It is always difficult to review an Indian film because this cinematography is totally different from everything we know, both from Hollywood cinema and from that coming from the Far East such as China, Korea or Japan. Indian films do not anchor themselves within a single genre, but rather play with their codes and pile up a disproportionate number of them in a single film. We can thus find elements of comedy, gangster movie, musical alongside the codes of melodrama and romantic films.
Even Rockstar, by director Imitiaz Ali, contains within it this multitude of genres becoming a confusing and at the same time fascinating film, which at the end of its more than two and a half hours of duration still leaves the viewer wanting a continuation of the events.
We are in the Verona Arena, where an oceanic crowd awaits the start of the concert of Jordan, a famous angry and fascinating Indian rock star. Having escaped from an attack, the singer, bruised and enraged, goes on stage ready to transform his anger into music.
But Jordan, before becoming a famous rocker, was a simple student Janardhan Jhakar, known as JJ, and a meteoric musical career was just a huge dream for him.
The Music of a Broken Heart
The turning point comes when his friend Khatana Bai, a restaurant owner, explains to him that his easy life, without any drama or trauma, does not allow him to have that little something extra that brings success to an artist.
Janardhan believes that by falling in love with the beautiful Heer Kaul, a dancer with a reputation as the “perfect heart-breaking machine” who is already engaged to be married, he will be able to experience the pain that will transform him into a real musician.
But his is just a pretense and the young man, feeling foolish, reveals to the girl that he has no feelings for her. Heer opens up to JJ in turn, telling him about her most intimate desires for fun, alcohol and frivolity. Thus a deep friendship is born between the two, who however will see themselves separated when Heer leaves for Prague after getting married.
Upon his return to the family home, JJ finds himself kicked out due to suspicions of an affair with the young bride. Having taken refuge in a monastery for two months, he rediscovers his love for music and returns to his friend Khatana Bai.
Fate begins to smile on the young man, who is discovered by the famous classical musician Ustad Jameel Khan , who introduces him to a major record label. After a stormy start, the young man discovers that the most important talents of “Platinum Records” will go to Prague for a concert and agrees to sign a contract in order to go to Europe and see Heer again. Between betrayal, violence, illnesses and anger, it will be the beginning of his fall as a human being and his rise as a music star.
Comedy and Melodrama
In this historical moment, the dream of becoming famous is certainly at the base of our society, between X factors, Big Brothers, remote islands and various reality shows that promise the limelight.
But the director Imtiaz Ali, master of the Indian romantic comedy (even if as we said it is difficult to frame these films in a single genre), does not want to make an analysis of the culture and the reasons that push a person to seek fame, but rather wants to tell how at the base of success there is pain, desperate and burning, like that which comes from a broken heart.
In its disproportionate duration of two hours and forty minutes - however absolutely average in its homeland - Rockstar transforms from a fun romantic comedy, with the classic musical inserts, into a tear-jerking melodrama in which we witness the usual extramarital relationship that leads to scandals and scenes with screams and shouts.
But despite being faced with a plot worthy of a soap opera, the result is excellent. Imtiaz Ali has no shortage of technique and skillfully uses every arrow in his bow to bring to the screen a complete work that manages to entertain its audience for its entire duration.
Although he makes heavy use of flashbacks and flashforwards that confuse his viewers, Ali manages to unravel every subplot, managing to carry out his task to the best of his ability. Helping him in his work is also the composer, AR Rahman, winner of two Academy Awards for the soundtrack of Slumdog Millionaire, who thanks to his music, truly exceptional and capable of captivating even the most skeptical listener, manages to give that added value to the film.
Finally, Ranbir Kapoor's interpretation is excellent, one of the most famous faces of contemporary Indian cinema, capable of giving the character of JJ an unparalleled emotional charge, from the slight naivety that characterizes him in his student years to the furious violence that will transform him into a real Rockstar. All at the modest cost of her heart, an innocent victim of a relationship born under the brand of damnation.
Rockstar was a huge success in India thanks to the excellent directorial ability of Imtiaz Ali. A film for the general public capable of enthralling and entertaining, thanks to a clever use of narration and musical interludes, in a crescendo of drama and extreme situations. A warning to all those who are new to Indian cinema: the suspension of disbelief is doubly mandatory, compared to a Western film. One should not ask too many questions about how we got to certain situations. The answers will be given in due time and not a minute too late.
