Movie Review : Rockstar

Rating : 4/5
Genre : Romance
Year : 2011
Running time : 2 hours 40 minutes
Director : Imtiaz Ali
Cast : Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri, Kumud Mishra, Aditi Rao Hydari, Shammi Kapoor, Shernaz Patel, Piyush Mishra
Kid rating : PG-15

Rockstar is director Imtiaz Ali’s 4th directorial venture after Socha Na Tha, Jab We Met and Love Aaj Kal (all three make it to my Top Ten List). His reputation now precedes him; if anyone does romances well, it is this man. Rockstar is also a romance. But unlike the first three which were mired somewhat in the practicalities of day-to-day life, Rockstar is a film about an ethereal love, transcending the boundaries of ordinary logic, reasoning and morality.

Janardhan Jhakar, or JJ (Ranbir) is a student of Hindu College, Delhi. A budding musician, JJ can’t seem to find his niche and get his talent noticed. Advised by a know-it-all well-wisher, Khatana bhai (Kumud Mishra), to experience pain and sorrow, for that is the hallmark of great artistes, JJ sets about trying get his heart broken – the easy way, he thinks, to angst. When he hears that soon-to-be-married Heer Kaul (Nargis) of St. Stephen’s college (next door to Hindu) is a heart-breaker, he professes undying love to her. Little does he know that he will get more than he bargained for . . .

Rockstar is JJ’s story. It tells us of how Janardan Jakhar becomes Jordan, the mega rock-star. But at the core of it, this is a true-blue romance. Because wherever Jordan goes, and whatever condition he is in, he is always beset by thoughts of Heer. Imtiaz Ali portrays this love very well, from the nascent attraction that sneaks up on JJ and Heer and takes them unawares, to the irrefutable pull that they both cannot resist, even at the risk of societal condemnation and overstepping the bounds of morality.

The film is told in flashback fashion. Sorta kinda. Director Ali deftly spins through the story, working backwards, until he comes full circle. The beginning shots are of an eccentric, raggedy-looking rockstar Jordan, in full artist mode, sporting baggy, almost salwar like pants and headgear, scuffling, running. Soon, however, we move backwards in time and meet Jordan as JJ. The first-half of the film is build-up; there is Janardhan, in all his middle class glory, resplendent in his high-waisted jeans, garish sleeveless sweaters and dorky haircut in the middle of a Delhi winter, lugging around his guitar. There are sessions in the college canteen with the portly Khatana bhai, who I guess is some kind of clerk at the college. The fabulous attention to detail made me nostalgic for that time and place, and by extension for Delhi itself.

Post-intermission, the lead pair are in the throes of a surreal love. The beautifully composed shots are almost poetry in motion, and the mood is set by some soulful numbers. Ali walks a fine line in depicting this love. It is other-worldly, and beatific, and Jordan and Heer are consumed by it. We get that this is a great romance, but Ali keeps this almost transcendental passion tethered in the real world with a skillful screenplay, so we, as viewers, are still engaged in the pair’s lives. It is proof of Ali’s artistry that he manages to bind together an interesting story with a depiction of such an intense romance, and still keep this film balanced, not letting it bogged down by either the pragmatic or the ethereal.

Credit also goes to Ranbir Kapoor who gives it his all. He is dorky as the young student, suffused with angst as the bearded Jordan, and oh-so-broken-heartedly in love. He lends his character charm and wit and innocence and carries the film. American model Nargis Fakhri will not will any awards for her weak acting skills (but then this is Bollywood, so she might), but she is a luminous beauty, and well-suited to the role. It is not hard to imagine that she, with her glowing good looks, is the object of such an intense passion. Kumud Mishra brought Khatana’s character to life wonderfully, Aditi Rao Hydari has a small role as Sheena, and Shammi Kapoor looked fragile in his last film appearance as Ustad Jameel Khan.

I must also applaud the soundtrack. Rahman is a true genius, but his brilliance comes through in fits and spurts. In Rockstar fortunately, he delivers. “Jo bhi main” is wonderful, and “Kun faya kun” is awe-inspiring; it is of the caliber of his earlier “Yeh jo des hai”(Swades), “Khwaja mere Khwaja”(Jodha-Akbar) and “Jaage hain”(Guru) numbers. With lyrics by Irshad Kamil, and Mohit Chauhan’s voice (among others) this is an outstanding soundtrack.

This was quite a film. I fear that some of you might find the second half a tad “flighty”, but I quite loved it. Go, see it!

Kidwise : Some scenes of semi-nudity, and love-making make it unsuitable for the younger set. Children younger than 15 may not “get” the film, and the whole love rigmarole.

The Dirty Movie review

“Uh, ah, aah…” she moans, faking an orgasm before the camera and
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dozens of crew members. She’d learnt this trick while trying to keep her neighbours from disturbing her at night. The walls in her shared, shabby house didn’t conceal the lovemaking sounds from the next room. She thought she could make some noises of her own. That would shame the husband-wife couple to sleep.

The girl, once Reshma, now Silk of the semi-porn screen, keeps her blouse low, saree lifted up enough, to reveal round breasts, deep cleavage, ‘thunder thighs’ (wherever that expression comes from), besides a jiggly belly, proud girth, chubby cheeks, long silken hair: basically a female form that unites collective fantasies of the provincial male.

The Indian man derives his desires from ancient sculptures, the kinds that make for ruins in caves of Khajuraho or Ajanta-Ellora. Silk is that for the silver screen. This is her story. Or one of the human race, as the narrator says: “Look at history, two things don’t change: man dominates, woman causes aafat (calamity)!” Marx was obviously wrong about class struggles!

This narrator is a filmmaker-actor (Emraan Hashmi), stung by the stunning success of Silk’s odd, soft-core stuff. He’s an honest director. His producer’s a practical man. There is honesty in the porn type material the producer peddles as well. It’s unlikely to garner critical acclaim, of course. No male reviewer will recommend a movie because it gave him a hard-on. Female critic will probably sense exploitation. Silk couldn’t care less. She collects only photos of hers that appear in the press.

Her journey to infamy involves a mix of circumstance, coincidence, and her own resilience, as is true for all success stories. In short: she lands up on a film set. Movie urgently needs a back-up dancer. Second-unit director goes nuts shooting her curvy figure. Main director (Hashmi) throws the song away. Producer finds it after the film’s bombed on day one, adds it in. She gets noticed, becomes a star of sorts: lonely, reckless, focused, ambitious. She loses her mind, as many do, only when she begins to take her own myths too seriously.

‘Fem-jep’ (female in jeopardy) is a popular American film genre. Where the heroine goes through man-hell throughout, and supposedly sympathetic male audiences, psychologists suspect, secretly enjoy this without feeling any guilt! Madhur Bhandarkar is the patron saint of this genre in Hindi pics (Chandni Bar, Fashion etc). This is not one of those movies. Silk pretty much deserves what she gets.

How much of this belongs to the suicidal southern phenomenon Silk Smitha, whose life this film is apparently based on, it’s hard to tell. Bharati Pradhan, a veteran film journalist who’d interviewed Smitha before, says the character comes quite close. We spoke at the interval. The difference between Silk in this movie and, say, a Mallika Sherawat or Mamta Kulkarni in real life, is that after tasting moderate success from below-the-radar semi sleaze, most attempt to gentrify themselves through the mainstream: convert infamy into lady-like fame. Silk did not.

She seeks no respect, attaches herself to a top actor, remains protected from other leeches. This is true for so many Indian heroines. Only repressed middle classes pick up glossies to marvel at promiscuous sex lives of filmies. The show-world is what it is.

Anju Mahindru plays a gossip mag editor, chronicling bedrooms of the movie industry. We’re supposed to be in Madras. The location is obviously fuzzy. The time line’s not. It is the ‘80s, and it could well be Bollywood. The vocabulary, 'tuning' (euphemism for getting it on), 'baby' (for the heroine), are so ‘Bollywood’ from the time.

Movies survive on songs shot with earthen pots and hip-shakes (matkas, jhatkas). The track, Ooh la la is so Jeetendra’s Mawali (1983), you want to instantly move to it, in your own dream sequence, as Jack and Jill roll down the hill, oranges fall on the female bosom. Clearly the filmmakers have grown up on these drugs. Memories from adolescence make for purest inspirations. We remember these films now as if they were from another planet. It’s endearing. Societies that leapfrog within a couple of decades find their ancient history too soon.

The film however, even when not mimicking its subject, somewhat retains its ‘80s feel: excessive Decalogue, often loaded with double entendres, some loud scenes with actors always in a state of emergency, and the “serial kisser” (Emraan Hashmi) who must land a Sufi song, and a girl’s lips to satisfy his core audiences. Sometimes we remain suspended too much in disbelief. It starts to match the film within the film! This irony is oddly intriguing. It won’t be lost on anyone.

Meanwhile, the sexy, sexagenarian hero, “one lakh a day, one-take artiste” Smashing Surya (Naseeruddin Shah, hilarious) with black spongebob on his head plays a college boy. He looks for three vital elements in a script: sister, rape, revenge. The well-meaning actor-director (Hashmi) is frustrated still.

Just a few smart male actors can completely change the face of a commercial, star-driven film industry. Looking at the one playing the female protagonist here, Vidya Balan – Paa, Ishqiya, No One Killed Jessica, and this – it appears, that change could well originate from the leading lady instead.  This is Balan’s, or for that matter any contemporary Bollywood heroine's, ballsiest role so far.

Though Conrad Hilton didn’t put it this way, Silk (or Balan) concludes – There are three things you need for a successful film: entertainment, entertainment, entertainment. Over here, “I am the entertainment.” She is absolutely right, beyond first-rate.

The Dirty Picture
Director: Milan Luthria
Actors: Vidya Balan, Naseeruddin Shah, Emraan Hashmi
Rating: ***