Farhan Akhtar has not only turned actor - living out his fantasy in the role of a rock star - but has turned singer too.
An hour before we’re scheduled to speak with Farhan Akhtar, I’m listening to one of the six songs, “Pichle saat dino mein” (Over the last seven days), that the Bollywood director has sung for his new film Rock On. His is not a sensational voice, not by any stretch of the imagination and no, it’s not a voice that’s flawless either. But having said that, it’s a voice that commands attention, a voice that makes you smile and that could be because of a multitude of reasons.
First, the lyrics of this particular song: It speaks of an individual and what he’s lost in seven days — a girl’s phone number, a half-read novel, two one-day cricket match passes, his new sunglasses... These will make you grin endlessly. Second, the melody — this is an out-and-out rock song — will make it hard for anyone not to spring up and start dancing. But more importantly, the reason Akhtar’s raw, untrained voice manages to appeal to listeners is the film’s script itself and the manner in which the entire soundtrack was recorded for it.
Rock On is the story of a group of friends who bring together one of the biggest rock bands in the Indian music industry. Unfortunately, despite all the hype, the band nosedives into obscurity before it can properly take off.
“Fate”, explains Akhtar, sitting in Mumbai’s Taj Lands End, “however brings them together once again and they undertake a journey to explore their unfulfilled hopes and dreams.” Apart from Akhtar, the film stars Luke Kenny, Arjun Rampal, Purab Kohli and Koel Purie besides Prachi Desai, Indian television’s favourite bahu who essays the role of Sakshi, Akhtar’s onscreen wife.
For music lovers and for those who’ve seen Indian music bands and their personal lives from close quarters, Rock On promises to offer a realistic portrayal of the lives of musicians through the journey of these four fictional characters, including Akhtar who essays the role of Aditya Shroff, the lead singer of a popular music band, Magik.
“I’m not a professional singer in real life but for as long as I can remember, I’ve always been enthusiastic about it. I’ve always liked playing the guitar,” he says, admitting that he was scared of the recording studio set-up to begin with. “It can be unnerving; the microphone and other musical gadgets can sometimes intimidate you. Worse, you’re alone in the singing booth while the rest of the world is watching you from across the glass screen,” admits Akhtar, who says that things got better once music directors Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy began training him.
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What’s also interesting is the manner in which the music for the album was recorded. “It’s a rock album,” says music director Ehsaan Noorani. “We wanted everything to sound real and that’s why we decided to record everything live. It was challenging,” he adds. To put it simply, Akhtar and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy recorded the music just the way it used to be done in earlier times —with the orchestra, singers and backing vocalists singing together with little or no scope for error.
The reason why the film is in the news is Akhtar himself: The director of some big films (his first directorial film was Dil Chahta Hai; his last film, Don, The Chase Begins Again, was not just critically acclaimed but was a box office success too).
Besides directing, Ahktar’s role as a producer has also not gone unnoticed and with Ritesh Sidhwani, his company Excel Entertainment has been behind films like Lakshya (which Akhtar directed) and Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd (a surprise winner). The company is now set to produce Akhtar’s sister, Zoya’s first directorial film, Luck By Chance, the music for which is also being scored by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. “There’s an amazing comfort factor that I have with the trio, the reason why I could manage to sing in Rock On,” says Akhtar.
While Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy have been a constant fixture in Akhtar’s films (they’ve been scoring music for his films for the past eight years now), the director-turned-actor and now singer says that while he wasn’t convinced about acting, he was instantly hooked on to Rock On’s script. “I was approached by Abhishek (Kapoor, the director of the film) and fell in love with the story and immediately offered to produce it,” he adds.
Interestingly, Akhtar started playing the guitar 8-9 years ago for sheer pleasure. “It’s therapeutic,” he says. What also prompted him to give a nod to acting in this film were his dealings with musicians in real life. “I have friends who’re musicians and I’ve seen them dealing with frustrations, financial or emotional. But you should see the minute they start jamming… it’s almost as if their problems cease to exist,” he stresses.
Akhtar believes that the camaraderie between the band members on the screen is what really existed for the 60 days when Rock On was shot. The four lead characters took lessons from the music directors and jammed well into the night. And though it’s too early to predict its outcome at the box office, in Akhtar’s view the film is already a winner. “I have a gut instinct that Rock On will work, and work well with the audiences,” he says, his fingers crossed. By the looks of it, we think it will.