Rock On - 7/10 - starring Arjun Rampal (Joe), Farhan Akhtar(Aditya), Purab Kohli (KD) and Luke Kenny (Rob). The film is basically about the members of a rock band called Magik, who win a music competition and get a recording deal. Unfortunately, various differences and jealousies crop up that force the band to split and go thier separate ways without completing the album. 10 years later, they rejoin and decide to give rock music one last try by participating in the music competition again.Being one of the few Indian movies about rock music, I initially thought 'Rock On' would flop because of its basic concept and niche market. However, the excellent screenplay, music and direction saw the movie becoming a smash hit. Acting was passable. Script and storyline was quite realistic and the characters had depth. Basically, I did'nt find any holes or annoying bits in the movie.
A Wednesday - 3/10 - starring Naseeruddin Shah, Anupam Kher, Deepal Shaw and Jimmy Shergill. Police Commissioner of Mumbai, Prakash Rathod (Anupam Kher), gets a call that nine bombs are planted over the city, and will be detonated if four terrorists are not released. He initially thinks it is a hoax call, but shifts into action mode when a bomb is found in the police headquarters. In the end, the so called 'terrorist' turns out to be an angry citizen - 'common man', who succeeds in his mission of killing four terrorists lodged in jail, just coz he believes they need to die.I did'nt like 'A Wednesday' for two reasons - unrealistic interpretation of the media and the theory of revenge that the film propounds. With the amount of news channels today, no reporter can get an 'exclusive' on a terrorism story without loads of reporters from other channels showing up, plus, there were various technical aspects about reporting that needed looking into. About the revenge angle, if everyone decides they want to kill undertrials just because the media or the government says they are guilty, then lots of innocents will die. I just don't subscribe to the film's view about using 'staged encounters' to kill terror suspects believing them to be definitely guilty people who will kill again if freed.
Phoonk - 1/10 - starring some unknown new faces, the less said about Phoonk, the better. Based on black magic, the story of the film was really predictable and awful. The lady who plays the witch, with her overdone makeup and raucous laughter, reminded me of a teacher at school. I was wondering why Ram Gopal Varma was offering Rs. 5 lakhs to watch this film, now I know - If I knew about the contents of this film beforehand, I would'nt have sat through it if I was paid a crore.....Did you see Rock On, A Wednesday and Phoonk? What do you think of them?
It seems like a long time since RGV made a good movie. Difficult to say what has caused his craft to get rusted or something like that...
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point of view on extra-judicial killings.