C(rock)ed....

 

 

Amidst the Singur ‘land wars’, Tata has promised to give the people of this country a car worth just one lakh.Manmohan Singh promises us that the Nuclear deal would be beneficial to the country and would not make India America’s slave. John McCain hails himself as the ideal candidate to actually force a change in the working system of America. Many of these promises might be fulfilled, many not, but there is one promise which failed to fulfill. Indian movie buffs have been promised to be shown India’s first rock movie. ‘Rock On’ has been widely advertised as India’s first rock movie. The movie disappointed me in that aspect. The movie had everything that a movie buff would enjoy- a crisp screenplay, good performances, neat and unassuming direction. There were a few moments in the movie which particularly second my point. The movie couldn’t have ended in a better way. The decision to actually end the movie without showing the fate of the band in their last performance, in particular, would have been well welcomed by the movie buffs. Turn back the clock to the 90’s and one would have had to go through the tedious melodrama towards the end. Rob would fall down while playing the Casio and would still insist that the show must go on and the others in the ensemble would finish the performance with a tear or two in their eyes. Instead the film makers decided to show the joy that a band gets out of presenting their pieces to the audiences. They did not make it unrealistic by showing the band as the undisputed no.1 in the country. They, quite gladly, refrained from showing us the result of the competition.

 

Did they (filmmakers) satisfy even the average rock fan? This would definitely be the next point to be debated upon. Over the years we have come to associate rock and its stars with a certain kind of attitude, an attitude that some would love to posses. The rebellious nature of the rock stars is well known. The real rock stars are those who don’t conform or have never conformed to the norms of the society. They have always expressed what they felt about a particular situation either through their controversial lyrics or through their forthright interviews. The rock stars have expressed their views about politics, nature, history, love and many more. While some songs question their sanctity the others urge us to completely break away from the chains of the society. Rock stars are not just about strumming their guitars and making a heavy metal song, they are about their persona and they are about their attitude. In short rock stars don’t compromise and this where the story of Rock On differs from a rock movie. The characters in the movie make compromises and defend those. They finally fall in the booby trap of the society. They never let their desires take a form which would be controlled only by them.   I had my friend translate the lyrics for me and they rather don’t fall in the bracket of rock songs barring ‘Sinbad the sailor’. They neither create an aura nor do they stir you up.

 

The movie is a wonderful watch without a shadow of doubt but whether it is actually India’s first rock movie ever is hugely contentious. I guess the ardent fans of the rock would actually agree with my ‘average rock fan’ views.