Where Ranbir Excels, Nargis Repels

Rating: 7/10 (12 November 2011)

Welcome to the Imtiaz Ali brand of Hindi cinema; recall Jab We Met and Love Aajkal Entertainment, high on aesthetics and drama full of emotions and love. Enter Ranbir Kapoor, the most gifted young star with solo hits and excellent track record; recall Raajneeti, Wake up Sid and Rocket Singh. Add to it Nargis Fakhri, an attractive and fresh foreign face and recall the success of Katrina Kaif and Giselle Montiero. Add to this the last appearance of Shammi Kapoor and fantastic music of A.R.Rehman you book the tickets in advance, buy pop corn and enter the theater with very high expectations.
Rockstar is the story of Jordan or JJ, a small time singer wanting to make it big on rock music scene and his love story with Heer, the classy girl from his college. It's a tenderly told anecdote of complexities of human nature and its frailties when it comes to choosing between wrong and right or love and celebrity. Interestingly, at no point, unlike other love stories, Imtiaz wants the audience to portray high moral values of the lead pair. In fact, they have imperfect personalities resulting into a flawed relationship with no possible explanation and that's what makes the whole deal realistic. It is packed with some power house performances by the lead characters and some beautifully crafted scenes like the one where Jordan leaves his contracts and is found sitting among prostitutes in a red light area singing to them and says that's what he always wanted. One of the strongest points of the film is the fact that music has been artistically entrenched in the story and last but not the least, humor is genuine and amusing.
But the question still remains; does it deliver as per expectations? the answer is no. Mainly, because it's fiction and fiction demands more logic than reality, biographies or documentaries. The treatment, despite being poetic and beautiful, keeps the focus on one person's personality, making it look like a true story of a real life character which its not. At several points Imtiaz Ali deviates from logic taking creative license granting which varies from genre to genre. Ra.One loving audience would give more margins than Love Aaj Kal loving audience. Imtiaz develops the character of JJ with utmost detail and sincerity but falters a couple of times in framing his career path and his rise. While first 45 minutes of the film are fast and eventful, it starts becoming slower as it progresses and second half hardly moves the story. Also, the pair's reunion scenes leave much to be desired.
Imtiaz Ali's experiment with Nargis Fakhri also falls flat. Nargis has serious dialogue delivery issues and goes over the top on quite a few occasions which are not Imtiaz Ali film traits. Her age also shows when she is playing a college student etc. Female lead of the film being bad can be perilous, however, the rise of the inexplicably charming Aditi Rao Hyadri in supporting cast saves the female side of the show. She is natural, beautiful and has excellent screen presence. All the more reason to look for her pairing with Ali Zafar in London, Paris, New York as her next. Piyush Mishra does an incredible job as you would expect from a man of his talent. Other supporting cast is also very good, especially Kumud Mishra as JJ's agent. Shammi Kapoor is in a brief role but is unforgettable. Graceful, respectable and heart warming. Very convincing indeed.
The film totally belongs to Ranbir. What an absolutely wonderful performance. Just a couple of years in the industry and he is already in a league of his own, much ahead of Imran or others. I hate to admit that he is even better than my personal favorite Shahid Kapoor and his results are also showing the same. It was a complex role but the ease with which Ranbir has carried it can give Aamir Khan run for his money. The image and persona of a rock star fit Ranbir perfectly and he pulled off the attitude and music in style. Champion, I'd say. Impressive.
One more impressive unit member is Anil Mehta behind the lens. Fantastic camera work from the veteran. He has bettered his previous best Lagaan and HDDS by a huge margin. Light treatments in on-stage performance scenes is remarkable. Close-ups are detail oriented.
Imtiaz Ali the writer has written beautiful character sketches but hasn't left much in the story. Several ends remain open when the movie finishes. It appears as if he had a much more vivid picture of the script in his mind than he was able to tell the audience. As a director, he has handled the film with sensitivity and understanding but leaves the screenplay loose. He does get out best performances from his team but probably deliberately, gives a bit of a documentary touch to the film in the middle hour. Duration could also be shortened by 15 minutes or so. Alternatively, that time could have been used to give a view of Nargis's background or history which was virtually absent in the first half. There are weaknesses in how he handles the medical issues lead characters face.
Despite the points mentioned above, it still is a beautiful film and worth a watch. In most likelihood, it's the kind of film that will grow on the audience in multiple watches and has in it to become a long run cult classic. On a stand alone basis, its much better than several films produced this year, however, if you ask the questions like is it as good as Love AajKal or Jab We Met, definitely not as those were very universal movies and this will suit select audience. From Imtiaz's perspective, its more like his directorial debut film Socha Na Tha which despite being a beautiful film, lacked the excitement. Imtiaz's next should be a step further not backward.