Rock On!!

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2008 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film

title: "Rock On!!" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2008-films", "2000s-hindi-language-films", "2000s-buddy-films", "2000s-musical-drama-films", "films-featuring-a-best-supporting-actor-national-film-award–winning-performance", "films-set-in-mumbai", "indian-buddy-films", "indian-musical-drama-films", "indian-rock-music-films", "best-hindi-feature-film-national-film-award-winners", "films-directed-by-abhishek-kapoor", "2008-drama-films", "2008-musical-films", "excel-entertainment-films"] description: "2008 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_On!!" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 2008 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]

Field	Value
name	Rock On!!
image	Rock on poster.jpg
caption	Theatrical release poster
director	Abhishek Kapoor
screenplay	Pubali Chaudhari
decat	yes
child	yes
label1	Dialogues by
data1	Farhan Akhtar
story	Abhishek Kapoor
producer	{{Plainlist
starring	{{Plainlist
cinematography	Jason West
editing	Deepa Bhatia
music	Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
studio	Excel Entertainment
distributor	Reliance Entertainment
released
runtime	145 minutes
country	India
language	Hindi
budget
gross
::

::callout[type=note] the 2008 film ::

| name = Rock On!! | image = Rock on poster.jpg | alt = | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Abhishek Kapoor | writer = | screenplay = Pubali Chaudhari | decat=yes | child=yes | label1=Dialogues by | data1=Farhan Akhtar | story = Abhishek Kapoor | producer = {{Plainlist|

Farhan Akhtar
Ritesh Sidhwani | starring = {{Plainlist|
Farhan Akhtar
Arjun Rampal
Purab Kohli
Luke Kenny
Prachi Desai
Shahana Goswami
Koel Purie
Nicolette Bird | cinematography = Jason West | editing = Deepa Bhatia | music = Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy | studio = Excel Entertainment | distributor = Reliance Entertainment | released = | runtime = 145 minutes | country = India | language = Hindi | budget = | gross =
Rock On!! is a 2008 Indian Hindi-language musical drama film written and directed by Abhishek Kapoor and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani under the banner Excel Entertainment. The film stars Akhtar (in his acting debut), Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli, and Luke Kenny as members of the Mumbai-based rock band "Magik" formed in 1998 who reunited in 2008. Prachi Desai, Shahana Goswami, Koel Purie, and Nicolette Bird appear in supporting roles. Rock On!! received critical acclaim from critics, but performed averagely at the box-office. The film was archived at the Academy Film Archive library. It won seven awards at the 54th Filmfare Awards and two awards at the 57th National Film Awards.

A sequel, Rock On 2, was released eight years later in 2016.

Plot

Rock On!! begins in Mumbai, with the rock band Magik, in 1998. The band are best friends and enjoy a carefree, freewheeling life together. Aditya Shroff is the lead singer who rebelled against his well-to-do family to play music. Joseph (Joe) Mascarenhas is the lead guitarist who feels the necessity to prove his worth as a musician. Keyboardist Rob Nancy and drummer Kedar Zaveri a.k.a. KD/"Killer Drummer" comprise the remainder of the band. After a competition is announced by Channel V, they decide to enter, as the winner will be offered an album contract and at least one music video.

Magik win the competition but soon realise they will have to go through some sacrifices while signing the contract. Joe feels the most slighted when a song he wrote for his girlfriend, Debbie, which was the only slow track on the entire album, is excluded from the track list to make space for a remix song. Debbie is also rejected as the band's stylist without even being called for any demonstration. Later, when filming the music video, the band are forced to wear clothes they do not like, and the cameramen focus only on Aditya. Joe becomes furious at Aditya and the director, hitting them both before leaving with Debbie. Aditya, who failed to notice that anything was amiss, is shocked and as the band loses their contract, he reacts by abandoning music as well as his girlfriend Tanya. "Magik" thus disbands, and its members become estranged.

Ten years later, Aditya is a wealthy, high-powered investment banker with a beautiful wife, Sakshi, and they live in a luxury home, yet he is constantly unhappy. Hoping to relieve his habitual sullen mood, Sakshi decides to gift him a gold-chain wristwatch for his birthday. She meets her friend Devika at a jewellery shop, which by chance is owned by KD's father and where KD himself is working, albeit unenthusiastically. He overhears Sakshi talking about Aditya and introduces himself. Sakshi later conveys the meeting to Aditya who denies having ever known anyone called KD. Soon afterwards, while Aditya is away on a business trip, Sakshi finds a box containing old photos and videos of Magik. She takes them to show KD and asks him to come to a birthday party she is planning for Aditya, and to invite the rest of the band.

KD meets with Rob, who now makes a living composing jingles for advertisements. Together, they invite Joe, who is now married to Debbie but lives largely unemployed, with an eight-year-old son. The family is supported by Debbie, who has a small fishing business but who also holds a grudge against the band for the way it affected Joe. Joe feels he should reconcile with his old friends, but Debbie sees this as his weakness. KD and Rob thus attend the party without Joe, and Aditya is shocked to see them. He later scolds Sakshi for trying to dig up his past, which he claims to have left behind. Sakshi is hurt, and she leaves him after informing him that she is pregnant. Devika persuades Aditya to face his past and meet with his ex-bandmates. KD, Joe, and Rob meet up and visit the place where they used to practice as a band. Aditya also arrives and reconciles with Joe and the rest. They start practicing regularly at Aditya's house. Learning about this, Sakshi, too, returns to Aditya.

Channel V announces another contest, and at Rob's insistence, the band enters, this time with support from Ajay, the frontman of one of Magik's former rival groups, who informs the band that his group doesn't play anymore and he is thus good to help them enter the contest. Meanwhile, Debbie arranges a guitar-playing job for Joe on a cruise ship, which is due to set sail on the same day as the contest. At a party, Aditya runs into Tanya, who is revealed to be married to Ajay. Aditya apologizes to Tanya for his actions, and she forgives him. It is later discovered that Rob is dying of a brain tumor, and his last wish is to perform with Magik. The contest is aired on the radio, and while Joe is on his way to the airport, he hears Magik perform the song he wrote for Debbie ten years earlier, which they dedicate to him. This prompts him to join the band at the competition, where he and Aditya sing a duet in a triumphant performance.

The epilogue reveals that Rob died two months after that performance. Sakshi gives birth to a baby boy, whom they name "Rob" in memory of their friend. Devika is dating KD, who starts a record company with Joe. Debbie quits her job in the fishing business and becomes a successful stylist. The band members and their families meet every weekend to keep the band's "Magik" alive forever.

Cast

Farhan Akhtar as Aditya Shroff (Adi)
Arjun Rampal as Joseph Mascarenhas (Joe)
Purab Kohli as Kedar Zaveri aka "Killer Drummer" and "KD"
Luke Kenny as Rob Nancy
Prachi Desai as Sakshi Shroff, Adi's wife
Shahana Goswami as Debbie Mascarenhas, Joe's wife
Koel Purie as Devika
Dalip Tahil as Bajaj
Suraj Jagan as Ajay
Nicolette Bird as Tanya, Adi's ex-girlfriend
Mickey Makhija as KD's father
Jameel Khan as Tolani
Jonathan Horovitz as Travel Writer
Pankaj Kalra as Sukhani
Jehangir Karkaria as Khursheed Chacha
Anu Malik as himself (special appearance)
Monica Dogra as Herself (special appearance)

Reception

Box office

Despite critical acclaim, the film grossed only 27.46 crore ($4.1 million) in India; Box Office India labeled it as an "average grosser".

Critical reception

Rock On was well received by a number of critics. Subhash K. Jha gave Rock On a rave review. He states: "Seldom has a film blended the music of life into the fabric of a film with such seamless expertise. Rock On!! is that rarity where every component character and episode falls into place with fluent virility." Nikhat Kazmi of the Times of India gave it four stars and argued, "if you really want to see how Bollywood has matured and come of age, then here's the perfect litmus test. For Rock On is a film that not only breaks new ground in terms of its subject matter – now when has desi movielore ever tackled something akin to Hollywood's That Thing You Do – it creates a whole new EQ (emotional quotient) for mainstream cinema." Khalid Mohamed, of the Hindustan Times gave the film three and a half out of four stars and describes it as "hard candy." He also states that "the performances are of the highest order". Manish Gajjar of the BBC gave Rock On!! four out of five stars and describes it as "an enthralling watch, with entertaining moments to make you smile. Predicted to be a cult movie for many years to come, it truly deserves the Bollywood awards this year! A must-see whether you are a rock fan or not!" Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave Rock On!! four out of five stars and states: "Put your hands together for one of the finest films of our times. Put your hands together for a director who pulls off a challenging subject with élan. Put your hands together for the actors who pitch in superlative performances." Kaveree Bamzai of India Today called Rock On "refreshing" and "surprisingly quiet and thoughtful."

Other critics gave the film mixed reviews. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN gave the film three out of five stars and states: "With Rock On, director Abhishek Kapoor promises a true-blue band film, but ultimately delivers a masala Hindi film that just happens to be about a band [...] Yet, Rock On is rescued by some marvelous moments that stay with you until the end."

Soundtrack

Main article: Rock On!! (soundtrack)

The original score and songs were composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy. The songs' lyrics were written by Javed Akhtar. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 12,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's thirteenth highest-selling.

Accolades

::data[format=table]

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.	Anandalok Puraskar Awards	Filmfare Awards	International Indian Film Academy Awards	Mirchi Music Awards	National Film Awards	Producers Guild Film Awards	Screen Awards	Stardust Awards
5 December 2009	Best Actress (Hindi)
28 February 2009	Best Film	Rock On!!

Sequel

Main article: Rock On 2

A sequel to the film, Rock On 2, was released on 11 November 2016. Akhtar, Rampal, Kohli, Desai and Goswami reprise their roles from the first film.

Notes

References

(26 August 2008). "''Rock On!!'' (12A)". [[British Board of Film Classification]].
(29 January 2013). "Studios zoom in on small-budget films for profits". Business Standard.
"Rock On!! Box Office". Bollywood Hungama.
(26 November 2008). "After Heroes, it's Rock on to make it to the Oscar Library". [[Screen (magazine).
Rohit Vats. (11 November 2016). "Rock on 2 review: The band of boys weaves its magic again". [[Hindustan Times]].
"Box Office 2008". Box Office India.
Koimoi.com Team. (9 November 2016). "Where Will Rock on 2 Stand in This List of Box Office Business of Farhan Akhtar's Films Till Date". Koimoi.com.
(1 September 2008). "Subhash K Jha speaks about ''Rock On!!''".
Nikhat Kazmi. (29 August 2008). "Rock On!! review: Times of India". The Times of India.
(29 August 2008). "Rock On!! review". The Hindustan Times.
Rock OnReview by Manish Gajjar. (29 August 2008). ["Rock On!! review"](https://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/content/articles/2008/09/05/bollywood_reviews_rock_on_feature.shtml). *BBC*.
"Rock On!! review". Bollywood Hungama.
(5 September 2008). "Ear Candy—Rock On!!". Indiatoday.intoday.in.
"Rock On!! review: CNN-IBN". Ibnlive.in.com.
"Music Hits 2000–2009 (Figures in Units)". [[Box Office India]].
"Bollywood actress Prachi Desai holds Best Actress award for her film 'Rock On' during a 'Dabur Vatika Anandalok Puraskar 2008' in Kolkata – Photogallery".
(16 February 2009). "Nominations for 54th Filmfare Awards 2009". [[Sify]].
(19 February 2009). "54th Filmfare Awards announced amidst glitter and glamour". Zee News.
(8 March 2009). "54th Idea Filmfare Awards".
(12 May 2009). "IIFA awards: Destination next".
(29 April 2009). "Nominations for the IIFA Awards 2009".
(13 June 2009). "Winners of the IIFA Awards 2009".
(29 March 2009). "Jodhaa Akbar rocks music awards".
"56th National Film Awards 2008". [[Directorate of Film Festivals]].
"4TH APSARA PRODUCERS GUILD AWARDS NOMINEES".
"4TH APSARA PRODUCERS GUILD AWARDS WINNERS".
(23 November 2009). "Nominations of 4th Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards".
(5 December 2009). "Winners of 4th Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards".
"15th Star Screen Awards Nominations". [[Screen (magazine).
"Winners of 15th Annual Screen Awards". Screen.
(15 January 2009). "Jodhaa, A Wednesday sweep 'Star Screen awards'".
Bollywood Hungama News Network. (10 February 2009). "Nominations for Pan Bahar Max Stardust Awards 2009". Bollywood Hungama.
(16 February 2009). "Winners of Max Stardust Awards 2009".
(28 February 2009). "Stardust Awards 2009".
"Rock On 2". Rotten Tomatoes.

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