Rockstar Doesn’t Rock

 What do you take home from a show of Rockstar? The long-boned but angelic beauty of Nargis Fakhri, the earnestness of Ranbir Kapoor and the songs ‘Kun Faya Kun’, ‘Tum ho’ and ‘Jo Bhi Main’.

Imtiaz Ali’s latest film fails to live up to all the hype that has preceded it. It is ironic that the most memorable songs from a movie based on a rock star are not rock numbers. That kind of sums up Rockstar’s unfulfilled biopic intentions.

The first half keeps you engaged with its campus shenanigans, and the young Heer and Janardhan’s discovery of each other’s quirky selves. The film is most effective when showing the tender romantic moments between the young couple and their silly escapades.

What’s unbelievable is the lack of sexual tension between a robust young man and his impossibly beautiful friend when they are that close. Sooner rather than later, a relationship like that is bound to combust. But not in this movie. What a waste of such a good-looking lead pair?

Rockstar’s weakest link is its story. The events in Jordan’s life never appear traumatic enough to unleash the original artiste in him. Falling out with the family and trying to make his way up literally from the pavement is convincing enough. But the immature relationship with Heer that is consummated only a marriage and a few years later is highly improbable. And the girl’s sudden discovery of righteousness is equally unconvincing.

Where is the pain that a man and a woman feel for each other when circumstances decide to separate them? Where is the pining for lost love? Where is the dam-bursting outflow of emotion when they finally meet again?

And what’s director Imtiaz Ali’s fascination for depressive, ailing heroines? Remember Geet (played by Kareena Kapoor) in Jab We Met, who falls into a funk after falling out with her fiance and losing her friend/boyfriend Aditya (Shahid Kapoor). It takes Aditya to finally bring Geet out of her morose shell. Pretty much the same thing happens in Rockstar, only this time the ailment is more serious and the attempts at a turnaround are unconvincing.

This movie needed a lot more research into the making of a bona fide rock star. One reason why the film stumbles on this basic plot point is perhaps the lack of a rock culture in India.

Imtiaz appears to be losing the plot progressively; his Love Aaj Kal was a couple of notches lower than the excellent Jab We Met and now Rockstar has fallen even lower (a good bit lower) than Love Aaj Kal. This is not to forget Socha Na Tha, easily the best of Imtiaz’s movies till date and tellingly, his first.

The music, the fulcrum of Rockstar, strangely doesn’t live up to expectations, especially since it brings together the tried and tested combination of A R Rahman and Mohit Chauhan. The songs that actually stay with you after the film is over are not rock numbers. The spiritual ‘Kun Faya Kun’ is the most moving, followed by the romantic ‘Tum Ho’.

Ranbir bravely tries to live the life of Janardhan Jakhar but is let down by a weak screenplay. Nargis Fakhri, for a newcomer, does admirably well but is clearly unable to find the depths of emotion needed for the more intense scenes. (Imtiaz is clearly in love with Geet, for we see more than shades of her in Heer) No matter what, she is a delight to look at. And if she sticks around, Nargis will be an actress to watch out for.

Shammi Kapoor in a brief role, as Ustad Jameel Khan, shines through. The sparkle is his eyes is unmistakable. Old is truly gold. The beautiful Aditi Rao Hydari is wasted in a walk-on role. And the talented Piyush Mishra, as the record label owner, is reduced to an ’80s style Bollywood buffoon.

The biopic trope of a docudrama that is used in Rockstar, at least initially, is lost soon after the film begins. Why? The narrative style is never consistent and the editing is sometimes confusing, like in the Jordan meets Heer’s family sequence. What a hotchpotch? Was there a projection glitch at the theatre or was that the way it was edited?

And the length! Why can’t our directors slash a film down to its bare essentials? Watch out for the inane Lucknow street scene where Jordan’s manager gives him a lecture amid a patently fake adoring crowd. Perhaps, this is a case of a very ambitious project conceived too soon; a broth that needed a lot more cooking.

Whatever the case, watch Rockstar for the beautiful people in it and the couple of numbers that still showcase the memorable Rahman. Rockstar scores a 7 on 10.