No Such Thing as Magik

With moderate expectations, i watched Rock on! during the opening weekend on Aug 30th.
The film kicks off with a great promise laid down by a racy number with zany electronic music and catchy camerawork. The energy quickly dissipates and the pace vanishes and what follows next though is a mediocre stretch of 2 and 1/2 hours with predictable and hokey scenes.

Surprisingly i found rave (really really rave) reviews of the movie over the internet. To be fair to Abhishek Kapoor, the movie looked better than its predecessor-hyped movie - Jane Tu Ya Jane Na. That apart, it's a movie of a music band re-union. I don't think that sounds original to anyone reading this post or watching the movie.

I think they made Farhan Akhtar's debut as an actor and singer bigger than the movie. He did good as an actor i would say, but his vocals, hmmm, more on that later.

Let me list down where the movie scores and where it falls.

1. Throughout the movie, all we hear is the band 'Magik' wants to be a rock band. Their haircuts, their dressing sense, their 'attitude' towards life, collectively speaks the language of a rock-star dream. And now look at the lead vocalist of the band. He does not, SO NOT, have the voice of a rock star. I can't imagine leading rock band of the country to have Farhan Akhtar's vocals. He can easily be and should be a country singer. Or a soft pop artist. Did anyone watch 'Americal Idol' this season? From the beginning it was a one on one between David Archuleta and David Cook. D A has a very soft and honeyed voice. He could have easily been the Idol but a big nay for a rock star. Idol is not a rock-band competition mind you. D C on the other hand has a very matured voice, perfect for a rock star. Hear a song he sung and you would know what is an upcoming rock artist should sound like. That's why i am comparing with him and not established rock vocalists. And if you don't want to go that far, just listen the 'Zahereelay' song of the same movie. You may not like the song (neither did i), you may or may not like the singer's voice, but that my friends is a rock star's voice. Farhan A's voice is too shallow, and he could not take any song to higher notes, or at least i never noticed.
The song they picked for the contest - 'Peechhale saat dinon mein' is way out of category for a rock song. They still manage to win the contest because they are our movie stars and not rock stars. They should have at least used the services of Luke Kenny who was right there on the sets playing Rob.
Our supposedly rock artists are purists, they live by principles, so they don't want a remix song in their album. But they have no objection towards 'Tum Ho To' song. I like this song, it's a soulful melody, but what about the rules they just set for themselves.

2. Arjun Rampal - This shouldn't come as a surprise. Someone should convince him he is way far from an actor. His cold demeanor and stone face is used quite cleverly i would say in the movie. Nice way to use someone's inabilities to act to project his character. Acting apart, if you want to see someone really uncomfortable with a guitar watch A R strumming strings on the concluding stage show. Even the extras could have done better.

3. Storyline - Is it only me or everyone thinks they have seen this before in movies, on TV ? You know what i read on internet, that this is Dil Chahta Hai part 2. The only apparent similarity is Farhan Akhtarand S E L.

4. Cliche's - There are so many of them, that it hardly keeps you guessing and mostly boring. It's full of sequences created to cramp into storyline.
Devika's goa acquaintance at her shop, the character of Aditya's boss, Prachi's leaving Aditya to her Mom's house and quickly coming back, to count a few.

1. I quickly became the fan of the music. To me that's the only non ordinary thing about the movie. All the songs put together, Shakar Ehsan Loy have done a superb job. Rock on! is catchy, Socha Hai is racy, Tum ho to is soft and romantic. I also liked Phir Dekhiye song, it's equally soft and melodious.
2. F A is ok as an actor. Can't expect too much from a debut artist. Prachi Desai is beautiful and looks easy in her character. Former DJs Purab Kohli and Luke Kenny have done their part well. Koel Purie on the other hand should have been given more footage. Her character itself looks artificial created only to make Prachi easy to compare her life with someone.
The movie is good on technical aspects like cinematography and camerawork.

Magik do well as a band. They are lovable as young and restless oozing with bouts of energy but their tale could have been told better. Their magic fails to mesmerize the audience and their spell falls short of the promise.