Saw ‘Rock On’ during the weekend, and as always, Farhan Akhtar did not disappoint. No reviews here, just a few thoughts that the movie provoked, so even if you haven’t watched the movie, read on.
Inspite of the movie’s tagline – ‘Live your dream’, I thought it dwells more on choices we make as human beings, the directions we take at crossroads, the compromises we make as a result of those, and the implications of those choices, some of which we have to live with, our whole life. That, i guess, is why the movie worked for me, after all ‘Choices’ is perhaps the largest tag item on this blog. 🙂
All of us have dreams, right from the time we were asked who we wanted to be when we grew up, and perhaps before that too. There are those who pursue it without deviating at all, there are those who compromised in between, but came back to them because living with the choice we made was difficult, and then there are those who live with a choice that did not include their dreams. The film shows all of the above, in addition to one more set – those who live a compromised version of their dreams.
So, there are those who follow their dreams, there are those who choose not to, but the tragedy doesn’t end there, as gray shades are abundant. Those who are never able to figure out what they want, who live in a limbo of multiple alternate realities, those who chase the dream only to figure out that it wasn’t what they thought it’d be, and lose the spark in their eye forever, as a life is gambled away.
Compromise – that was the keyword. While its very easy to see that a choice out of our dreams would involve lots of it, the movie also made me think about the other side of the fence. When a person pursues his passion/dream with all his heart, does he also harbor a feeling of having ‘compromised’ on the (for lack of a better word) fun part of his life, or the materialistic things that he could’ve afforded if he had put his dream on the shelf? The opportunity costs arriving out of following what one considers his destiny? Will he be a mirror reflection of those of us who compromise and wish for that chance to live at least once before we cease to exist? Or would he have achieved a private utopia as a reward for sticking to his dreams? Or does that utopia exist only in others’ minds? What happens when you’re the only individual gold medalist your nation has produced, and you still fell a sense of ennui/hollowness, a feeling of having missed out
Which leads me to a question i read sometime back – ‘Is dissatisfaction in the nature of existence’, and irrespective of what we do, the climax has already been decided?
As for the movie, it speaks about something many of us can relate to, and it is ‘feel good’, er, except for the part where i was met with stern gazes when i sang ‘Popcorn, hain yeh waqt ka ishara’ during the interval. So, you see, I do it all to myself. 😐
until next time, bedrock
PS. A nice read on the movie.
Dekhega.
Worth a multiplex visit? or DVD?
Thanks be.
ROCK ON is a fantastic movie, at least for people who believe music is an integral part of one’s life! It is very realistic too, especially in Indian scenario. And Farhan’s performace was a shocker for me!
I want to see. I want to see.
And there are those who make a choice and constantly wonder if that is right or not!
Like me 🙁
If it has Farhan Akkhtar, I’m seeing it.
And he sings, too. Woot!
to me rock on was a movie of following your heart ..choices made in youth …about letting cricustances be bigger than u …and ultimately finding and arriving at what gives you happiness …happy being the state god chose us to be in ..whatever we chose to do in this life ..our core should be happy doing it ..then we can feel the magic of existence in every moment of our life…it cant be described it has to be felt ..and one can only feel it when one has the patience to listen and obey …difficult circumsatnces are there to help u learn on your path of self discovery ..
Loved the movie…even if someone doesn’t “get” the rock scene, I guess they’ll like the movie..nai? BTW I don’t think the movie will work on DVD..concert wala scene will be lost!
Trivia: How many classic rock tunes were you able to spot in the background music? 🙂
Compromise. That was the word constantly emphasized in the movie. I still think no matter what the end result is, when you pursue your dreams and dont compromise on it, the happiness is immense.
Just watched the movie yesterday. Loved the post. 🙂
austere: multiplex 🙂 to get the real feel of the music, and its a great movie 🙂
Chethan: in a nice way, i hope… i agree, esp if you’ve tripped on indus creed……parikrama etc 🙂
cynic : you should, you should 🙂
abhishek: like a lot of us, my friend… thats what i was trying to say here.. check out the abhinav bindra link..
amdp: yeah he does 🙂
shruti: agree, though whats difficult is controlling the things that define our happiness
epiphany: i agree on the concert feel, but it also depends on what your take out is… its as good a ‘lessons in life’ movie as it is a rock movie.. and zero on the trivia man 🙁 but enlighten me..
eveline: thanks 🙂 i am just not so sure, i think there’s a hollowness on the other side too
Hi! My first time on your blog. your post set me thinking as did the movie. I wanted to be a writer all my life. In fact even worked in a news papers for a month. then I did my MBA and have worked since in market research and advertising. This brought the bacon to my table. But I have really begun living since I began blogging
Re: the question on multiplex, we saw it in the ‘red lounge’ at bandra e. the perfect film to watched snuggled in a couch
Waiting to check it out..
Hi.. Saw the movie.. Here’s my verdict..
Didn’t particularly like it. Probably I was expecting too much, what with all the reviews… But I gotta agree when it comes to the message it delivers.. Following ur dreams, making choices, compromises on the way, et al. People can certainly connect to the story.
But as a movie(a rock n roll movie at that), it could have been better. The music was a welcome change from the Himesh Reshmaya types, but not certainly “rock material”.
Also I still wonder as to how Arjun Rampal made it to the stage before the second song. How did he manage to set up his guitar so fast. Typical bollywood!! (Also…. How come no sex n drugs… Lolz.)