Indian movies

Is ROCK ON!! DIL CHAHTA HAI 2, one is tempted to ask. DIL CHAHTA HAI was a trendsetter when you look back, paving way for storytellers who wanted a new story to tell. Now, the DIL CHAHTA HAI team of Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar with director Abhishek Kapoor deliver ROCK ON!!, a film that makes you understand the true meaning of friendship.

Put your hands together for one of the finest films of our times. Put your hands together for a director who pulls off a challenging subject with élan. Put your hands together for the actors who pitch in superlative performances.

ROCK ON!! is not just about music. It's about relationships. And relationships can get really complicated and messy as all of us would agree. ROCK ON!! captures it so beautifully, so sensitively, so effectively on celluloid.

Everything is in sync here, everything is just perfect. Flaws? Perhaps, the slow pacing. But come to think of it, you can't play with the edit in a film like this. ROCK ON!! also works because you can relate to the characters, you can relate to the moods, the egos, the highs and the lows...

In a nutshell, here's a film you just can't afford to miss. We've had our share of masala films week after week. Now have a look at a film that India can proudly showcase to the West. ROCK ON!! simply rocks!

ROCK ON!! is the story of four friends [Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, Luke Kenny] who put together the greatest band this country has ever seen, Magic, but never make it. Years later, fate conspires to bring them together again and set them on a journey back to where they left off... a soul-searching pilgrimage into their past.

ROCK ON!! bears some resemblance to the Hollywood film THAT THING YOU DO [Tom Hanks], but it could be a mere coincidence. Director Abhishek Kapoor sets it in the Indian milieu efficiently. Watch the bonding shatter into pieces for no fault of anyone in particular actually. It's the circumstances that play the villain here and Abhishek captures it on lens so beautifully. The fragile relationships, how piece after piece is put together and the journey to the climax… the narrative is so compelling, it makes you feel you're witnessing all of it first-hand.

Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's music is perfect. It's completely in sync with the mood of the film. Connoisseurs of music have already showered the music with rave reviews and rightly so! Jason West's cinematography is fantastic. The screenplay and dialogues are commendable.

Every performance in the film deserves brownie points. Farhan Akhtar makes his debut as an actor and he displays rare maturity for a first-timer. Known as an accomplished director all along, Farhan will now be acknowledged as a mature actor as well. Arjun Rampal delivers his finest performance to date. Watch him emote those tough emotional moments and also as a failed person in the latter parts and you'd realize that he has only grown with the passage of time. Superb is the word!

Purab Kohli is tremendous and so is Luke Kenny. Purab has always delivered fine performances, but he's touched a new high this time. Luke is equally charged.

Prachi Desai scores in her very first feature. She has a challenging role and footage-wise too, it's substantial. Prachi brings in a lot of freshness and poise. Plus, she's a competent actor. Shahana Goswami is a talent to watch out for. Her performance is one of the most difficult ones for a newcomer and the confidence with which she carries it deserves to be lauded. Koel Purie has a brief role and she enacts it quite well.

On the whole, ROCK ON!! is an amazing experience. The highpoint is the emotional quotient, the skilful performances and the superb execution of the subject. At the box-office, this urban film holds tremendous appeal for metros and mini-metros. Business at multiplexes of Mumbai, Pune, Delhi and NCR, Kolkata and South in particular should be excellent. Very strongly recommended!

It's all about TRPs. To hell with ethics, principles, morals and scruples. The competition amongst TV channels is so fierce across the globe that what eventually matters is laying your hands on any story that attracts eyeballs and which, in turn, translates into ratings.

In an effort to outdo each other, TV channels have started resorting to gimmicks and sensationalism. Scandals, gossip, controversies, brawls, kickbacks… get priority over noble issues. IT'S BREAKING NEWS bares all that goes behind sting operations and the ways and means some channel heads stoop to, to attract eyeballs.

IT'S BREAKING NEWS says it all in the most simplistic fashion, without using the technical jargon, and coupled with an engrossing story, catches the attention of the viewer. But there's a flip side as well. Frankly, a subject like this isn't everyone's cup of tea. It caters to a small segment of moviegoers who savour realistic cinema.

Also -- this is strictly from the business point of view -- there's not much awareness about the film and the fact that it's pitted against multiple releases and timed during the holy month of Ramzan, the effort might unnoticed.

Vidya [Koel Purie] is a dynamic news correspondent who is forced to quit entertainment and cover crime. Gradually, she gets a knack of it and starts getting addicted to the thrill and ecstasy of the job. One fine day, she receives a call from a girl called Sangeeta, from Pune, who is a victim of repeated sexual abuses by a top cop [Harsh Chhaya].

Vidya, with her team, chalks out a plan for a sting operation and is all ready to cover the event, but, unfortunately, it is the DIG [Vinay Apte], who falls prey to their sting operation. The entire episode of 'live rape' trouble Vidya and her cameraman Rafiq [Atul Parchure].

Vidya had committed to Sangeeta that this footage would not be telecast, but she is traumatized to see the telecast of the whole footage 'as it is' in her news channel. Bugged with the whole system, she leaves for her uncle's place [Virendra Saxena], who had been insisting her to visit his press.

There, she apprehends the genuine power and nuance of journalism and gets the spur to fight back the system. With close friend Bala [Abhimanyu Singh], a crime correspondent in a rival channel, and Rafiq, she decides to get the victim justice.

IT'S BREAKING NEWS mirrors the behind-the-scenes tamasha that takes place before a scandal is unleashed to the viewers. The first sting operation [a minister's daughter is kept under house arrest] looks amateurish, but the second sting operation -- of a helpless girl being used by cops -- is brilliantly executed.

While the first hour is involving and rarely loses the grip, the second hour is problematic. The story takes a long time to reach the conclusion, although the helpless girl's 'settlement' is an interesting development. But the story doesn't end there; there's one more sting operation, which, though well executed, adds to the length of the film.

Director Vishal Inamdar has the potential to grow as a storyteller, but he should keep the length of his story in check. There's just one song in the narrative [Kaushal Inamdar], which is okay. The background score is appropriate. Cinematography is of standard.

Koel Purie is efficient yet again. Abhimanyu Singh is decent. Vinay Apte looks convincing. Atul Parchure is in form. Harsh Chhaya shows his evil side with flourish. Virendra Saxena is alright. The actress enacting the role of the victim is effective.

On the whole, IT'S BREAKING NEWS has noble intentions, but the release period isn't right. Multiple releases in the week + lack of pre-release buzz + Ramzan period will curtail its prospects.