Rock On vs DCH vs Almost Famous
This post is sponsored bySpoiler Alert- Not to read if you haven’t seen the movie
Alas! High expectations are such a curse! I was so pumped that I was going to watch Rock On tonight. The reviews were all superlative; the buzz on PFC was very favorable. The movie’s backdrop was rock music! Farhan Akhtar, the man who oozes everything contemporary, urban and classy in a new avatar lending a high curiosity value.Plus Purab Kohli who I rate as among the finer actors around ever since I saw him in ‘My Brother Nikhil’.
Don’t get me wrong. Rock On is a GOOD movie. There is never a tiring moment and if you like rock music, you will have a good time. Unfortunately, it is falls way short of being a great or even a very good one. If the makers probably didn’t set out to make one then that’s a pity. Because there was so much to explore in the characters, so much drama which was left untouched, and complete lack of chemistry between the cast. The movie breaks new ground and doesn’t build on the foundation.
How does one categorize this one? There isn’t much of humor in the movie except for an odd aside or two. Not much of a romantic track to speak of. One would assume that the movie falls under the Drama genre but then it’s flat all the way. Where’s the drama?
I will come back to that later but first again I would like to draw your attention to a couple of fabulous movies that many of you might have seen. I couldn’t help comparing Rock On with them as common themes run through them all. DCH was (partly) a buddy movie about friends who break up and then get back together. Almost Famous also about a rock band who fight amongst themselves as they tour the country playing at rock shows.
The big difference between them and Rock On is that the Drama quotient is much higher in the former. In Rock On the characters fail to draw you in and you end up feeling just like an audience waving your hands at the stage very far away coz everybody else seems to be doing the same. The writer unfortunately paints every character in Rock On with a goody goody brush. Farhan’s character needed to be meaner for the break up of the band to be believable. Instead there are some muttering about the rest of the band not getting enough camera time, couple of punches and nobody meets for 10 years. Give me a break! What was the big deal? If there was more history show it! If that meant some of the characters needed to be grey, please make them!
There is a classic scene in Almost Famous where the band gets T Shirts made. The T Shirts are terrible because only the lead guitarist is in focus, a topic which is a bone of contention already in the band in other situations as well. Here’s the scene, an excellent illustration of what kind of fights a typical band can get into (have been in a couple myself) and how a dramatic scene lifts a movie from Good to Great (source- http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/almost_famous.html)
DICK (cont’d)
It’s the record company’s mistake.
And they will pay. Shirts gone, band
happy.
He drops the offending shirt into the trash, as if it were
contaminated, and exits with the box. William watches as the
two men, Russell and Jeff, move to opposite sides of the room.
Russell puts on a shirt, so does Jeff. The vibe is thick.
Russel turns to see Jeff staring at him.
RUSSELL
Can we just skip the vibe and go
straight to us laughing about this?
JEFF
(bitterly)
Yeah. Okay.
RUSSELL
(trying for a joke)
Because I can see by your face – you
want to get into this -
JEFF
How can you tell? I’m just one of the
out-of-focus guys.
RUSSELL
Here we go.
William watches as Russell fishes the t-shirt out of the trash.
RUSSELL (cont’d)
Here. Take it. You LOVE this shirt -
it lets you say everything you want to
say.
JEFF
Well, it speaks pretty loudly to me.
RUSSELL
It’s a t-shirt.
Russell turns away.
JEFF
I’m always gonna tell you the truth.
RUSSELL
Are you doing coke again?
JEFF
Oh yeah. All the time.
The kid looks down.
JEFF (cont’d)
This is big stuff, man. From the very
beginning — we said — I’m the front
man and you’re the guitarist with
mystique. That’s the dynamic we agreed
on — Page, Plant… Mick, Keith. But
somehow it’s all turning around. We
have got to control what’s happening
to us. There’s a responsibility here -
RUSSELL
Excuse me, but didn’t we all get into
this to avoid responsibility?
JEFF
Forgive me.
(continuing, on shirt)
But this is the slow-moving train of
compromise that will kill us.
Russell makes a disgusted noise. Penny Lane exits discreetly,
looking back at William.
JEFF (cont’d)
I can’t say anymore with a writer here.
RUSSELL
You can trust him, you can say whatever
you want.
JEFF
(eyes suddenly moist)
I works as hard or harder than anybody
on that stage. You know what I do – I
connect. I get people off. I look
for the guy who isn’t getting off, and
I make him get off.
(beat)
Actually, that you can print.
(continues to Russell)
And yet, why do I always end up feeling
like I’m a joke to you? I feel nothing
but love for you. We’re a family.
He looks at the t-shirt and starts to cry. Embarrassed, he
grows angrier.
JEFF (cont’d)
You want to pretend this isn’t going
to be a very big band. Well it is. You
call yourself a leader of this band, but
your direction allowed the t-shirt, when
you allowed Dick to manage us, ’cause
he’s your friend… don’t you see? The
t-shirt is everything. It’s everything.
RUSSELL
Is it my turn? Because I think we
should, for once, say what we really
mean.
JEFF
Oh, this is the part where you quit -
RUSSELL
(stiffening)
Right. I’m so predictable.
JEFF
No I gotta tell the truth — I want
you to like me. But sometimes I feel
like you collect people who love you
and then very skillfully… you make
them feel bad that they’re not good
enough for you.
RUSSELL
Stick to singing, brother, ’cause you
ain’t gonna make it as a shrink.
JEFF
Deal with it! And let me just say
what nobody Else wants to say to you -
RUSSELL
What?
JEFF
Your looks have become a problem.
DCH didn’t have any big buddy confrontations except for the one between Aamir and Akshay’s characters which gets over as quickly as the one in Rock On does. A slap, a retort and buddies moping like 7 year olds thereafter. But it was saved because there were many other parallel tracks with drama which worked to keep the tension high throughout. Dimple’s character dying of cancer was more dramatic than Rob in Rock On. Why? Better actor- yes. But more importantly I couldn’t empathize with Rob. Why is his life unfulfilled? He seems to work with very appreciative music directors. Why does he want to win a contest which he has already won once before? We never get to know enough about him to care. A pity.
DCH also had a couple of romantic tracks which worked. Let’s leave out the Saif track since it served more as a comic relief. But Preity and Aamir’s characters track is resolved as dramatically as possible. In Rock On, I don’t understand what the Farhan’s wife’s problem is? Or in what manner has Farhan’s character changed since he got married to her? Wasn’t he happy when she married him? If there was a recent change then what caused it? Urrrrrrghhhhhh!! So many questions which could have been answered and at the same time added so many layers to the story but the writer/director choose convenience over intricacy. Acting can be underplayed, not the story.
What is Purab’s character for in the movie? If he is there for comic relief he is heavily underutilized and overloaded with too many sub-standard dialogues to make a mark. Remember how Saif coming on screen in DCH would get a smile from you in anticipation of a rib tickler around the corner?
That leaves Arjun Rampal, the only character who you feel for to an extent and easily the best written character in the movie. There is a moment when his friends commend him for still playing on stage and he remarks that he plays at places where people pay no attention to him and you can feel the pain through his eyes. But again his failures in promoting himself are talked about and not shown so we miss out on scenes which could have had dramatic value. In fact the sickly way he looks for most of the movie made me think that he was the one going to die! (I had been told beforehand that somebody would)
And that’s the long and short of it. There are many other things to nitpick but only one more to answer where all such scenes if there were in the movie would fit in. The answer is- Cut part of the songs!We don’t need complete songs being performed on stage in the movie. There are quite a few of them and they don’t move the story forward, pleasant as they are. They should have kept the last one in it’s complete form and given us snapshots of the rest and tried to add depth to the characters and build dramatic tension instead.
A pity.
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42 Responses to “Rock On vs DCH vs Almost Famous”
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Absolutely… was in two minds about watching it till reviews started pouring in on PFC… and this the only site where I care for reviews.
Was very pumped up, got tickets for me and 8 other friends (doston wali fim jo hai)for 10 Pm show, PVR Bangalore.
sabne do do patiyaale lagaye and there we were!! shouting, whistling as it starts…… it ends, we came out. Everybody wanted to look happy but they were not.
Well they were not sad either!!
Yes I guess it was a case of high expectations. No doubt film is good but I agree with most of you when you say it could have been much better.
for me luke kenny was the most natural, free and camera comfy..
Buddy, that was a good take on Rock On vs DCH vs Almost Famous. I did see Rock On yesterday, and i thought it was a pretty good one. Yeah not a classic like Almost Famous, but still pretty watchable.
Of course being a hard core rock fan myself, i could point out many glitches in the movie. For a rock band, the guys are just squeaky clean. But i guess the darker side of rock band, was what AK’s Paanch was about, sadly not sure, if we will ever see that movie. Also hardly any focus, on what goes into the making of a rock band, the endless rehearsals, the brainstorming, the discussions very little is shown here, except some talk about some chords, and some riffs. In real life rock band practice sessions can be quite stormy, and the ego clashes break out over the songs themselves.
But i guess the movie was not about Rock Music and a band per se. It was more like a kinda inspirational, feel good movie about following your dreams. The main motif here was Follow your dreams, and director Abhishek just choose the rock band as a backdrop for it. It Is Not About the Rock( with due apologies to Lance Armstrong), so i guess taken from that angle, the movie worked for me. Yeah i would not now go and start a rock band, but for some one who has had his own dreams, but could not make them true, it touched a chord somewhere. Would i now quit my job and start going after my dream? Maybe not, but there is a hope that i could make it come true.
Regarding to Prachi’s problem, i guess the fact she feels stuck in a loveless marriage, as she confides to her friend, where she feels she has married a stranger. But is the problem Farhan’s career minded, workaholic attitude? Or was Farhan trying to run away from his past life, his ex girlfriend, by becoming a workaholic and neglecting his wife? I guess this angle was not well covered, also why Farhan broke up with his ex girlfriend, was unclear to me. Yeah granted he fell out with his band members or more specifically with Joe, but what did his girl had to do with it?
Purab’s character if u ask me, i think was kinda used to bring the characters together. He and Rob are the ones acting as the go between for Joe and Adi. I still feel characterization is one of the stronger points of Rock On. Also some of the scenes i felt were really well done, like the reunion of the friends in an old rundown studio. Also liked the scene where Prachi discovers about Farhan’s past life.
Regarding DCH, i some how felt that it was quite overrated IMHO. Honestly i felt Lakshya was a much better movie than DCH, but that is another issue altogether.
If you guys remember the buzz around Kabhi khushi kabhi gham was that it was a movie made just to showcase SRK. The same can be said about Rock On. It was made to showcase Farhaan Akhtar. I can even imagine the conversation between the director and him.
AK. Hey dude I have this script I want you to act in this film. You’ll be perfect for the lead. and err.. could you also produce it for me?
FA. No man, I don’t think I am ready for acting yet.
AK. I’ll even let you sing.
FA. hmmmm. ok.
Well coming to the film, I really liked the way it was made. tried to be as down to earth as possible. Though I agree there wasn’t much drama to go around. The story certainly could have been stronger. The second half became too predictable and a drag for me. Hats off to the team for not actually showing what happens to Rob in the end. it was a perfect way to handle that bit of the story.
The music thoroughly disappointed me. And Farhaan Akhtar’s crooning didn’t help much either. He killed most of the songs for me with his amateur singing. The lyrics seemed to be written by a fourth grader who lost a writing competition.
Also I think it could have been a great opportunity to initiate our audience into Rock since it was about the music. One film I remember that did something similar for me was School of Rock. It was a delight. I strongly recommend to anyone who hasn’t seen it.
@Amir..I do not think Farhan would think like that..he has been pushing the envelope steadily with his movies..here too as a producer, he has gone into some uncharted territories..in fact, with a lot of spunk..they have, for the first time, created a character who sings his own songs and is a ‘grey’ character in himself..not even Kishore Kumar ever did it!!
And yes, Farhan is grey here, he is not the happy good guy..he is an unhappy cold character, and that is ‘grey’!
We go to good movies with a lot of expectations and that is normal, sometimes it does not work, but ask people who have gone to this movie without knowing anything…they were very taken up by the content of the movie…
And why this reliance on reviews by most PFC readers..go see a movie for what it is..spend those bucks, be surprised or dismayed..take that call..I dunno, but too many guys here taking in others’ opinions, chill guys, this is an art form, take away what YOU can from the experience..if you cannot..C KKompany is always there!!!!!
Naren, I wonder if you were reading my mind while writing your comment !!
Amir @4 : “Also I think it could have been a great opportunity to initiate our audience into Rock since it was about the music. ”
Spot on !!
in my opinion you can’t compare Rock on to almost famous. Almost famous is about the Death of Rock Music about Rock becoming an ‘Industry of cool’,it deals with the coming of age of a 15 year old boy. Rock on is about a band the music is just a peripheral there is more emphasis on the friendship between the 4 main character(ok 2 main characters and 2 sidekicks) IMO There is 0 emphasis on music.They could have been a boyband and the movie would still have worked its just that that Rock is currently ‘kewl’ and its easier to market to yuppies plus one thing that really bugged me was that the band didn’t have anyone on a bass guitar or did they? maybe Im wrong here newayz i agree with you for the most part good movie worth a watch its no sukiyaki western Django tho!
A well-argued piece. Good that you want so much more than what was served. It will happen, but will take time.
About Luke Kenny, his was a felt performance, there was much truth in it, despite the cancer contrivance. Let’s avoid comparing it with Dimple Kapadia’s acting. Both stand on their own.
Purab Kohli is a natural like Saif, a wonderful screen presence, you don’t really need any reason to put him up there except for the fact that he belongs there.
thanks dazed..
just what i wanted to after watching it yesterday night and here you have wrote it really well…but one request …leave almost famous out of this comparsion ..i dont think if its worth also comparing it to that movie…
ciao
oops!!
so i guess i am also boarding the same train. it looks, i got the answers in this article,why i cudn’t feel great about the movie.Definetly script could have been better but then again the movie kept me engaged for the whole time.
going by the housefull shows (at least in NOida) i believe it will be at least a HIT, which i guess it deserves.
I don’t think one can compare RO and AF. RO is about achieving ons dreams while in Almost Famous, the bad is living its dream. What is depicted is that living one’s dream isn’t all hunky dory – it can be hell as well. It was very well portrayed.
These 2 films are on 2 different tracks altogether even though the only commonality is ‘Rock Music’.
@ Ratnakar-
You are right about the complete harmony that is shown in their jam sessions…No arguments, no overlapping dialogues…Farhan says “It’s not working” and then Luke Kenny says something like “I will join you from the fourth bar”. All very cute but what was the point of all that? Was it show that the makers have done some research…?
@ Amir-
Funny that dialogue between the Dir and Farhan. And yup thank god they didn’t show Rob on his death bed and everyone else shedding copius tears! Yuck! And I don’t really mind Farhan’s singing all that much. He’s multi-talented. Lets give him that…
@ Indraneel
My point was that Farhan was the happy good guy in the first avatar of Magik. Hence the basis of conflict seems forced.
@Vivek, Arthi
Never said that the movies mentioned in the post are similar. They may be about different themes but there are common threads (relationships, conflict, backdrop (AF), milieu (DCH)) running across them all.
@ Vivek-
I noticed the bass guitar thing early on but they do introduce Kenny as someone who does all their bass work and electronics on the keys so brownie points to them there…
D&C, this is very well written and analysed too.
Can’t join the discussions as I have’nt seen the movie as yet, but will keep these points in mind when I finally get to see Rock On!!
Hi …Good article Buddy !!!
well film is nice…
all four have done gud justice to their role !!
but why we are doing a comparison here.
farhan is multitalented person…have sound knowledge of film making … so please aamir take yr point back…
we all knw,most of the hindi films and hindi music is directly or indirecly inspire from WEST.
but the reason to cheers here is ….now we have A set of people who dare to make differnt film….Like AAMIR, No Smoking, ROCK ON….mumbai meri jaan,
we should focus on Positive part….buddy
Itna time nahi sochane ke leye…ki kaha se script uthaya hai.. !!
when ever you come across such scene..i would Suggest please do not compare and …i m sure there are lots of original scenes with excellent camera work in the film !!
we indian we allways make point to other work and try to find fault, few days back same thing happend with film AAmir..when there was a issue of comparions with cavity…
i hope AK will agree with my point !!
Thanks
@Dazed & Confused
Well argued man ,but for me Rock On is better than DCH ,inspite of whatever you may count as lacunae ,the film worked for me ,somewhat like if DCH was the “beer” this is the “Vodka”.
I guess apni apni perception hai.
@Mike
agree with you man ,we need to stop comparing such good movies ,half the people who saw the movie were already comparing the movie with DCH and that’s something that takes away the charm of movie-watching.
@ Mike, Vineet-
Why not compare? It’s an instinctive reaction if one movie reminds you of other better ones. After all the idea is to engage in a discussion. And we are not just on a fault finding mission here. I hope I have appreciated what I felt worked in the movie…
I partly agree with the view and partly not. You see it’s useless comparing almost famous and rock on, both are leagues apart in terms of content and treatment. If you say that conflict between Arjun and Farhan was not properly handled its very true but no body has to be meaner to make it believable. For example in DCH, the conflict was because of difference of point of view and perception of limit, not because any of them was meaner. There was not all need for the Farhan to be meaner but yeah there was need for him being practical and self absorbing which was i think pretty much handled. See the scene where Arjun composes the song and the reaction of farhan, it was very non nonchalant which shows his self absorbency. I think there was no problem with the characterization, the problem lies with the events…………regarding comment on rob that’s very untrue. Rob’s dream was to make kinda music he wanted to make, with friends, with magik. If your case of Rob is taken then why not other band members moved on and joined other bands. Why arjun rampal was not making efforts to do something more. I thought director clearly shows that it was not all about music. It was about magik means kinda of music they wanted to make, with whom they wanted to make. If that would not have been the case then others would have moved on and started or joined other bands to become successful……………Prachi’s character was also well laid out, she was clearly shown as a wife who is not ambitious but ‘behind every successful man there is a woman’ kinda wife. You can clearly see that this was kinda arrange marriage and she was not shown vociferous or bright enough (to judge person quickly). But yeah you are correct when you say what was the recent change which made her so impatient……..Purab’s character was to show atleast someone is having his sense of humor intact.
……….Bang on target with Arjun’s character. He is kinda person who is idealist but still wanna live in this world and scratching ahead……….For me main problem of the movie was quick realization. I always hate that and hated here too. How quickly Farhan became too comfortable with his friends and years of awkwardness is gone in a jiffy. When his wife come home from her parent’s house, see his reactions, its too comfortable for me. But yeah realization of Arjun’s wife is handled very maturely. I thought she will say ‘go Joe go’………another thing I could not understand was why Farhan did not gave money to Arjun to stay there. I know Arjun was a proud guy but still this issue should have come into picture somewhere. I thought they edited this scene or might be Farhan never intended to offer him………..Some totally uncalled for scenes like the other band guy, party scene and prachi’s singing……..and bang on about Rob’s death, I already got sick by his hospital scenes. The movie repeats Taare zameen par, in terms of brilliant first half but let down in second by too much emotions and too soon realizations.
@Mike .. Agree with D&C there. The good movies are the peaks we have to emulate and the comparisions are inevitable.
Here the comparision is done in good faith and helps us in understanding things better.
@Above
Do all the comparisons you want after watching a movie in an academic capacity(read when writing articles and dissertations) ,but not while watching a movie.
also
IMO comparisons are not good because:
1.Movie making is not a 100 m dash that you try and better your score every time ,it’s an art and some comparisons are actually pointless ,although not all.
2.appreciation is perception based ,and although you can’t compare GodFather and Jaane Tu on perception alone, when it comes down to two good movies ,perceptions count.
3.You can dissect two movies based on the technicalities of the film but no more.
context is very important here ,a story that does not appeal to someone may seem perfectly appealing to another individual.
Amir @ 4 – Yesssss School of Rock – I liked it very much when I saw in the first week of its release. It was very refreshing and an educational one for a person like me who knew nothing about Rock. I was hoping that Rock On will be evolved in that manner and presented it to the Indian audience. Unfortunately as the reviews and comments go, RockOn is about everything but RockMusic !!!
Vineet,
I think the entire point is, somehow, Rock On leaves a few things You wish. And that’s when you use DCH as an example to show what it is. DCH is a spirit which Rock On could have had. Purely on a technical level, the screenplay and the editing did it in. It’s a fact. There’s no perception in it.
It’s a good movie. Might even become one with a cult following. But won’t be a DCH. “It’s difficult to improve perfection” – in the DCH lingo. So when you know that it has lotsa places where it can be improved, You know it could have been better.
@above
beg to disagree ,there is nothing to distinguish technically between DCH and Rock On ,if anything Rock On is technically better since the camerawork is better (coverage of concerts), the camera movement etc etc, editing is also better since there are two separate stories coupled with flashbacks and full blown songs.
you can argue about plot lines ,character development and story but that’s all perception……
Editing drops are visible. You gotto know exactly when to cut. Scene to scene transference wise, DCH was mind blowing. Rock On used the old school and done to death scene to scene transfers. You have scene them many times before. The back ground score was inexplicably un-enthusiastic and not even a shadow of the music in the film. Cinematography was surely great. No two ways about it. But donno how you can rate DCH’s as any worse. DCH’s cinematography was also superlative. Just for a reference the blue thought tunneling scene that they show when Aamir
is sitting in the opera. Only because Rock On was a rock movie, You could capture a rock star and the red and green shades and the Rolling stone Red and yellows, It looks better sure, but doesn’t probably make it any better cinematography than DCH I guess.
Only if the screenplay and editing was a little better and a little more care in background score, Rock on would be a way more entertaining movie.
It looks stupid arguing anymore ,anyways I liked the movie better than DCH and that’s the end of it ,will definitely buy the DVD when it hits the market ,as well as the audio CD.
@Subhasish
We will argue later ,btw DCH is largely an outdoor movie and Rock On an indoors ,also DCH was shot in Australia and Goa ,so the cameraman had all the leisure in the world to do what he wanted.
@ Tapan
Probably ‘meaner’ was not the best word to use. But like you said, if he was self absorbed and without ideals, I didn’t see it in the movie. You talk about a moment when Joe plays his song to the band. Aditya has this stony expression. I have no idea what he was thinking.
You raise a good point about why they didn’t join other bands or why they didn’t get another vocalist to join the three of them when Aditya walks out. Happens all the time. Bands break up and form again because musicians can’t stay away from making their music. They don’t just drift away and play at weddings or sit in a jewellery shop without kicking and screaming…
@ Vineet- Glad to know the movie worked for you
i want to know if Shankar Ehsan Loy did give the credit for Guns and Roses as the first song ‘Socha Hai’ is similar to ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ of Guns and Roses
my version of Rock On!!
www.dnacritic.blogspot.com
Vineet@25 How does outdoor and indoor relate to liesure time to the cameraman ?
@kcp
I meant that you have more scope for beautiful cinematography.
I agree Dazed. It could have been anything behind that stony expression of Aditya when Joe plays his song. The filmmaker fails to convincingly show what caused the major conflict? Aditya actually treaded into the grey or whether Joe’s insecurities got to him? That part of the film is never delved upon. That is weak writing according to me.
Also I agree with Tapan that the realization sinks in too quickly. It’s a bummer. And even after the realization does sink in, the comfort level between Joe and Adi sets in even quicker. it just takes one scene? Well it’s been ten years of resentments guys.
just wondering if Rob could have actually initiated the reunion since he wanted to have one more gig with the band before he went out.
And what was that second music competition? Silly. As if there are no other ways to hold live performances.
The film totally lacked humor. That was a big letdown. How difficult is it to make for some lighter moments. True Purab’s character’s only purpose was supposed to bring forth only humor it seems, and it didn’t go very far at all.
Mind you am not bitching the film out, it was good, but could have been great if some simple things were taken care of.
And for those who think Farhaan and co have been pushing the envelope…looks like you don’t watch films made in other parts of the world (and I don’t mean Hollywood) What they managed to achieve in terms of quality with Rock on is elementary. IT’s the minimum required for any film. Ever wonder why our cinema fails to impress others around the world?
i liked the movie…. but yeah there was not much chemistry between the characters…. especially joe and aditya… dunno y?…. but the music and the way it is shot… makes it an experience….! n rob’s character was most underwritten….
D&C: very good analysis! And you put the finger on something I wasn’t able to. The songs shouldn’t have played out fully maybe except Tum Ho To. That would have spared some time for a more nuanced depiction of they separated and how difficult it was to come together.
@ Subrat-
Yes, about the songs. I couldn’t help noticing that when I thought about other movies involving rock bands like ‘Almost Famous’ and ‘That Thing You Do’. Both movies probably had just one full song playing out on stage while Rock On had at least 3-4.
just like to add one thing… a lot of people here say rock on is about following your dream and almost famous is about the industry itself….well…its not really….it’s about this 15 year old kid called william who wants to be a rock jornalist he hooks up with a band and groupies..he’s in awe…and then he feels let down that his heroes are really human….but he chases his dream(literally) …writes for rolling stone, gets rejected (the band denies giving the intv)…and at the end, his dream comes true (presumably, cuz russel gives a legit intv at the end)….
was reading the script of almost famous today, and came across a stellar scene where william plays stairway to heaven for his mother, the entire fuckin song and he convinces her its about literature and intellectual pursuits et al…anyway i thought it was a killer scene and knew it didnt make it to the movie so found a clip of it on youtube(directors cut DVD extract)..here it is
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=DO-4B7A27kE
interesting peice of trivia :it was much easier for cameron crowe to write almost famous cuz it was autobiographical…william is cameron…..he was lester bangs’ protege.. although i couldn’t find which band stillwater is based on …i’m guessing it was led zeppelin considering
….and there are more in the original script!!
1)robert plant was rumoured to be jealous of jimmy page’s popularity( though you can say that about any band…the guitarist overshadows the lead-the stones-richards and jagger, van halen,pink floyd-gilmour and waters, the who-townsend, guns n roses-slash and axl, oasis(noel and liam gallagher)…
2)the number of Led Zep songs in the movie( tangerine, thats the way)
Abhay, you’re right, Almost Famous is about William’s/Cameron Crowe’s coming-of-age story.
AF is about that moment when you realize people you’ve admired are sometimes disappointing jerks. In a stroke of great parallel-action screenwriting, the groupies and bandmates have similarly heavy-duty revelations of their own.
Rock On seems to be a lighter take on a similar point.
As others have said here, there was no need to show entire songs in most cases except the end. That time could have been better spent building up the conflict, especially after the contract was signed.
I was really thrilled by the lighting and cinematography, particularly the loving long-lens, two-tone shots of the practice dungeon in the beginning. Arjun’s low-key, dejected performance was so perfect, and I’ve loved Purab Kohli since My Brother Nikhil. Farhan Aktar should be given strokes for being such a subtle actor for his first time out, even if he was too low-key at certain critical moments where we needed more information from him.
Did anyone else think some of the background score where a few guitar chords were played resembled the background score of Tommy?
DnC,
ehehe, i have a half written post titled DCH Redux with the similar connections about Almost Famous u beat me to it!!
the funniest thing in the whole movie has got to be Arjun Rampals Mustache , talk about getting influenced by AF ehehe
@ Amir- Very true about weak writing……I think rob would have wanted band to be reunited irrespective of his problems, he was shown very sincere and honest, but yeah he might not have pushed for the competition………about the competition, normally it’s not easy to pull in crowd for the show if you are not famous and your last show was ten years ago. A competition was needed to justify the crowd, climax and Magik’s desperation to perform on stage………I think people commenting that farhan is pushing the envelope is on the basis of bollywood standards only. 1 on 1 is always 100%
.I think best example of pushing the envelope in current time is Wall E, See how that movie has pushed the envelope in animation industry in terms of scope, content, detailing and characterization. Though second half is very hollywoodish but still i think it is worth mentioning here.
@ Subrat and D&C – Give it a break yaar, this is bollywood movie whose audience love songs and dance routine, just like me. Given me a choice I would have asked them to add 1 or 2 more stage shows just for the hack of giving me more music. This is the reason why nobody gives me a choice.
I agree wid each md eery point of yr review man!
i jst think abhishek kapoor wanted to b back in de industry somehow,farhan wanted to fulfil his desire as an actor/hero.
dats it
we hav lost the guys who made a breakthrough film like DCH,now they hav become young generation of filmamakers who are also gonna serve pseudo-masses.
@Dpac
I think crediting AF for also inspiring Rampal’s moustache in the movie is quite the heights!! I won’t go that far…:)
but as far as ‘fake’ goes that was the fakesT ehehe
guys,
‘rock on’ is kind of ‘inspired’ by a south korean film released in 2007 called ‘the happy life’..