Rocking a Broken Heart- Rockstar Review

Year of release : 2011

Director : Imtiaz Ali

Cinematographer : Anil Mehta

Cast : Ranbir Kapoor, Nargis Fakhri, Shammi Kapoor, Aditi Rao Hydari

Genre : Romance/Musical

"Pata hai, yahan se bahot door, galat aur sahi ke paar, ek maidan hai. Mai wahan milunga tujhe."

(You know, far away from here, beyond what is wrong and what is right, there is a field. You'll find me there.)

Inspired by the Iranian poet Rumi's work, director Imtiaz Ali's 2011 masterpiece, Rockstar portrays a painful love story and the musical enlightenment of its protagonist Janardhan (played by Ranbir Kapoor).

Imtiaz Ali's storytelling in this film is layered. You can clearly comprehend, the underlying meaning of the dialogues, the body language of the actors, making this film so much more than just another bollywood love story.

Ali gives his protagonist very little to start with as an artist. For an ordinary Delhi boy to become the next Jim Morrison, requires a great deal of musical enlightenment. Then how does the character achieve it? The answer is simple. Get him through a great deal of pain and anguish, and he will find his way as an artist. This comes at a great cost, when Janardan is kicked out of his house, lives in the mosque for 2 months and getting detached from his closest companion, Heer (played by Nargis Fakhri).

From Janardan

To Jordan

He found his voice through God.

The cinematography by Anil Mehta is simple, yet powerful. The beautiful editing of film, makes the film flow seamlessly. The non linear edit makes the story more compelling and exciting. Imtiaz Ali never answers everything altogether. The film actually starts off at the endpoint and circles back to it. Nothing is too over the top, but everything about this film, is absolutely beautiful.

Well, what can we say about the music of this film. Composed by one of the best music composers in the world, A.R. Rehman, the music of this film is powerful, exhilarating, beautiful, sometimes heart warming and sometimes heart breaking. The powerful lyrics and the beautiful vocals of Mohit Chauhan makes this album one of the best in Indian film industry. Go give it a listen. https://open.spotify.com/album/3RZxrS2dDZlbsYtMRM89v8?si=xG4NsVmvQTK5sL87pRQW4Q

This Imtiaz Ali film is a modern day Romeo Juliet. It's not just a love story though. It has now become a cult classic and gained a lot of traction after years of its release. Love is often misjudged in Indian films. It somehow means, the hero needs to fight the villain and save the girl. Well, this film was way ahead of its time and is one of the most underrated films in the Indian cinematic history. Rockstar, is one of the best romantic films in Indian cinema. It's characters are deep, meaningful and each had a crucial role in contributing to Jordan's being. Imtiaz Ali, with his outstanding story telling, surely possesses the magic touch.

THE PARADISE.

Rating : 4.2/5

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-Siddharth Padhee

Everything-Film

29-05-2020