It rises above the level of entertainment and is like a smashing mirror on our face making us realize our own filthy self.

Rating: 8/10 (2 January 2012)

ROCKSTAR is a winner all the way in the first half and the viewers are sure going to enjoy all the proceedings in its first hour with an intelligent direction, entertaining performances, perfect cinematography, realistic dialogues, believable characters and soothingly supporting soundtrack. Narrated mostly in flashback mode, the film is about the journey of a Rockstar who is basically suffering the consequences of his own indecisive character.
Taking an inspiration from the real-life story of the famous & charismatic Rock-music Icon Jim Morrison, the script takes you inside the complex character of a popular STAR who majorly gets famous for the wrong reasons. The Ranbir-Nargis pairing looks ravishing on the screen with the traces of "Geet" from JAB WE MET in the characterization of Nargis. The writers beautifully explain the need of "Some kind of Pain or Heartbreak" in order to become an artist in a lighter mode, which later on takes a realistic shape in Janardan's life. The transformation sequences of Janardan becoming the famous Jordon are a treat to watch, especially the qawaali at Nizammudin Dargah and all in-studio scenes of Ranbir along with Piyush Mishra and the great Shammi Kapoor. So till the interval point, ROCKSTAR is totally an entertaining venture with something thrown in for all kind of audiences both in the major and the smaller centers (like the adult movie sequence).
But all the commercial problems start post intermission where the film takes a drastic turn towards becoming a more enlightening experience than an entertaining one. And that's where most of the viewers are going to find it difficult to grasp as that is nothing compared to anything ordinary or easily understandable. In its second half, ROCKSTAR mostly talks about the inner conflicts of a big star and her beloved who are not ONE at the moment due to their own lack of will of taking the right decisions at the right time.
Moreover, the last 30 minutes of the film and its purely enlightening climax, might be equal to the phrase of"Upar Se Nikal Gayi" for many viewers particularly in the smaller centers. Because this very part of the movie takes it to another spiritual level where one gets to see the bitterness in the words "SEX" and "GUILT" clearly before his eyes, quite shamelessly. And in all probabilities of the world, where people don't like to get serious or listen to something about their own real life in a film, this abrupt and open ending of ROCKSTAR will not be taken sportingly by majority of the audience as well as critiques.
Musically, the track "Saada Haq, Aithey Rakh" explains the inner clash & tension of a true artist perfectly. It is well supported by a brilliant camera-work equivalent to the International Standards, a superlative musical arrangement by the maestro (including the singing part by Mohit Chauhan) and some truly great lyrics by Irshad Kamil, which pump up the blood flowing in your body and you feel like standing and saying"Saaaaaada Haq, Aitheeeeey Rakh".
However, as a true die-hard fan of A.R. Rahman I would humbly like to say that I was really expecting a lot more from this soundtrack of ROCKSTAR. No doubt, it has got the few gems in the kitty but when it's the musical score by Rahman, of a film called ROCKSTAR, made by Imtiaz Ali, then its unarguably logical to expect something extra-ordinary in its each track. The songs other than "Saada Haq" and "Kun Faaya" need repeated listening to become likable and one can only relate with most of them after watching the film.
In the performance department, this has a flawless, award winning act from Ranbir Kapoor going far beyond whatever glimpses you may have seen in the promos. Therefore this has to be the movie which Ranbir should feel proud of and only one man would be the happiest person to see this from his heavenly abode..his grandfather, the Legendary Showman Sh. Raj Kapoor. And I am sure that if he was alive today, then without thinking about the box office result of the film, he would have announced a big party calling every single person of the Industry to share this fabulous achievement of Ranbir.
Nargis Fakhri as Heer gave me much more than my expectations. Therefore even though many friends may have some different things to say about her but I hugely cherished her performance undoubtedly and also must say that Imtiaz does have a special eye for beauties having a foreign link. So I am all game for seeing more of Nargis Fakhri very soon. Further, I simply loved watching one of my dearest legends Shammi Kapoor coming alive once again on the screen in a truly adorable cameo with his enigmatic presence. Piyush Mishra as the Music Company owner is as usual, fantastic along with another great supporting performance by the actor playing Ranbir's friend-manager. Aditi Rao Hydari becomes the victim of a wrong kind of suggestive characterization but Shernaz Patel does well in her short role. Technically ROCKSTAR excels in its Cinematography by Anil Mehta with perfect capturing of all On & Off stage sequences. The same can also be said about its styling and the dialogues, especially in the first half of the film, which straight away remind you of your own college days.
So with ROCKSTAR, Imtiaz takes you onto the journey into the mind of a Creative Musician depicting his inner pain, love and hate in a splendid way. And in the process he insightfully reveals the truth that Yes, its a blessing to be a Creative as blessed by the Almighty. But at the same time, its also very painful to be there where you are given a different eye to look through everyone like a mirror and can feel the pain like nobody else.