I just watched ‘Rock On’ the second time and I couldn’t help thinking this. If I would borrow a line from the movie itself “Accha hai, par better ho sakta hai, much much better ho sakta hai”. The movie lacked drama; it appeared a very realistic but bland movie.
Then it hit me that probably he meant it that way, or rather that was the way he saw it happen. The movie characters could be found anywhere, four guys out of college who chased a pipe dream and now trying to get to terms with the realities of life.
The Rock Band example may not be very commonplace, at least here in India but you can find the similar theme everywhere. People who thought they had an idea which they tough they can turn in gold, people who thought they will forever be friends, forever 21, forever love someone and be loved. Then one day college ends and they realize everybody needs to go their way, and mostly their paths don’t lead to same place. Suddenly your friends realize they have more important commitments than being friends, ideas going bust, your being good at something isn’t good enough, your love deciding that mommy knows best. And then the struggle….
The struggle to stay alive. The struggle to eat, to pay the rent, pay the bills, to afford the new TV you always wanted, to pay for the Birthday Bash you thought you would throw one day, to show your parents that you are actually not good for nothing. The struggle to be ahead in the rat race, I know what they say about the Rat Race, even if you win you are still a rat, but you are all rats to begin with isn’t it good to be the first among the rats ?
When you once hassled who has the trendiest shoes, who uses the hippest words, who can drink the most, who can drive the fastest. Now you worry about who has the higher salary, who has the bigger office, who landed up with a good catch as Husband/Wife or probably who stays in which locality.
Farhan Akhtar doesn’t look like his acting out as a could have been ‘Rock Star’, I think he was that guy. Who probably had a band, and wanted to make career out of it, but couldn’t.
Many people wanted to be Rock Stars, Cricketers, Actors, Pilots. Army men, Writers but couldn’t. Some listened to there parents, some to the older and more established cousins or neighboring ‘bhaiyas and didis’ who knew which stream had more ‘scope’, some figured out other Safe options and the most practical ones just chucked their dreams for the money.
And the ones who didn’t ? Well “ Idhar campus mae log jaande hai mainu… Dijjay dee itthe koi aukaat hai… Log kehte hai Dijjay mae badi baat hai…. Kuch karega Dijjay…. Lekin … Baaahar duniya mae acche acche Dijjay pis gaye… Laakhon kee bheed mae…”
Those become like the Purab Kohli of ‘Rock On’, with dark circles under their eyes, drink too much, make jokes that nobody laughs at, shout just to show their are still young and loving their life while nothing can be far from it.
So Rock on but don’t rock the boat too much…. The waves you make may be enough to drown you.
So shut up. Wake up and smell the coffin. The party is over. Adjust and Adapt. ‘After all we are just another brick in the wall‘.
