Rock On 2: Movie Review

Rock On 2: Staggers to Match the ‘Magik’ of its Past!

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Reviewer’s Thumb Mark

While watching ‘Rock On 2’ one can feel the colossal impact of the 2008 ‘Rock On’ on you and how much you start missing this time the magic they exhibited as a band in the previous movie. I tried hard to disconnect my mind from the previous Rock On to watch and savour Rock On 2 with a fresh perspective but I failed miserably. May be because I found it difficult not to compare the brilliance of the past with the mediocrity of the present film. I am not talking about the actors but about the script and the music. Both staggers to match the magic of the band Magik had offered us in the past.

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The escapist and the emotionally vulnerable Aditya Shroff finds his solace in a nondescript village ‘Uminuh’ in Meghalaya from the busy metropolitan city Mumbai to forgive himself and forget an unpleasant and tragic incident that rocked his peaceful and beautiful life as a Rock star. But as hard he tries to forget the past, the more the incident haunts him as a nightmare every day. His philanthropy and new love of forming a peasant’s cooperative to sell their produce at a better deal by avoiding middle men doesn’t go well with the local power brokers. He soon finds himself and the villagers at loggerheads with the ‘Farmer’s Welfare Board’ and its Chief.

Aditya’s other band members like KD and Joe Mascarenhas have found their own means to meet their ends. KD makes music compositions to other music companies who he feels understands music less and business more. Joe is a judge for a musical reality show on Television and also runs an elite pub. He too finds himself compromised with the current reality of reality show’s obsession with TRPs and theatrics on stage.

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Now, the question is what’s new in Rock On 2? The answer is Jiah Sharma (Shraddha Kapoor) and Uday (Shashank Arora) two youngsters who are passionate about music. Jiah has a legacy of having a renowned musician Pandit Vibhooti (Kumud Mishra) as her father and also a personal tragedy hard to forget in their life. Uday is looking for an opportunity to get a foothold in the music industry and for this he has left no stone unturned. The moment the duo becomes the part of the erstwhile band ‘Magik’ the past starts haunting the founders of the band. Rock On 2 has some talented actors like Shahana Goswami as Joe’s wife Debbie, Prachi Desai as Aditya’s Wife Sakshi, Kumud Mishra as Pandit Vibhooti and Shashank Arora the Titli guy as Uday. Unfortunately, the filmmakers fail to take advantage of these actors potential to its credit. And I feel it’s a loss for the viewers. The major drawback of this movie is that it doesn’t do justice completely to its sub plots which it banked to weave a story different from the previous one. Pandit Vibhooti and Jiah’s personal tragedy, the villagers of Uminuh and their hardships and the changing equation between Aditya and his wife could have been dealt better but maybe I guess that the makers would have feared that the movie would become completely a non-musical drama.

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Vishal Dadlani, Usha Utup, Kit Shandpliang and Pynsuklin Syiemlong of the Summersalt Band had added some excitement to the otherwise insipid movie. The ‘Hoi Kie/Chalo Chalo’ is one of the high moment of the movie. Hope the concert organized by Magik for a cause lasted a bit longer, the rest what the movie have is lackluster music and lyrics.

What makes Adita leave Uminuh and revive the band again? Why and how Magik as a band organize a concert at Shillong which catches the fancy of music lovers across the country and results into a movement for a cause?  Does the friends stand united as in the past or fall prey to their own troubles and egos and fall apart? Does Aditya get redemption from his past? These are some of the questions I would like you to find answers to as viewers in a nearby theater. Rock On 2 is not so bad. Actually, it deserves to be watched once but please do not compare the sequel with the previous one.

Life Connoisseur Movie Rating: 2.75/5

Cast: Farhan Akhtar (Aditya Shrofff), Arjun Rampal (Joe Mascarenhas), Purab Kohli (KD), Shraddha Kapoor (Jiah Sharma), Prachi Desai (Sakshi), Shashank Arora (Uday), Shahana Goswami (Debbie), Kumud Mishra (Pandit Vibhooti)

Genre: Music Drama

Director: Farhan Akhtar, Ritesh Sidhwani

Producers: Arun Pandey, Fox Star Studios

Written by: Abhishek Kapoor, Pubali Chaudhari

Music by: Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy

Cinematography: Marc Konckx

Edited by: Anand Subaya

Production Company: Excel Entertainment

Distributor: Eros International

Release Date: 11th November, 2016

Duration: 139 Minutes

Language: Hindi