to slip into a well of incoherence and stylish albeit long-winded symbolism involving guitar-in-flames and slo-mo vomit cutting to nifty shots of a shattered Jordan delivering a high-adrenalin stage act or entering a cheekily-documented scrap with the ever-snooping paparazzi.
But this figurative yet electrifying ambiguity only adds to the enigma of Jordan and his offended heart that glowers at everyone for his previously desired misery. Now that he's truly in a rotten place, he doesn't know what to do. This chaos of the mind is perceptively captured in a scene where a crushed and confused Ranbir explains his bewilderment to his sympathetic but powerless mentor turned manager ( Kumud Mishra is a revelation).
Rockstar, like Mani Ratnam's Dil Se.. or Ashutosh Gowarikar's [ Images ] Swades [ Images ], is a heart-felt, inflexible vision of an insightful filmmaker. It is bound to generate polarizing responses. Either you will be able to hear the unsaid, draw your own subtext, understand Jordan's disdain for the system, disregard for his fans, sense the reason for the lingering rejection of his family and girl , read his eyes, see the pain and feel his need to be treated normally again.
Or you will nitpick where he took his guitar lessons, why don't we ever see him talk to his mother, why did he not reveal his true feelings to Heer earlier on, why doesn't he care for idolisation, why are Heer's folks so benign and inconsequential, why does the film end without any drama or dhan-te-nan?
Make your own answers. Because, at the end of the day, this is Ranbir's tour de force and there's nothing derivative about his performance, which aspires to be a reference point in its own. Whether he's the guideless lout from St Stephen's, a subject of indignation at the hands of his family, a lovelorn Romeo barred from consummating his relationship or a badass, unwilling rockstar. Ranbir's heads-on approach to Jordan is rich in texture, nuances and caliber placing him far ahead of his immediate colleagues and in direct contention with the Khans, in bent if not box-office.
As the end credits roll, you walk out with an invisible bandana endorsing the mega Kapoor humming a verse from a song by his alter ego's idol:
The days are bright and filled with pain
Enclose me in your gentle rain
The time you ran was too insane
We'll meet again, we'll meet again.
Rediff Rating: 
