FilmyReviews

Rockstar does not live up to the confidence and expectations from the otherwise very skilled and accomplished film-maker Imtiaz Ali. The film suffers immensely due to a disorderly screenplay, especially in its post-interval portions. However, the silver lining or the comforting prospect is the virtuoso performance by Ranbir Kapoor and the captivating score by A.R. Rahman, which justify that one extra star.

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?

Ranbir, truly the rockstar! The canvas is wide like early Sanjay Leela Bhansali's; bird's eye view of the stunning bridge is very Mani Ratnam; witty, earthy dialogues are so Vishal Bhardwaj. Director Imitiaz Ali (Jab We Met, Love Aaj Kal) manages to retain a personal, auteur's touch in a genre vastly commercial, mainstream. This is a rare feat. From its start, to the way it progresses, you can tell, the film’s been through various stages of editing and several second thoughts. Sometimes the patchiness shows. It's a stretch. You still don't begrudge a movie that's been this engaging, entertaining thus far. Oh, and did I forget. This is the best soundtrack of AR Rahman’s since Delhi 6 (early 2009). The compositions should grow on you. So should this film, surely.

Leave it to Imtiaz Ali to take a love story and present it in a manner that's completely different from run-of-the-mill Bollywood. Romance, under his creative vision, becomes a multi-layered, sensitively nuanced, monumental experience which has more to do with serenading your soulmate rather than a stereotypical marriage partner. The highpoint of Rockstar is it's high tension, high-on-passion romance between two unlikely people.Savour a beautiful experience. Watch Rockstar and wait for Imtiaz Ali's next from his compendium of love.

Rockstar is a gig gone wrong. And that is sad. For there is much in the film that is worth commending. Anil Mehta’s cinematography is flawless all the way through, across the varied locations, settings and moods. AR Rahman’s outstandingly lively and eclectic musical score presents a wide range of sounds blended into a harmonious whole. Ranbir’s Shammi Kapoor act on a boat on the Dal Lake (he sings Chand Sa Roshan Chehra) is probably worth the price of the ticket, if the recently deceased Bollywood icon’s cameo in the film isn’t. Rockstar has a Sufi soul. If only it had been set free and allowed to go the whole hog!

Imtiaz Ali's 'Rockstar' is a far-from-perfect film, but it has honesty and depth, which is mostly missing in Hindi movies today. 'Rockstar' is never as surefooted as Imtiaz's breakout hit Jab We Met, but it's a braver, riskier film than any he's previously made. In these times of instant gratification, here's a film that makes you think. Not a perfect film, but one that stays with you long after the lights have come back on.

Even in Rockstar, Imtiaz’s penchant for writing comes through -- the detailing is spot-on, the dialogue conversational and witty, the storytelling unhurried. Imtiaz the director doesn’t do too badly either. Rockstar is probably his most polished film, and he benefits from the association with cinematographer Anil Mehta and editor Aarti Bajaj. And he benefits from having a livewire of a lead actor on board. Ranbir Kapoor has been Hindi cinema’s next big thing for a while now. With Rockstar, he lives up to the hopes pinned on him to deliver big.

The story is simply explosive; multi-layered, with love at its core and the ever-present confusion forming a major part. The scenes where Janardhan goes out in search of heartbreak to get soul into his music and where he actually stalks Nargis and then makes a complete volte-face are brilliant. Its moment like these that have you glued to the screen. If only Imtiaz had curtailed his obsession and let some scenes go, Rockstar could have achieved cult status like Rock On.