Rockstar: Expect the Expected

ALLinDOON

Shashank Pandey

Thu Nov 10, 2011, 12:30 IST

With Indian films getting more and more generic with each release in characters, storytelling and humor;  it seems that the viewers really aren’t concerned with the content of the films so much as they are with its cast members. Pretty sure that eases the pressure on the directors and makes the job of the casting directors critical. Yet, in late September most channel surfers rested their thumbs as Ranbir Kapoor with a guitar strapped around his shoulder screamed, “Sadda Haq”. Jaws dropped to the ground as here was a teaser that promised a film that might just be a little more than a repackaged love story.

We are now at the brink of the film’s release and a lot more has been revealed since the teaser that hinted on revolution amongst the youth through the inspiring music of a “Rockstar”. While that may still be one of the hardly subtle themes of the (I can no longer call it a film) ‘movie’, the fabric of the movie is yet again, “sacha pyaar”. Considering it is an Imtiaz Ali film there are absolutely no surprises there. Imtiaz Ali has not been able to move past the romantic comedy genre since his first endeavor as a film-maker in 2005: “Socha na tha”.

To his credit he has cleverly repackaged the ‘formula’ in his follow ups which, in an industry where sequels have no connection with the original as long as the genre is the same, could have just as well be titled , “Socha na tha-2 and 3”. Further, his movies have been reasonable box office successes, but we live in a world where “Bodyguard” grossed almost 200crores worldwide so the monetary success is hardly a yardstick for measuring the quality of a movie.

All of this and the strategically curly-long hair have earned Imtiaz the reputation of an intellectual man. “Socha na tha-4” aka “Rockstar” is claimed to be a character driven plot that follows the journey of a young musician over a decade. Sounds interesting, but no matter how driven the character may be, the fuel for his journey, as revealed already, is once again, ‘sacha pyaar’. Ranbir has stated himself that the title “Rockstar” is perhaps misleading, it seems he too put “Socha na tha-4” in the suggestion box but that didn’t go with Imtiaz’s intellectual façade. Also, Imtiaz has gone on record to state that he does not like his films, possibly because such a remark would project more false intelligence or that he plain finds his audience stupid. Either way, if there is one thing that can be predicted about “Rockstar” it is that it will be a major box-office success. Hats-off to the casting director.