Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Rockstar review..

The fact that the film opens in Prague and our rockstar is influenced by Jim Morrison, who read and revered Kafka, who lived in Prague, is a coincidence or Imtiaz Ali's anecdote is really a puzzle to me. But i'd like to believe the latter, as you watch this Jaat Boy from Pitampura, Delhi evolve into a rockstar, it is simply a cinematic treat. We might not have had our own Rockstar yet, but we've definitely got a Rockstar movie and who knows the rockstar might just follow..
The film has a soul but is caged in the narrative which flaws at many places. Rockstar is guided by its music and lyrics the way it should happen for any musical. Indian film industry which is mainly guided by the parellel music industry, it is heartening to see that the true notion of a musical is captured by letting it actually carry forward the story. It is actually at Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar Janardan finds himself and his musical side is revealed after serious humiliations and setbacks. In a way Janardan is an outcast of society he is grown up in and is a complete rebel and waste to conservative Jaat family. The transformation of Janardan through a sufi track kun faaya kun faaya...is an amazinly fluid woven poetry, where visuals...music..lyrics and Ranbeer's poise takeover completely.
As I said earlier, the narrative of the film also meanders several times, jumping back and forth across time and space, making it seem incoherent at times. In a way it also reflects Jordan’s mind frame, so unsettled  over constantly loving and losing Heer that even he doesn’t know how he will react next.
Rahman’s music is what makes this film a winner throughout, complemented by Anil Mehta’s superb cinematography. The way his camera records Delhi, Kashmir, Prague and Verona, each place inexplicably connected to the other, enhances the music even more.
It is interesting and amusing at the same time to see the whole bunch of young actors pay tribute to Shammi Kapoor..doin a Chand sa roshan chehra on Dal Lake.
And equally heart warming to see both the Kapoors share the screen space. The senior Kapoor fills the screen with charisma in a brief role as a revered Ustaad that takes a liking to Jordan’s inherent talent. In one of the sequences two Kapoors jam with guitar and shehnai, the pensive mood both of them are in and the music once again swirls a magic wand on the screen.

No comments:

Post a Comment