Rock On!

We watched this new Hindi flick over a weekday evening. The hall was relatively empty which suited us well. I must say that from the first song onwards, the movie kept me captivated, perhaps because it could easily have been the story of my life. I said the same to my guitarist friend Kartik, who lives in Washington, while chatting with him on google talk. He asked me, "Did the vocalist have a distorted voice?". I said no, the vocalist, actually unbeknownst to me , was quite an accomplished rock singer. Farhan shone in the songs. His vocal "flavourings" that start a bit before or after a measure are great, particularly some of the high notes he is able to reach without falsetto. Anyway when I said this Kartik replied, "Well then, it cannot have ever been the story of OUR life". I got a laugh out of that. Here we are 10+ years since we played together in college, and he was still bashing our vocalist!!All in jest,though. Vivek if you are reading this, please don't feel bad. Even the lyrics were cute. Javed Akhtar has this unique ability to compose poetry as well as doggerel without batting an eyelid. "Meri laundry ka ek bill, Ek Aadhi padhi novel". Sketchy line that, but it works in this format. Particularly since Farhan prounounces the word novel as "novill", presumably to make it rhyme. The music is really "middle of the road" 80s rock, reminds you a bit of bands like def leppard and whitesnake. Mostly reminds you of another desi act by the name of Rock Machine. Although Uday Benegal had a more powerful voice, Farhan's has a sweeter quality whih is much more pleasing to the ear (less distorted, per Kartik). Overall, another breath of fresh air in hindi movies, another movie directed at multiplex watchers, another rubicon conquered by Shankar Ehsaan and Loy. The story was weak at times, but overall I think it worked. Rock On!