Rock On – Not all that lame

Make way guys, for India’s first ever movie devoted to rock has just arrived (that’s if you don’t take into consideration Anurag Kashyap’s controversial movie – Paanch, which never hit the theatres for reasons best known to the censor board). Let me firstly tell you that neither am I biggie on Bollywood nor did I ever have any intentions whatsoever to review a Bollywood movie on Chordvine, but I guess some things just have such a huge impact on you, that you cannot stop yourself from doing the unthinkable!!!

Ok let me be honest here, I was never going to watch ‘Rock on’ in the theatres. Maybe I would wait for it to release on DVD or hope a friend downloaded it off the net for me (which I would definitely rue considering the last message in the movie - Do not download the music, buy the cd - which stresses upon the illegalities of piracy). I had a feeling I was going to watch a rock movie that was going to have musical technicalities thrown out of the window such as the musicians talking about an E Sharp or Ehsaan  strumming some chords on the guitar whilst the camera shows Arjun Rampal shred till his fingers bled (Bollywood ishtyle), but boy was I Wrong!! This movie did give me the feeling that I was watching a band of four make ‘Magic’ on stage!!

I bought my Rs. 300 ticket to Metro (jeez what a rip-off), which had me fuming once again, so all the odds were stacked against me having even an ounce of respect for the movie. I wanted to see what the whole hullabaloo about this movie was all about, and why every second person I’d meet on the road would point at me and say “K.D” (the drummer from the movie) but I was not left disenchanted. The movie is a 3 hour ride into the journey of four rockers from a band called ‘Magic’. Leaving the intricacies of the movie making process behind, I suggest every music lover and rock fanatic to watch this movie as it just gives you chills up and down your spine throughout with its Indie-ish background score and intense sneak peek into some of the nuances of the Rock scene along with the perks as well!!

The movie does not falter when it comes to incorrect information about Rock Music these days and it does not paint a distorted image of the whole rock scene! Intense research has been done on this movie so it seems and it shows! K.D. the drummer seems to be playing his drums on time, along with the electrifying drum beats in the songs, Luke Kenny on keys brings in his own charm and vibrant energy and the musical equipment used in this movie is the standard equipment an established band would use!! They have paid ample attention on feel, emotion and energy of the band so not even for a minute do you feel like you’re actually listening to music of a Bollywood movie! The parts where Arjun Rampal shot for his guitar parts could do with some fine-tuning though as he clearly doesn’t seem to be even remotely close to playing what is played in the background! The bends seem messy and the technique leaves a lot to be desired, but maybe I’m being a little bit overcritical and missing out on the whole point of the movie?

The point the movie makes is ‘Live your dream’, ‘follow your passion’ which is such an encouraging message for aspiring musicians like me who always think twice before setting foot into the troughs and peak levels of the rock industry! The way the message is carried forward is so resounding that you can feel the passion that the movie has been made with and you can not help but feel inspired by the camaraderie the 4 share, if you have any connections whatsoever with Rock!!

The lyrics of the songs are very laidback and chilled out with lyrics such as ‘Aasman neela kyon, paani geela geela kyon, gol kyon hai zameen’ and ‘Sinbad the Sailor’, talking about the escapades of Sinbad the Sailor (d-uh, but obvious)!!! The lyrics really are not meant to be taken too seriously but at the same time you feel Mr. Javed can do a better job with some more depth in his words and better selection of topics!! (Like seriously the lyrics ‘Saap hain zehreeley, kale neele neele’ are something your average KG kid could come up with). All in all the music gives you this very pop-rock feel with traces of Indie to it!! If you are a fan of Pakistani bands such as Strings and Jal, then you are in for a real treat as that’s exactly the kind of feel you get from the Rock on music, only better!! Some songs also have a very 80s feel to it with blaring back up vocals in falsetto in the background, long guitar solos and a symphony like sound from the keyboards!!! The keys and strings in the movie are very impressive throughout with a very orchestra like feel to it like in ‘Pichle Saat Dino Mein’ and ‘Socha Hain’.

What is odd though is that Magic does not have a bass guitarist whereas the music oozes with melodious bass lines such as in ‘Yeh Tumhari meri Baatein’! Debutante singer Farhan Akhtar has sung most of the songs and he does a decent job singing and crooning throughout, though it shows that he is not a professional singer, but can make his voice work with some training! All the songs have extended guitar solos in them and whilst some of them don’t fit in, I love the metal like solo in ‘Zehreeley’! The songs that standout in the movie are ‘Ye Tumhari meri baatein’ which is a romantic ballad sung by a female vocalist and the medley of  ‘Sinbad the Sailor’ and ‘Tum Ho Toh’ which simply takes my breath away!!! A crowd favourite would definitely be ‘Pichle Saat Dino mein’ where the lyrics are humorous and has very catchy backup vocals which go like ‘nanananana nananana’ !!! The Album isn’t a world-beater as a rock album but it definitely does leave its mark, when you consider that Bollywood composers have whipped up these 9 rock compilations!!!

All those who choose to diss the movie, by saying “ha ha these Bollywood freaks don’t know fuck about rock” should really have a long and hard look at themselves, as they don’t realise what message they are trying to spread is the same as that of the rock circuit. And that is to enjoy yourself, be original and not be sell out kings! Should we really diss probably the biggest channel in India (Bollywood) for trying to spread this air of positivity about Indian rock? I think not! And that’s not even taking into consideration what a big risk this movie could have been and inspite of which they have managed to tackle a topic not widely regarded by our ‘aam junta’ with ease. What could have been a financial dud has instead shed light on rock music in it’s own form to millions in the country! Kudos to the whole staff for that!! 

This is neither a movie nor a music review. This is just me saying, if you ever wanted a reason to go the ‘headbanging’ way, rather than the ‘Suit up’ way, this movie will give you plenty of reasons to do so. It made me get lost in this aura of nostalgia (a lil secret between you and me: it even got me teary eyed) and had me thinking only of my band. If you have any association with rock or music for that matter, then this is a must Dekho! Not only a must watch to appreciate fine cinema, but to be underneath the skins of 4 rock stars who are doing what we all dream of doing, and to have your adrenaline gush blood into your veins in full throttle, saying ‘Rock on Yeh hain waqt ka ishara’!

It makes you feel like all’s not a lost cause. On one hand, There is no backing, no recognition, no money, no security, scandals galore, dirty politics on the left hand side of the weighing scale. On the other hand, there is that passion that binds us all that makes us wants to get up on that stage and do our thing, on the right hand side of the weighing scale that outweighs the left side, hands down!!!! Fellow Rockers and Metalheads, it instilled that confidence in me that made me believe ‘This is who I am, and who I shall be in 10 years time, no matter what’, and I’m sure it’ll do the same for you’ll! So lets go out there and live the dream, so that we can ‘ROCK ON’!!