With Rock On, director Abhishek Kapoor promises a true-blue band film, but ultimately delivers a masala Hindi film that just happens to be about a band. Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli and Luke Kenny star as once-aspiring musicians who chucked up their dream of taking their band professional. But a chance reunion ten years later inspires them to consider returning for one last gig. The film's basic plot stays faithful to the blueprint of your standard coming-of-age film, but the screenplay of Rock On is bursting at its seams with so many clichés that fifteen minutes in you can predict pretty much everything that's going to happen then on. Despite terrific cinematography and some very enjoyable music, Rock On has few surprises because the writers stick to the safety of tried-and-tested formula instead of pushing the envelope. As a result the film moves at a snail-like pace, dragging on instead of picking up steam when the story moves towards its climax. Yet, Rock On is rescued by some marvelous moments that stay with you until the end. Like that hilarious scene in which the band must perform an old Nadeem-Shravan hit at a dandiya event to raise cash for new equipment. Or the one in which Purab's character blows a prospective 'moment' with Koel Purie when he doesn't know how to return a compliment. There are many things to like about this film. Its little moments reveal so much. Like how the band's 'home-made' music and lyrics are instantly put into perspective in that telling scene in which Arjun knocks down a glass of tea and Farhan instantly makes up a song about it. How can anyone criticize the amateurish lyrics of their songs after they've shown you exactly what inspires them to come up with their lines? Or then that scene in which Prachi, the rich-wife of an investment banker, is spoilt for choice when in the comfort of her living room a designer displays an array of outfits for her. It seems like such a mundane scene, unnecessary even, but it says so much about Prachi's character and instantly illustrates why she really does have nothing better to do than go through her husband's things, arrange surprise parties for him, organize reunions between his friends and serve them a hearty lunch after a jamming session.It's difficult to believe the writer who came up with such layered subtlety, is also responsible for all the gaping holes in the script. The tiff between Farhan and Arjun that leads to the band's break up looks so contrived; Farhan's overnight abandoning of his girlfriend is hardly convincing; and what does one make of the ridiculous scene at a party where Farhan runs into his ex? You cringe during that predictable scene in which one of the protagonists is diagnosed with a fatal tumor but insists on performing nevertheless; you sigh when you've correctly guessed that a character who was expected to skip the big night shows up eventually and brings the house down. This is such poor writing and I'm surprised nobody noticed it. The heart of any film lies in its characters and your ability to empathize with them. The protagonists in Rock On are full of flaws and many aren't even particularly well written. Yet they come off as endearing, and the credit for that must go to the actors inhabiting those roles. The extremely talented Purab Kohli may be reduced to the comic sidekick here, but he gives the film some of its nicest moments. Prachi Desai, saddled with what I think is the film's trickiest role, comes off unscathed because she's an actor who oozes warmth. Farhan Akhtar exercises both his vocal chords and his acting chops to play the band's lead singer and the film's central character. He does both adequately. Of the boys, it's Arjun Rampal who towers above the rest with an earnest performance as the idealistic musician. But the powerhouse performer in this film is Shahana Goswami who stars as Arjun's girlfriend-turned-wife. It's an instinctive, performance that stands out for its combination of strength and vulnerability. Rock On wouldn't be half the film if it wasn't for Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's remarkable score. And it's courageous on the part of the film's makers that they went with Farhan's vocals for the songs that are filmed on him. The film isn't great, far from it actually. It's watchable because it's set in a new world, and because it's got a bunch of wonderful moments. Watch it because it at least tries to be different and for the novelty of the experience .

I went to see this film in cinema without any expectations and I really enjoyed every minute of the film. The film have a perfect narrative and the actors in it are very 'real-like' unlike the commercial Bollywood actors. The characters were well developed and my credit also goes to the cinematographer who knew his colors, angles and lights. Finally, I hope the screenplay writer gets an award, because without the perfect script a film such as Rock On!! would easily fail. The songs and music were also unique unlike commercial Bollywood love songs in the middle of a park or landscape.Get your popcorn, coke, water and sit back and enjoy this film.Rock On!! Neil Bhatia.

Abhishek Kapoor's 'Rock On!' is definitely an improvement when compared to his directorial debut 'Aryan' which was a 'Rocky' plus 'other boxing movies' ripoff. But, as a film itself, 'Rock On' struggles to be just strictly average. It's not a movie I would be willing to revisit. After discussing this movie with a friend, we agreed that 'Rock On' is a half-baked product. The story is too clichéd and predictable that I easily lost interest. For example, killing off the Rob character because he has no girlfriend. The rockband Magik is comprised of a typical Bollywood group of friends where Rob is the one who the audience shouldn't give much of a damn about, Joe the quiet one, KD the 'virgin' wooing the women without much luck and Aditya, the 'main one'. The characters just aren't interesting. The ending is laughably bad.Moreover, there are just too many plot holes that irritated me. Since we're all supposed to believe that these guys are so passionate about music, why do they give up just after one fight? So the band dismembered but they could have pursued their own individual career. Only, Joe is seen to be struggling with his career in music but that too is apparently because 'he's no good in anything else'. Why does Aditya dump his girlfriend? If he wanted to break all ties with Magik, such that he'd dump his girlfriend through a note, why keep the photos etc?On the technical side, it's not so bad. I liked the jump cuts. The background score and cinematography are alright. For a movie about rock, well, the music isn't rocking at all. I wonder what kind of the drugs the lyricist when writing those truly abysmal lyrics. The songs lack soul and energy.The performances are a mixture. Shahana Goswami performs well and for a newcomer Prachi Desai is good too. Despite of having a clichéd role, Purab Kohli is perhaps the best of the male cast. Luke Kenny is adequate. Arjun Rampal is passable. Farhan Akhtar looks confused and is wooden at times.Overall, 'Rock On' has nothing new to offer. It's not exactly a terrible film but I'll put it somewhere between average and below average. It's overrated. This movie just does not rock.

First, let me start with the negatives of the movie. None. Of course you can start nitpicking for trivial unnecessary detail but the movie is such a treat to watch, you would not want to do that. Kudos to Abhishek Kapoor, this is one of the most brilliantly executed Hindi movies I have seen. I started watching the movie with the expression "Farhan Akhtar and a rock movie ~!"(being an Engineer ~ means negative!) and got really convinced after watching the rather bizarre "Asaman hain neela kyoun..." song. Then the movie takes gear and boy is it a smooth drive. The director uses to the maximum effect interleaving style of narration to maintain a sense of suspense in an emotional drama genre film. Each character is perfectly defined and the story telling is tight. Farhan the actor rocks. He carries the body language of a rock performer with élan and is as cold as ice when required. Every other actor performed exactly what they are supposed to, nothing more nothing less. And even Arjun Rampal is absorbing. When the director knows what he wants, he can extract exactly that from his crew and this is the best example.For a movie based on rock, the music must rock and did Shankar-Ehsan-Loy exceed expectations. With the help of excellent but simple lyrics from Javed Akhtar the music meets the standard of the movie. The lyrics, especially for the rock songs, are different using everyday language and bring freshness to the songs. The song 'Pichle Saat Dinon Mein' is extremely catchy and meaningful. Here again Farhan the rock star rocks rendering his vocals for four songs. I seriously wish Farhan doesn't get carried away by his multi talents and concentrates on directing. That is where we need him the most although I would love to enjoy his acting and singing talents occasionally.I don't want to get into the details of the story as it is best enjoyed when you see it happen. Rock on!! tracks the life of rock band Magik comprising of lead singer Aditya, guitarist Joe, drummer KD and keyboardist Rob. It's a wonderful journey of the intrigue in their lives, the practical realities and their passion. Just enjoy it as Abhishek takes you along.Finally Rock on!! definitely needs more exclamations. Go watch it and I assure you, you will enjoy it immensely. Thanks Abhishek and Farhan, keep rocking on with such quality movies. Indian audience deserves it.