Directed by : Imtiaz Ali

Starring : Shammi Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri

Music by:  Mozart of the east – A.R. Rahman

I am actually confused. At one end you have the director’s vision to create something different, to show the making of a Rockstar, to show the attitude of a popular person, to create a symbol. At the other end you have a weak plot revolving the leading lady. Her character looks tailor made to suit the making of Rockstar!

Shortly there is going to be a crash course on “How to become a Rockstar!” Imtiyaz Ali could very well write a book on the same. “Thorns to competition” kinda book!

It is a popular belief that artists with a painful backdrop in life can create more depth in their works. But going in search of pain to become a rockstar and throwing away one’s current life looks too cinematic. Add to that, we have a firang who hangs out in the college without any boy-friends. I can guarantee you this would never happen in real life. The “Fire in belly” to become an artist is missing.

There are quite a few aspects that are worth mentioning in this movie.

Movie starts with a silent tribute to Shammi Kapoor, who is the true rockstar of Bollywood.

Music plays the second protagonist in this movie, creating a big image for Ranbir Kapoor. A R Rahman is the Rockstar of Indian Music! The songs are chart-busters already.

Simple yet creative dialogues by Imtiaz Ali go beyond excellence. “Heart-Breaking-Machine” being my favorite dialogue of the movie.

The narrative is amazing. Imtiaz Ali knows that the audience have no other choice but to watch the movie the way he wants them to watch. And he exploits this to the maximum. You cannot go to the theatre with a pre-determined thought that the movie is going to start like this and its going to end like this. Its a pleasant surprise, take it !

Ranbir Kapoor has delivered one of his best performances. His hair-style, depressed look, dressing, aggression everything works. And it looks genuine too. If you can digest the brief stint in the college where he looks too stupid, you will see that the performance graph keeps progressing.

Nargis Fakhri has got the dolly look. She could very well be called the successor of Katrina Kaif for her firangi accent and plastic expressions.

One needs to appreciate the effort made by the director to keep this movie away from the common band making, breaking and re-union type of scripts. This movies’ got an attitude of its own!

–Varun Mannava Gowtham