Finally! It’s time to visit one of my favourite film of Imtiaz-Ranbir duo. Yes! I’m talking about Rockstar. I know this series is about ‘Delhi Through the Eyes of Cinema’ but I think time I’m gonna get diverted from the topic. So please pardon me for that because after all its Rockstar!! A lot of critics have opposite opinions regarding this movie but this movie has aged like fine wine. The editing of rockstar is what I like the most apart from music, acting and direction. Imtiaz has said that this movie was made on the editing table and I can’t find any lies in his statement. The same applies for ‘Tamasha’ this is the reason why we can find so many similarities between the two. Okay! So, let’s dive into the movie.

If we look at the movie major part of it comprises of montages including Janardan’s journey of becoming JJ and people’s perception about him via Rahman sir’s music. A lot of viewers consider JJ as a flawed hero but for me he is more of like a flawed villain, a villain who dared to love twice. First, he loved his music and after that he loved Heer. Ranbir’s character undergoes the transformation thrice in the movie, from Janardan to JJ and then from JJ to Jordan. The people who made him what he was were different but only idea which made him Jordan was Khatana’s. ‘Toote hue dil se hi music nikalta hai’

The opening scene of rockstar is one of my favourites. Jordan is an established singer who is all set to perform at a concert but he smashed by a group of guys, the reason behind the same is still unknown. Finally, he enters the stage and he just looks like an injured tiger who is all set to roar and eat up everything which comes into his way and within a fraction of seconds we are at the Hindu College’s campus. As the movie a sequence of montages ‘Jo bhi main’ gives us the idea of Jordan’s journey as a singer.

Delhi played a key role in Jordan’s career. He grew, broke down and flourished on the streets and dargah of Delhi. A jatt from Hindu College turned out to be the most celebrated musician of his time. Jordan was a ‘bada janvar’. He knew he had the courage to fulfil his dream of becoming a world-famous musician. From being bashed by the cops in Delhi to getting arrested and showing his middle finger to the public just like Jim Morrison he had a journey which is of its kind.

The innocence which Jordan has during his college days did made me pity him because he was not meant for small things and fail at them. He had the power to thrive but all he needed was something to drive him. Khatana bhai made in search for it. Jatt from Hindu College approaching a Kashmiri pandit girl from St. Stephens was indeed a political take and it was nicely executed.

The scene which strikes the chord for me is when Heer said ‘yes’ but I don’t know whether Jordan understood it or ignored it willingly in order to feel a heartbreak. If this scene wouldn’t have been there rockstar would have been completely different. ‘Phirse Ud Chala’ perfectly symbolises Jordan’s world also, this song is a montage and we get a glimpse of Jordan’s upcoming life events. He was flying among colour illusions. People do think whether JJ attended Heer’s wedding or not. Imtiaz says he did but mentally he was not present there.

After Heer’s wedding his life underwent drastic changes. He gave up music for some time and was thrown out of his house. This time Delhi was bitterly sweet for him. He got shelter at Hazrat Nizamuddin dargah trying to get detached from himself in order to see who he really is.

He gets a chance to work with platinum music and what I like the most about the meeting of Jordan with Ustad Jameel Khan is the difference between the two’s body language. JJ sits in a composed manner just like the way a student sits in front of a teacher. The frame setting of this scene makes me feel that Jordan is less approachable as compared to Jameel Khan (because Ustad ji had a firm position at platinum music whereas JJ was just a budding artist).

Finally, JJ gets a chance to visit Prague and he catches up with Heer. Heer starts feeling better and the song ‘Hawa hawa’ comes up in the movie. I consider this song as a metaphor as it resembled Heer state in Prague and the way she starts healing after Jordan’s arrival. What I noticed during this whole montage was Jordan’s was majorly drawn towards Heer, though he was performing but still he was with her in most of the frames. Unknowingly he was getting towards the heartbreak he was looking for because one day or the other he was supposed to leave Prague and go back to Delhi.

Jordan’s vulnerability was a bit hard to digest for me because the success he wanted was lying in front of him and he wanted to get away from it. What happened to him? The success was eating him up. All he needed was comfort and his own little world, away from the lights and flashes of media cameras. Second montage of ‘Jo bhi main’ gives us a contrasting figure of JJ from his past and present.

Let’s move ahead, this particular sequence when theme of Tum ho plays and scenes are cut to Jordan and Heer shows how knowingly and unknowingly all they wanted was each other. Both of them were suffering in their own way. I like the way Imtiaz doesn’t deprives the audience from the story of his female characters. He makes sure in Tamasha to show how was Tara’s life going when she was away from Ved and here we have Heer.

I think I should wrap this up now though I can write more. The final and major heartbreak arrives to Jordan with the guilt of killing his own love. He went wild, all he knew was guilt, pain and anger. Though he got what he always wanted but at the cost of his love.

‘Nadaan Parindey’ hits the screen with a bang. Jameel Khan wanted Jordan to come back to his home whereas he wanted his love to come back and be with him and somewhere both of them knew that this is not going to happen. Jordan starts hallucinating and imagines Heer in front of him and frame cuts to Jordan’s mind where they are shown in their own happy place, ‘Out beyond ideas of wrong doing and right doing there is a field. I’ll meet you there’.

Here I end my write up for rockstar. I hope you liked it. Don’t forget to share it with your friends and do catch up with the coming up posts.