A Movie to Be Remembered for Years

Rating: 10/10 (19 November 2011)

Rockstar is about destiny. A human dreams to achieve a goal. Then s/he pursues the goal through various queer alleys of life. Touching the goal realization comes that the goal has been changed and/or lost in course of pursuit. Either s/he becomes aimless or sets in another pursuit for something missed in the obsession of previous goal. Then pursuits go on. The human keeps wondering from a goal to another goal. Thus her/his destiny is defined. Rockstar is not about becoming a rock star; it is about shaping destiny of a common man with trendy passion of becoming a rock star. He used every means he knew, and suggested to him by his critics - sympathizers, friends, mentors, snobs, judges and arrangers of competitions and shows - time and again. When he was summoned music barons he abstained from taking opportunity towards accomplishment of goal. Because he, following dictates his consciences, preferred to attend a friend's wedding as previously he tried to use her as means of achieving his goal. Though ambitious to be a rock star, the common man was simple, honest, peace-loving person. He was not really in love with the beauty of college campus, who was referred, by boys, as "heartbreak machine". Actually wanna be rock star wished to experience heartbreak in order to become a rock star, thus using the beauty to achieve his goal. Beautiful girls are habituated in facing loads of lovers since adolescence and by the time they are in college they acquire maturity and style to crack a whip on emotions of the lovers. So wanna be rock stars endeavors ended as soon as it began in pursuit of a heart break. Only the descent entity within the wanna be rock star became conscious in the girl's presence. The sobriety of the girl recognizes the sobriety of the boy. They became friends. So he prefers to be at friend's wedding instead of attending music companies. The association with wanna be rock star make the girl discover a boy free from taboo, machismo, chivalry and social dictates with whom she enjoys freedom. Obviously, the girl fall in love with the boy. The boys realization came much later. After, he had first been forced to join family business and learned to keep himself engulfed in chores and consequently, he had been humiliated and uprooted from his home by his brothers, he was blessed with idol hours to sing aimlessly and endlessly listening songs at a shrine, his grief from shocks of uprooting was healed; he found a way to earn by singing at religious and social ceremonies; again got spotted by the music producers and earned favor of and recommendation from an renowned classical musician who spotted him singing at shrine at his first album was released with some reservation from the producer. He became eminent, alone and in moments of enjoyments he started remembering the days with girl, started longing for her and seeking consolation by association of girls from surrounding crowd and lamenting in secret for bereaved love. Then the first chance to be close with his love again made him compromise with the material world. Then he achieved his love though taboo already tore the girl's life. Their life became an turmoil. The girl dipped to fatality of death in grief, repentance and struggle of suppressing love to honor social dicta. The boy scattered his love in substitute. He became popular for his art and an eyesore for all in business with him - his only relations in the world. He lived an arrogant life crying for freedom from all rules, overwhelmed in grief of unaccomplished love, death of unborn child in an unsympathetic fraudulent world bound by rules, negotiations, compromises and betrayal. Rock star is a commentary of humiliations on a journey to artistic freedom. In portrayal of the characters by Mr. Ranbir Kapoor, Ms. Narghis Faqri, Piyush Mishra and Kumud Misra are remarkable. The music is beyond any appraisal. If the trailers came up with the scene of guitar burning, viewership would have been enhanced. But a wrong promo cannot make a film failure. Human can fail, but humanity never fails. The film may fail but the message it carried is an eternal success.