An angry Ranbir Kapoor smashes into the scene. Clad in army boots, harem pants and a Gibson guitar he takes on stage, while we learn - Ranbir is Jordan.[break]
The very first scene, which is shot fabulously, manages to raise the expectations of the audiences but sadly looses it impact as the Jim Morrison wannabe Janardhan Jakhar struggles in his quest to be the next rockstar.
Set in Delhi, the film takes you in a journey to witness the quest, rise and downfall of rockstar Ranbir Kapoor. Fueled with a passion to be a musician, initially Janardhan Jakhar, aka Jordan, learns from an unlikely mentor- his college canteen owner-that to be a true rockstar one needs to feel the agony, pain and tragedy.
This advice encourages our innocent Janardhan who will do anything to become like his hero Jim Morrison, to get himself a heart break.
The first step in doing so is making a love proposal to Heer the “dil todne ka machine.” Heer is portrayed by debutant Nargis Fakhri, who without a thought rejects him.
However, the two develop a friendship after a day of watching soft porn Jangli Jawani and drinking desi daru. In fact, they turn out to be such good pals that Janardhan, who is christened Jordan by Heer, helps out in fixing lights and flowers decorating at Heer’s marriage.
With an invitation to come to Prague where she was going to settle down, Heer leaves Jordan and his friendship behind.
Slightly heartbroken and thrown out of home and bewildered by life, Jordan goes on a forced journey around Delhi living as a vagabond. Two years later , he lands at his old friend, the canteen owner’s house, who then becomes his PR and helps his career.
Then one day he learns through an exasperating journalist about a certain concert in Europe and decides to participate with the hope of meeting his love Heer which he does.
Heer amidst the breathtaking beauty of Prague is clinically depressed. Upon meeting Jordan, however she reaches the pink of her health as they explore local daru of the place and visit ‘cheap discos with cheap light.’
It takes a beautiful spring day bike ride to a lush green field where they kiss and its only then that Heer realizes that they being together is wrong. Then the movie starts getting predictably boring here onwards.
Performance-wise Ranbir doesn’t emerge as a splendid actor but has evidently put in immense efforts. His slow transition from the awkward-around-girls-but-wannabe-cool to the ultimate rockstar is appreciable.
The first timer Nargis Fakhri is pretty, no doubt, but sadly she cannot act. It looks as if she is trying too hard to imitate the bubbly Geet played by Kareena in Jab We Met but fails miserably. Standing out from the young actors is the veteran Shammi Kapoor.
His brief cameo, also his last appearance, was a great move, and the veteran does not disappoint.
One aspect of the movie that deserves applause is the cinematography. Anil Mehta’s dramatic camerawork is a feast to the eyes whether it is the beautiful Kashmiri wedding or the magnificent scenes in Czech Republic or the concert stage.
Imtiaz Ali’s narrative of his story is rather disappointing. Almost divided in episodes, the story fails to merge as a whole as it inter cuts between locations and time-spans leaving the audiences downright dizzy.
It’s almost as if he is confused between a love story and the mission of a rockstar. The pacing or the editing of the film could have been crispier. Some scenes feel unnecessarily elaborated while some others under-appreciated.
Manish Malhotra and Aki Narula headed the costume department of the film and have done a good job in making the audience believe in the characters.
Aki has performed sheer magic for Ranbir. While the initial Jim Morrison fan is shown in skinny and straight-fit jeans paired with colorful knit sweaters and shirts, the emerging rockstar goes grunge. As a rockstar, Rabir dons military jackets and quawaal jackets and the famous police shirt making him look every bit of the character.
He sometimes dons a Nehru cap with badges that remind him of his mentor Shammi Kapoor or Ustad Jameel Khan in the film.
The film maker also uses strong statements, although not clearly stated, as a part of the film. The “Free Tibet” flag used in the song Sadda Haq created quite a buzz earlier this week. Although blurred before release, Jordan’s guitar strap endorses a small flag all throughout.
The real “rockstar” of this film, however, emerges to be Mohit Chauhan, who has lent his voice to almost all of the songs in the film. He sings each one with such great passion that his presence is felt on the screen. Irshad Kamil’s lyrics sketch a different side of the obnoxious rockstar as they read Kyun baate mujhe iss tarah.
A. R. Rahman’s music was already a rage, long before the release of the movie and is one element which will draw the audiences to the theater and will take back with them from the movie.
In total the soul-searching to self-destruction journey of Jordan deserves a onetime watch, only for Ranbir Kapoors efforts and the voice of India’s prominent rockstar Mohit Chauhan.