Readers Write In #642: 12 years of Rockstar-A fan’s look back at the odyssey of love

By Sahith Reddy

Sometimes the big screen leaves us with joy. But it also will make us remember about a time that was or what it could be.  Rockstar the Imtiaz Ali film which 12 years on lingers in the memory of the audiences, The narrative that rests on Ranbir Kapoor’s able shoulders is a testament to his acting chops. And a chartbuster album by AR Rahman, Mohit Chauhan’s vocals are the right vessel for the audience to feel Jordan’s yearning. The film’s conceit is the familiar trope of every man meeting the manic pixie dream girl and her being the catalyst of change in his life.

But during the movie’s runtime, we see him transform from an awkward young man to being the bad boy of the world of music. Boyish naivete sidesteps to give way to the man whose angst is forged in the fires of life. The movie makes a point about certain kind of love in which Heer played by Nargis Fakhri is cured of an ailment by the mere presence of Jordan alongside her.

In a conversation with Khatana Bhai, played by a dependable Kumud Mishra, Jordan hilariously asks for a refill of his samosa ki chutney, when he gets his heart broken by heer because he gets advised by his mentor that heartbreak will help him make music, but when eventually he gets rejected by heer,  but he doesn’t feel the pain of being rejected. Because music was his love, heer was a way to reach that love although it was never the path that his life would take.

But much later in the movie when Jordan creates waves in the music industry. Despite all the money and fame associated with him being a rockstar, he is the temperamental equivalent of a raging wildfire, but the presence of Heer makes him aguiding light, in a sequence at a hospital when Jordan visits Heer, he pleads with Khatana bhai that his heart should not be broken. This plays out as an echo of the moments when he says wants to get his heart broken to be an artist. The scene in which Jordan tells heer that he doesn’t drink alcohol and he acts like a drunkard by splashing it around his face, this setup has a payoff in a moment which looks like a show where Jordan steps out of a car and he has been drinking, this casual conversation is skillfully utilized to underline the character’s transformation.

And Ranbir is given plenty of moments to shine throughout the film. The fact that he can convey so much with economy of expression is a recurring feature in his filmography. This especially rings true in the song Katiya Karoon where he revisits his familial home Ranbir gazes at the structure once and walks off the place the look on his face and those expressive eyes convey the air of sadness written in this moment.

Another reason for this movie to achieve, both commercial success and critical acclaim is the kind of character Jordan is his rise from a Delhi ka ladka to rockstar Jordan makes for an epic watch on the big screen, so much so that as an audience we began to empathize with his plight and sometimes get angry because of his choices, we wonder at his fall from grace. That what the hell is doing to himself.

Ranbir as Janardhan Jhakkad/Jordan was a revelation in this narrative, both as naive Janardhan and heartbroken Jordan, every aspect of the character feels distinct right from his walk to the sense of urgency and angst in his voice encompassing Jordan’s state of mind. Imtiaz Ali in his portrayal of Jordan and Heers relationship dynamic gets past the usual meet-cute, in a relationship, but the core of the writing is dedicated to show that to get love, one must get past whole host of challenges thrown at them. Sometimes by fate then sometimes, by people to their own self.

Rockstar is Hindi cinema’s ode to the kind of love that is not bound by narrow confines of worldly logic, it is firmly entrenched in its humane complexities , like heer being married when the story continues to unfold in Prague, but despite the presence of marital bond in Heer’s life the narrative doesn’t take the usual route that is associated with a triangular love story. Imtiaz’s writing steers clear of such cliches, at the same time it also adds a layer to the obstacles the lead pair would have to contend with. Another element that makes it presence felt throughout the film is its mythical quality. At one such scene at a music company Ustadji says that Jordan is blessed by the divine (it plays out like an elevation scene at least to the delight of my masala sensibility🤩), the scene in which Heer and Jordan’s reunion happens as if it were a matter of fact destined to happen in the streets of Prague.

The movie also cleverly subverts the and heartbroken male cliché, here the pining happens from the female and the male is the one who is made do to post heart break damage control which would have been taken up by the female in our mainstream cinema, although there are exceptions to this phenomenon. In a fantastically performed scene at a hospital where heer is in a critical condition ,when Jordan comes out of the hospital he is walking briskly as if he wants to escape the confines of the fame that he wanted to embrace ,there is an extremely detached quality to his persona as Jordan in the portions where the film deals with Jordan’s plight post separation from Heer, the people in the crowds that shout his name out loud, wanting to take picture’s with him doesn’t seem to matter as much as his love would .In the film’s universe this self-destructive kind of love is accorded supreme importance. In Jordan’s head everything else can wait, but not the urge to reach his heer.

But aren’t we all imperfect in love? especially when it is the only hope to hold on to, this Rockstar carries the hope that at least the big screen can offer a safe refuge to the stories that mirror the not so brainy but dreamy people in a world that appears to be frighteningly perfect.