KRK BOXOFFICE
 
Music Review
 
 
 
Rock on 2

By - Swati

Director- Shujaat Saudagar

Producer-Sunil A Lulla

Farhan Akhtar

Ritesh Sidhwani

Music-Loy Mendonsa

Ehsaan Noorani

Shankar Mahadevan

Lyrics : Javed Akhtar

Genre-Drama Musical

Release Date-November 11, 2016

Intro-.Directed by Shujaat Saudagar, ‘Rock On 2’ is an upcoming musical drama, featuring Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal, Prachi Desai, Purab Kohli, Shraddha Kapoor and Shashank Arora in lead roles. ‘Rock On 2’, is the first ever sequel of a musical in Bollywood and is all set to have a theatrical release on November 11, 2016. Expectations are high as the film has been shot extensively in and around the city of Shillong and the best part is that this time, Shraddha Kapoor joins Farhan Akhtar and the other actors as the new female vocalist of Magik, the band in ‘Rock On 2’.

Music- Music has always played a pivotal role in Rock On series as this is the first Hindi film which is based on rock music. Even today, the original tracks of Rock On have greater recall value. The music for the sequel has been composed by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy and the lyrics have been beautifully written by Javed Akhtar. Though the music of ‘Rock On 2’ has heavy rock influence, but the songs of Rock On 2 are not that memorable and can be well termed as ‘mediocre’.

Jaago

The album kicks off with ‘Jaggo’ which talks about rising up against obstacles and dreaming big, instead of bowing down to societal norms. Though the song is sung by Farhan Akhtar, but it is Siddharth Mahadevan high pitched vocals which infuses real enthusiasm in the song. Apart from Farhan and Siddharth’s rendition, guitar work by Sheldon D’Silva and drums by Jai Row Kavi also give the song the necessary boost.

Udja Re

Udja Re sung by Shankar Mahadevan and Shraddha Kapoor is the second track of the album. The song isn’t bad after all as Shraddha has finely managed to tackle the highs and lows of the song. Just for Shraddha’s spirited singing, you will love listening to it in loop.

You know what I mean

Farhan is not alone here; instead he has the whole band to give him company. But still, the song sounds average, though it is inspired from the lines of 'Pichhle Saat Dinon Mein' from 'Rock On'. Unfortunately, Farhan also sounds out of sync in many portions.

Manzar Naya

Manzar naya, sung by Farhan has a folk melody and has some interesting combination of guitar riffs. But still, the out of sync rendition by Farhan acts as a sheer embarrassment. The only good part is the whistle sound that is present throughout the song and the flute instrumental that makes it soothing.

Tere Mere Dil

Tere Mere Dil is a nice rendition by Shraddha Kapoor which is soothing to one’s ears. The sarod in the background perfectly blends with the music, but the music is not that over powering and ceases to exist once you stop listening to it.

Wo Jahaan

Wo Jahaan sounds like a rock anthem and is comparatively a better composition in the voices of Shraddha Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar. It can definitely qualify to be one of the best songs due to its sheer arrangement of orchestration. The USP of the song is the sarod part by Soumik Dutta which makes it soulful and makes it sound more pop than rock.

Hoi Kiw/Chalo Chalo

Hoi Kiw/Chalo Chalo is little hatke as it has a North eastern flavor and Khasi lyrics, besides the hindi one written by Javed Akhtar. The composition is a mix of Hindi and Khasi lyrics mixed with folk melody which is reworked as a rock number and is sung by Usha Uthup and north eastern singers Shangpliang & Pynsuklin Syiemiong who are brilliant in their renditions of Khasi lyrics.

Ishq Mastana

Ishq Mastana is the final track in the album which has a Sufi flavor but otherwise it’s a misfit to the whole album. Since, it’s a rock album, the sufi number is not just ordinary but the combination of dhol with guitar is somewhat weird. Though the song may be a misfit, but singer Digvijay Singh Pariyar’s soulful voice is good to listen to.

Our Final Verdict- Overall, the album of Rock On 2 is not that high on melody and is definitely not a winner all the way. Few songs are good as they have a good blend of rock, folk and sufi tracks and strike a chord, but in a nutshell ‘Rock On’ had much better songs and memorable lyrics. Having said that, ‘Rock On 2’ doesn’t surpass its predecessor the original ‘Rock On’.

Our Rating-3