Rock On

The film, then, seems to be neatly put together in all the departments. It’s young, slick and classy-looking, has a story line with all the necessary emotional hooks, and a sound that is genuine rock & roll. But the question is whether the rock & roll listening community will fall for its magic. Some are already showing their collective middle fingers at what they deem to be a bunch of poseurs. A quick glance through some of the Rock On!! “hate communities” on Orkut and Facebook should confirm this. (And this is despite, or perhaps, because of the fact that the movie is about a rock band that’s struggling to get acceptance in a music scene that’s not too far from the prevalent reality in our country.) Which doesn’t quite strike one as fair, considering the guys in the movie actually trained to be able to look the part. After all, they are actors playing the parts of musicians. “You can’t be a master drummer in four months,” admits Purab. “I learnt to play basic grooves, the lead-ins, lead-outs. I pretty much knew the structure of the songs and that was what I needed to know as an actor.” Adds Luke, “This is a fly-on-the-wall peek at what one band is going through. I’m sure rockers will identify with it.”

On the other hand, the masses might not quite warm up to the idea of a rock movie, more so in the non-metros. There are no big-ticket names either ”“ no Khans or Kapoors, save the director himself. An industry source, on the condition of anonymity, said that he was being “very optimistic” when saying that Rock On!! would manage to “recover not more than 50 per cent of the cost of the movie”. The cost? An unconfirmed figure of Rs 27 crore plus another Rs 4-6 crore on marketing and promotions. Farhan, who is co-producer, doesn’t share figures but feels that the cost is justifiable. “While no one can predict what eventually happens at the box office,” he says, “somewhere inside you, you know what you think is going to happen. And when I see this film, I feel the word of mouth on this one will be good.”