Let's start off this feature with a little trivia - did you know that Deepika Padukone was supposed to make her debut with a film that revolved around a band who had to wage a war against music piracy? The said film was to be directed by the Hera Pheri filmmaker Priyadarshan. Despite that interesting premise, the film got shelved, and Deepika Padukone later made a dream debut in Om Shanti Om, starring opposite Shah Rukh Khan. Okay, so why am I shoving off this trivia right into your brains now? Well, if that film had happened, then we are not sure whether Bollywood's ultimate rock band movie Rock On's magic would have the same effect on us as it did in 2008, when the movie was released. Rock On was a runaway hit that year, that showed us that Farhan Akhtar is an equally competent actor as he was a director (Dil Chahta Hai, Lakshya, Don and its sequel), though I am still not a fan of his questionable singing skills. But hey, that's my opinion.
This Friday will see the release of the sequel of the much loved film, that will have two new additions to the original band (which lost a member in the form of Luke Kenny's character, who gave in to cancer at the end of the first film). Shraddha Kapoor will be the sole female member of the band, while Titli fame Shashank Arora plays another new band member. Unlike the original which was directed by Abhishek Kapoor, the sequel is directed by Shujaat Saudagar.
Before we take on Rock On 2, let's look at 7 Bollywood movies that revolve around an entire band, or at least has a plot surrounding them.
Rock On
Of course, this 2008 is the quintessential rock band movie of Bollywood. Abhishek Kapoor wiped away the sins of his tepid debut film (Aryan the Unbreakable) by making this moving, inspiring and heartwarming tale of a has-been band, Magik, and how unforeseen circumstances coerce the estranged members to reunite again. The movie was the sleeper hit of that year, thanks to its wonderful songs, and Arjun Rampal won a National Award for his role as the down-on-luck guitarist, Joe Mascarenhas.
Paanch
In this dark Anurag Kashyap thriller, Kay Kay Menon, Tejaswini Kolhapure, Aditya Shrivastav, Vijay Maurya and Joy Fernandes are the debauched members of a band, who has no qualms in revelling in drgs and murders just to fuel their lifestyle. The dark themes covered in the film has made the Censor Board squirm in the seats, and the film is yet to find a proper release. You can, however, watch the film online...
London Dreams
Salman Khan, the real life Rockstar, played a reel life rock star in this bland take on the Academy Award winning Amadeus. Salman Khan plays a talented musician, who doesn't have the passion for music, while his jealous friend and bandmate, Ajay Devgn is very passionate about the same, but is not talented enough. Asin, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Rannvijay make up for the rest of the bandmates. Despite the presence of two huge superstars, London Dreams was a commercial failure.
Banjo
This year's other 'rock' film had Riteish Deshmukh play a Ganpati pandal musician along with his friends (Dharmesh Yelande, Ram Menon and Aditya Kumar), who is taken into the big league by an NRI musician (Nargis Fakhri). The lady collaborates with the band members to make some really good fusion music involving local folk and western elements. Despite a couple of good songs, and the Mumbai flavour, plus good performances by the supporting cast, Banjo failed to deliver at the box office.
Chocolate
When Bollywood or rather Vivek Agnihotri dared to remake the cult classic The Usual Suspects, he decided to change the original hoodlums from the original film into band members, consisting of Suneil Shetty, Irrfan Khan, Tanushree Dutta, Arshad Warsi and Emraan Hashmi. It's another matter, that we don't see them playing much music in the film.
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa
Kabhi Haan Kabhi Naa may not be exactly have an entire band as its main core, but its hero, Shah Rukh Khan's lovable rascal, Sunil, was member of a local Goan band whose leader was played by Ashutosh Gowariker, and also consisted of Deepak Tijori, Aditya Lakhia, Kurush Deboo, and occasionally, Sunil's crush Anna, played by Suchitra Krishnamoorthy. The band reached their peak when they performed Sachchi Yeh Kahaani Hai song at a club, which deeply moved the local don there.
Morning Raga
This wonderful indie flick is about a musician with western sensibilities joins hands with a Carnatic singer to produce fusion songs, with the help of a common friend. However, apart from their love for music, they also share a deeper more personal attachment that had potential to shred their professional collaboration forever. Shabana Azmi won the National Award for her performance as the phobic Carnatic singer, and it has a couple of great songs.
