“Ajeeb dastan hai yeh. Kahan shuru kahan khatam. Yeh manzilan hain kaun si. Na woh samajh sake na hum.” The Lata Mangeshkar classic from Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai effectively captures the spirit and the innocence of this engrossing work. It’s the story of almost all of us who at their early twenties feel the world is just waiting for us to take it over and ten years later find ourselves where we never belonged in the first place. This is about dreams, about love & heart break, about lasting friendship and above all about music. This one is straight from my heart.
The mainstay of the movie is music and Shankar, Ehsaan & Loy have excelled once again. They have composed rock music before but Rock On’s melodies are special. All the numbers with the exception of “Zehreeley” can be listened to time and again. My car stereo has been blasting the movie’s music & my pony tail bobbing up and down for the past two days and people are beginning to give me weird looks every time I stop at a traffic light. Why can’t it be understood that no self respecting rock fan can hear the music at low volume and with a little bit of head banging? Farhan Akhtar’s talent in the craft of movie making is a proven fact but he has been a revelation as a singer and an actor, in that order. An awesome stage presence and his primal screams were reminiscent of Jim Morrison’s stage acts. The live performances have been flawlessly executed and the enthusiastic participation of the audience beautifully captured.
So far as others performances go everyone has done well but I found Luke Kenny to be a wee bit wooden which was surprising considering his long career as a VJ with MTV. Arjun Rampal has put in a restrained and an intense portrayal of a passionate guitarist torn between his longing for his passion and the daily domestic struggle to earn bread. I also loved his long hair. Sigh, mine are never going to be as long as his. Purab Kohli has walked effortlessly through his role with a smile on his lips and a twinkle in his eyes. His jiving to the song “I Will Survive” was a masterpiece. We ought to see more of him soon.
The pace of the movie is electric and does not slacken even when going through the mushy part. The story is of four friends who pick up the threads of their broken past and strive to realize their unfulfilled dream. Each one is an adept musician and seems made for each other until fate & reality steps in to destroy their dreamlike existence. But since the good guys should always win they are given a second chance by the Man up there. The progression of their quest is peppered with flashbacks of the past which torments their souls but also contains the elements of their salvation. For those who seek happiness with passion, the paths are not always lined with roses. The trick is to keep the passion alive and happiness will follow. Our dudes do just that. Like I said, this one is straight from the heart. We have all been there.
September 15th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Arjun Rampal: An actor prepares
Success had long eluded Arjun Rampal. But after Om Shanti Om, the actor is on a high. His performance in Rock On!! has also impressed the critics and the masses. He had worked hard to look the part in the film. He even took lessons to suit his role of the lead guitarist of the band. For The Last Lear too, Arjun travelled incognito around the city of Kolkata in trams and buses to get into the skin of his character. He played the role of a filmmaker in the film.
Rampal said he was so moved by the storyline that he literally became Siddharth, the filmmaker, during the making of the movie. “I was so touched by the storyline that even before Ghosh finished narrating the script I agreed to do the film. To get into the skin of my character - a Kolkatan filmmaker acquainted with the vibe of the city - I came here a few days before the shooting started. I wore a bandana so that no one could recognise me and travelled across the city in trams and buses and took photographs,” Arjun said in an interview recently.
The Last Lear, according to the actor, is a wonderful example of commercial and parallel cinema co-existing in a single reel. “I have never played anything like this in my entire career. My character Siddharth Kumar is a passionate film director who is making his first film and refuses to compromise with the quality of the film at any cost. He is a mixed bag of emotions who convinces an old Shakespearean threatre actor Harish Mishra (Amitabh Bachchan) to play a clown in his film,” he said.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:13 am
Hey that will be a little surprise for you but i’ve not watch this movie yet, but m really looking forward to watch this movie, but after reading this review, i can hardly control myself, THANX dear.