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It’s a kind of Magik

India's first rock music movie has arrived….

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Rock On
Cast: Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny, Prachi Desai
Director: Abhishek Kapoor
****

India's first rock music movie has arrived…. Drum roll please and welcome on stage lead singer and song writer Aditya (Farhan Akhtar), lead guitarist Joe (Arjun Rampal), on drums KD (Purab Kohli) and Rob (Luke Kenny) on keyboard. This is Magik — four college friends who chased a dream to becoming recording artists till a confrontation and clash of egos led to their break up. Ten years and many hair cuts later, the band has gone their separate and more conventional ways: some are married, some are caught in dull family businesses and others are holding on to the vestiges of a fading dream.

Like most films of the buddy and rites of passage genre, Rock On has a pretty predictable story graph, with expected reconciliations, crisis and a crescendo.
However, writer-director Abhishek Kapoor doesn't put a foot wrong within these boundaries, developing wonderful characters, relationships, capturing the camaraderie of a musical group and high energy of a live show superbly. The musical training received by the cast and Farhan Akhtar's singing add authenticity.

Prachi Desai and Shahana Goswami as the supportive and concerned wives of Aditya and Joe respectively do a fine job. It's great to see Purab Kohli in a well-etched out role and with the best lines in the film. Luke Kenny is the stiffest of the lot, his acting inexperience showing through a tad. Farhan Akhtar makes a fab debut — he's self-assured and his singing and guitar skills blend into the film seamlessly. The real rock star is Arjun Rampal — distant and disappointed in his fish curry middle class existence, he comes alive on stage, pulling off a difficult role with understated refinement.

The director and story triumph further in conveying so much without using dialogue, via simple gestures and slight expressions. Rock On may lack the wit of Dil Chahta Hai, but captures the maturity of relationships on the cusp of 30 well.

The unseen stars of Rock On are Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy — the background score is as impressive as the soundtrack. The music and songs are woven in and shot so well that you are transported into the basement practice room or right into the loud live arena. As the audience applauds and cheers Magik's performance, the following should also enjoy the accolades: co-producer Ritesh Sidhwani, director Abhishek Kapoor and, above all, composers Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy.      

Bravo.

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