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Rocket Gang

Farhad Dalal
By-
Farhad Dalal
Rating
1.5 Star popcorn reviewss

Introduction

Onto the next release of the weekend and on the finally Saturday, and final day of the year I finished watching the new Hindi film Rocket Gang which is streaming on Zee5. Directed by choreographer turned director Bosco Martis, I really wished to see what he brought to the table. Earlier instances of choreographers turned film directors was a mixed bag in the form of Farah Khan and Remo D’souza.

Dance films are genre films that I have quite enjoyed be it the English film franchise Step It Up or the more desi film franchise ABCD – AnyBody Can Dance or even Street Dancer. The key to the genre is weaving a story with the core idea being of dance and I think that is where Remo had scored big with the 1st ABCD which had its heart in the right place with a soundtrack that is still hummed even today. So I was expecting a similar ‘Sataak’, ‘Chikchik Fire’, Stupendofantabulouslyfantastical’ and ‘Chummeshwari’ film in Rocket Gang. Does it manage to deliver, lets find out.

Story & Screenplay

Rocket Gang follows the story of a bunch of non-dancers who get posssessed by spirits of children in order to win a dance competition. The story was good at the concept level but the screenplay and execution was way off. The screenplay standing at about 135 minutes was just way too long and filled with one cliche after another upto a point post which the film did become unbearable.

The drama opens itself on such a frivolous and loud note with a bunch of youngsters traveling in a car until they cause an accident. The film then begins introducing you to the prime characters and I knew instantly that this film is in danger. The proceedings were loud, in your face and filled with typical stereotype which cannot be forgiven in 2022. Honestly, this was a brain fade of sorts in the writing department. Why would you introduce the characters in such a disjointed fashion when you could easily have done it throughout the narration of the film.

The humour here is just so flat and frivolous that it won’t even make a young kid laugh. It is childish which even a child would not buy in. Once the conflict is established, the onus was always on the writers to have engaging sequences unfold one after another. But the proceedings are so over the top that you just feel like being a ghost yourself. In between, the writing does well to tap into some heartfelt emotions that quickly fizzles out due to the high melodrama that is added to the drama which was just not necessary.

The second hour throws in every cliche that is prevalent in a dance film. It is far too simplistic and layered with the writers playing it completely safe and never really raising the stakes high enough. Coming to the dance element which is a core ingredient for a dance film, it is good but I really had enjoyed the set pieces of ABCD and Street Dancer more, primarily because of the way they were shot and the music to which the cast had performed. After a series of frivolous sequences which are unfunny, the finale too doesn’t exude any kind of confidence thus summing up the screenplay which was really over the top and quite poor even for a dance film.

Dialogues, Music & Direction

The dialogues are loud and largely unfunny, not to mention melodramatic that leave zero impact. The music by Amit Trivedi is good but considering his ability, the music doesn’t quite do justice here. The BGM is fair as is the cinematography. The editing is poor and this seemed like a school sketch more than anything else. Director Bosco Martis misses the mark in his debut vehicle as a director. His direction is poor and way off the mark and it gave me an impression that his style was stuck in the early 2000s when reality shows were a thing. The direction left a lot to be desired.

Performances

The performances are a mixed bag here. While the kids are good and they dance well too, I can’t say the same about the others. Mokshda Jailkhani as Pia is decent. Sahaj Singh is largely unfunny. Jason Tham as Bunny is way too over the top for my liking. Nikita Dutta is decent but has very little to do here to showcase her talent. Aditya Seal as Amar does ham right throughout the film upto a point that it became artificial and quite annoying.

Conclusion

Rocket Gang is frivolous, unfunny and ridiculously over the top making it a below average affair. Available on Zee5.

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