Janardhan Jakhar is a typical North Delhi guy whose passion is music. He wants to be like Jim Morrison. He likes singing for people but is unsuccessful. His college canteen owner tells him it isn’t cake walk creating music as the true art oozes out due to the pain. Due to The heartbreak.
He sets out to propose a girl who is touted as the heartbreak machine as many guys fell for her and she rejected all of them. Heer. He proposes her for fun and she rejects him. He acts like heartbroken and the canteen owner calls him a dork for doing all this non sense drama. Janardhan then goes to apologize Heer and hence begins their fun story. She then gets married and starts living a conventional life in Prague.
Meanwhile Janardhan aka Jordan rises. He signs a deal with a company and goes on music tour to Europe. He again meets Heer and this time falls for her. Things get ugly and she tells him never to come near her. He then sets out on a journey of fame and self destrution.
The Good:
Ranbir Kapoor. He is Palang-Tod in the movie. Absolutely incredible. His expressions and different looks get along so well with the situations. The innocent Janardhan, the beginner Jordan and Jordan, the rockstar; all were played brilliantly by him. His performance is surely gonna get him adjacent to the Khans. The scenes in which he lip syncs the songs make you realize how much hard work and effort he has invested in the role to try and make it look natural and perfect. And, well, he made romantic scenes look… actually romantic!
Music. A.R. Rahman, after ages, proved why he is A.R. Rahman! What a music! What songs! Sheer genius. Pure genius. The maestro covers a myriad of moods which reflect the emotional graph of Janardhan Jakhar. Mohit Chauhan has put his soul in the songs. His job was the most imortant and film was to ride on his voice. Well, he succeeded and in what a way! He had to be the voice of theRockstar and reflect his mood depending upon the situation, and he succeeded! His life time best.
Imtiaz’s freshness. The movie, out of the all movies released this year, has least number of clichés. Dialogues of the movie are mostly witty and few qualify for roars, claps and whistles, while few are uproarious. Also, it is a rare situation when you try to predict the next scene and it comes out to be true. Kudos to Imtiaz for that.
Direction. Okay, Imtiaz Ali is not a perfect director and he certainly cannot make timeless classics all the time. But, he has his way. Had it been a Madhur Bhandarkar movie, you’d have witnessed drugs, alcohol, illegal jobs and loads of sex in the journey of Janardhan Jakhar from rags to a Rockstar. But Imtiaz chooses to keep it strictly about Jordan and his disastrous coming-of-age story, blurring every other character or event in his life that don't take the story forward. Rockstar is also a story about two unusual and curious individuals and their insuppressible connection.
The chemistry. Ranbir shares a very explosive chemistry with Nargis. Be it their to-do lists and other weird ideas or be it their sensual and seductive moments, you fall in love with their characters. Brownie Points to Imtiaz for handling their fun, unexpressed love, intimacy and rush of their sexual urges with expertise.
Opening Scene. First scene of the movie and you’re hooked. You’re instantly curious to know everything about Jordan and his journey so far. It leaves a terrific impact!
The Acting and Cinematography. After Ranbir, it’s Kumud Mishra, who leaves a lasting image on your mind with his natural acting of Jordan’s advisor cum manager. He was exceptional. Shammi Kapoor has not more than five scenes and dialogues in the whole movie, but every time he shows up, it’s a moment to devour and cheer in admiration. Piyush Mishra as the owner of the music company was brilliant. He makes an interesting grey-shaded lead. Anil Mehta’s cinematography leaves an impact and makes the visuals stylish. The flash backs and his stage shows were beautifully captured.
The Bad:
Script. Imtiaz Ali wanted to fuse in the journey of a Rockstar and his love story together. And this is where he failed. He got so confused that he could not express his imagination impeccably. After you get out of theater and recall the whole movie, you ask yourself, what exactly the director wanted to convey! First half showed the rise and rise of Jordan and his growing love for Heer. Second half got lost in expressing his heartbreak, his journey, his bad image, his self destruction, and again, his everlasting love for Heer, simultaneously. You don’t exactly make out anything in specific from all of it.
Nargis Fakhri. Like most of the other female debutantes, Nargis Fakhri is mostly bad. Her voice is dubbed and in many scenes she fails to express the emotions. She does remind you of Katrina in her early days, though.
The Ugly:
Ending Scene. Okay, the moment the end credits begin out of the blue, you are like, what the hell! Is this the end?! The director wanted to keep it open as to make way for a debate but again fails. You end up bad mouthing it and do not go the way Imtiaz had wanted you to.
Length of the Movie. Sitting and watching the screen continuously for close to three hours in a theater does agitate you. How you wish the movie had been a little shorter and the second half could’ve been better and simple. The disjoint and confusing narrative, sometimes, add fuel to the fire.
All in all, a movie with a powerful opening scene, wonderful music, explosive love chemistry, wits, dragged second half and a bad ending scene.
Movie is bound to generate mixed responses. Either you’ll be able to understand Jordan’s disdain for the system, disregard for his fans, read his eyes, feel his pain, and understand his feelings. Or you’ll question the script like how come he never expressed his feelings for Heer earlier in the movie, why he never talked to his mother or vice versa, why he never cared for anybody, including Jim Morrison, and why the movie ended without any drama and left everything unanswered!
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