Rockstar Dvd

Rockstar is a 2011 Indian Hindi-language musical romantic drama film directed by Imtiaz Ali, starring Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri with music composed by A. R. Rahman. The film also stars Moufid Aziz, Aditi Rao Hydari, Piyush Mishra, Shernaz Patel, Kumud Mishra in supporting roles, and also Shammi Kapoor, who makes his last silver-screen appearance. The film was produced by Eros International Ltd. along with Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision Ltd. It follows Janardhan Jakhar a.k.a. JJ or Jordan, who dreams of becoming a rockstar like his role model, Jim Morrison. Yet, eventually on attaining all that he dreamt of, Jordan ends up anguished and despondent, by the loss of Heer Kaul, whom he loved passionately and whose death is inadvertently caused by Jordan himself.

Development of Rockstar commenced in May 2010. Nargis Fakhri was cast as the female lead, after plans to give the role to Kareena Kapoor were shelved. Filming in India took place at Delhi, Kashmir, Mumbai and Dharamsala, while the foreign sequences were shot in Prague and Liberec, Czech Republic.

Rockstar was released on 11 November 2011. On the day of release, Tibetans in Chennai and Dharmasala protested against the Central Board of Film Certification for asking the film-makers to censor scenes featuring the Tibetan flag. Upon release, the film received positive reviews. Critics highlighted Kapoor and Rahman as the stars of the film, but criticised the plot. The film did well at the box office, managing to appeal the youngsters in the cities.Made on a budget of ₹600 million (US$8.4 million), Rockstar grossed ₹1.08 billion (US$15 million) worldwide. Kapoor and Rahman received numerous awards for their work in the film.

Plot

A large crowd gathers outside the Verona Arena in Italy to watch the performance of rockstar Jordan. Despite being mobbed, he storms onto the stage in a fit of rage and starts strumming his guitar.

A flashback reveals the story of Jordan, whose real name is Janardhan Jakhar a.k.a. JJ, a Jat boy from Delhi. He is studying at University of Delhi and dreams of being a rockstar like Jim Morrison, for which he is often laughed at by his friends. Khatana, the canteen owner, tells JJ that one thing common among all artists is a life-altering heartbreak. JJ jokingly tells himself that since that hasn’t happened yet, he won’t be able to reach his idol’s status. He watches the dance performance of Heer Kaul, a beautiful girl from St. Stephen’s College during a contest, and overhears that she is the “perfect-heartbreaking-machine.” Remembering Khatana’s words, he decides to propose to her, but suffers humiliation, which he sees as the perfect method for enduring the heart-break needed for stardom. Over time, he and Heer become good friends, often going on adventures and engaging in risky behaviour.

Heer marries a man named Jai in Kashmir, after which the couple moves to Prague. During this time, she develops feelings for JJ and coins the nickname “Jordan” for him. JJ finds himself thrown out by his brothers for allegedly stealing family money. He takes refuge for two months in the nearby Nizamuddin Dargah, singing qawwalis, and then moves into Khatana’s home. Ustaad Jameel Khan, a renowned classical musician, hears JJ’s singing at the Dargah and prompts Dhingra, the owner of “Platinum Records,” to sign him. Sheena, a journalist, interviews JJ and hints to him that Dhingra is sending artists to Prague for a Europe tour. JJ volunteers to work there, in the hopes of reuniting with Heer.

Heer, meanwhile, suffers from continuous health problems. She meets JJ in Prague and they reconnect, but when he tries to profess his love for her, Heer, being married, spurns him. Despite this, their relationship gets intimate, and Heer feels guilty. As soon as Jordan’s Prague tours are over, she leaves him. JJ tries to visit her one last time before departing to India, but is arrested on trespassing charges filed by Heer’s husband. While JJ is being taken away, he sees Heer collapse. Upon being deported back to India, he is overwhelmed by the attention he receives, and clashes with the media and the Indian police, resulting in a jail term. The event garners enough publicity to make Dhingra decide to release JJ’s recordings; the album does well, throwing JJ into the limelight.

After being released, JJ terminates his contract with Dhingra, embarks on a country-wide tour and finally morphs fully into “Jordan”, the rockstar he had aspired to be. He turns bitter, arrogant, and lonely as time goes on, but remains a highly popular artist.

Jordan meets Heer’s younger sister, Mandy, during one of his concerts, and she asks him to help Heer, who has been diagnosed with aplastic anaemia. Jordan’s presence causes Heer to somewhat recover and her blood level rise. He starts disregarding his musical obligations to spend more time with her, and Khatana, his manager now, asks Heer to persuade Jordan to attend his concerts. Heer does so, and JJ resumes his tour with his first concert at Himachal Pradesh. During their stay at Himachal, they have sex, due to which Heer gets pregnant and the blood loss after she returns makes her fall into a coma. When Mandy informs Jordan of Heer’s condition, he leaves one of his shows midway and goes to her hospital bed. He tries to wake her up but she remains non-responsive. Jordan realises that she will not survive and goes numb, while the media continue to probe him. His grief further turns him a “bad boy” of rock and he shows his right middle finger to them, also beating up the police, but he finally attains international fame like his idol.

The film cuts back to the concert in Verona and while performing, Jordan sees a vision of a smiling Heer walking towards him. The ending suggests that Heer has died in a coma and the naive falcon (Nadaan Parinda – Nargis) has returned home (reunited with Ranbir, not physically but spiritually). The film ends with a line from the poet Rumi’s poem; translated, it means: “Away, beyond all concepts of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there”, which the film began with.

Cast

Ranbir Kapoor as Janardhan “Jordan” Jakhar / JJ
Nargis Fakhri as Heer Kaul (Mona Ghosh Shetty as the Hindi dubbing voice)
Aditi Rao Hydari as Sheena
Kumud Mishra as Khatana
Piyush Mishra as Dhingra
Moufid Aziz as Jai
Shammi Kapoor as Ustad Jameel Khan
Shernaz Patel as Neena Kaul
Aakash Dahiya as Janardhan “Jordan”‘s Friend
Jaideep Ahlawat as Jordan’s brother
Shreya Narayan as Jordan’s sister-in-law
Nizami Bandhu – as Qawwal from Nizamuddin Auliya Dargah
Sanjana Sanghi as Mandy Kaul – Heer’s Younger Sister
Sharad Sharma as Virat Kaul – Heer’s Father
Paritosh Sand as Animesh – Heer’s doctor