Rock On 2

Rock on 2 never really had that appeal when compared to its first part because of the largely underwhelming music. If you analyze Abhishek Kapoor’s Rock On, the structure of the story was never really a surprisingly fresh one. But it was the organic development of music which we saw in the silver screen that made the movie a captivating musical. When it comes to Rock On 2, it is less alluring as a musical, but has a broader content to its credit.

The story this time again places all the band members in the scattered individual zone. Joe is now a reality show judge and has a music club as well. KD is doing the usual music and living his chilled out life and Aditya is quite detached from everything and is living in Meghalaya after something shocking happened during the dream run of Magic. What is it that haunts him and how he overcomes that is what basically Rock On 2 narrating.

There is a structural similarity in the story in certain levels with the first part. You have Adi in a mood where he is detached from music. Circumstances force him to make a comeback and of course there is an end concert. What is different from the earlier one is that the conflict here isn’t entirely on the basis of ego. A combination of Adi’s guilt feeling and the typical fighting against the villain drama forms the conflict of Rock On 2. After an okay/ average first half, Rock On 2 gets a slight elevation emotionally and musically in that last quarter (excluding the part where they show Shraddha Kapoor as a global musical sensation). There were moments in that part of the film which made me happy.

The coolness which we saw in the relationship of the band members was there in this Shujaat Saudagar directorial. Rock on 2 isn’t clunky on its melodramatic quotient. The whole Meghalaya lower class fight for rights has widened the canvas of the second part, but what is lacking is the impact of solid music. Like I said in the beginning, it was the rapport of the gang, their emotional conflicts and their style of developing music that made Rock on such an attractive movie. But because of the less pleasing album this film has, you aren’t going to get that musical feel. Even the final concert gets that kick only when Aditya starts to sing the Title Song. The screenplay is kind of predictable. Cinematography was good. About the music…. well compared to the first one, this one was a letdown.

Farhan Akhtar as the moody Aditya Shroff plays the character smoothly. He portrayed the dilemmas and desperation of the character effectively. Well personally I never found his singing as annoying (Saw some F titled article). Arjun Rampal fits in as the rough Joe. Cool KD is safe in the hands of Purab Kohli. Shraddha Kapoor as Jiya is less dramatic when compared to her other performances. The childishness you sort of sense in her dialogue delivery wasn’t there this time. Kumud Mishra was good and Prachi Desai was also fine. One actor who was terrific in the entire film was the guy who played the role of Rahul (Even Google couldn’t help me find his name). It was such an earnest performance. Shashank Arora was okay.

On the whole, Rock on 2 is a less musical and more dramatic sequel that has its moments, largely in the second half. It absorbs you discretely and so I would call it an average watchable cinema.

Rating : 2.5/5