Rock N' Roll is a 2007 Malayalam musical comedy film written and directed by Ranjith, starring Mohanlal, Lakshmi Rai, Siddique, Lal, Mukesh, Manoj K.Jayan, Rahman,Anoop Menon,Harisree Ashokan, and Jagathy Sreekumar. The film tells the story of seven musicians in Chennai, the major centre of film production in South India. It was released on 9 November coinciding with Deepavali.[1][2] It received negative reviews and was considered a commercial disaster at the time of release. Over the years, the movie along with Mohanlal's performance has attained a cult status. Suraj Venjaramoodu's cameo role as a fraud musician was widely acclaimed and is often considered one of his early breakthroughs.[3]
| Rock N' Roll | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Ranjith |
| Written by | Ranjith |
| Produced by | P. N. Venugopal |
| Starring | Mohanlal Lakshmi Rai Siddique Lal Mukesh Manoj K.Jayan Rahman Harisree Ashokan Jagathy Sreekumar Anoop Menon |
| Cinematography | Manoj Pillai |
| Edited by | Ranjan Abraham |
| Music by | Vidyasagar:(Songs) Bijibal:(Background Music) |
| Distributed by | Marikkar Films |
Release date |
|
Running time | 140 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Malayalam |
Plot
editThe film tells the story of Chandramouli (Mohanlal), a composer and drummer, of his return to Chennai from South Africa for a brief visit and of the incidents happening in that short span. Gunasekharan (Siddique), a leading music composer, is busy with his composition for the latest film directed by Lal Jose. He feels that it would be better if he gets the help of his old friend, Chandramouli, who is now busy with his international concerts. But Mouli, a fun-loving and jovial musician, makes a surprise landing in Chennai and helps Guna in his work. Mouli falls in love with Daya Sreenivasan (Lakshmi Rai), a female playback singer, who is also an ardent fan of him. But because of the compulsion from her parents and fiancé, Vivek (Anoop Menon), she moves back to Mumbai. Mouli plots a plan with his friend, Thabala Balu, (Harisree Ashokan) to bring her back to Chennai. He convinces Daya that he is composing a dozen songs for a film and wants Daya to sing them. Daya comes back to Chennai but is not impressed by Mouli's tunes. When she openly expresses her unhappiness over the tune, Mouli takes it as a prestige issue and composes a song entirely dedicated to her. However, Daya is unable to reach the studio on that particular day because of her engagement ceremony with Vivek whom she feels is too arrogant and sophisticated for her. Knowing this, Mouli enters the engagement venue and takes Daya to the studio for half an hour despite the opposition from her family members. Daya, who is in love with Mouli, realizes his love for her and opens her mind to him. The film ends with Mouli relaxing at a beach with Daya but his old habits of carefree nature and passion for girls are still not gone.
Cast
edit- Mohanlal as Chandramouli, an international drummer
- Siddique as Gunashekar, Music director
- Mukesh as Vishwanath (Vichan), a re-recordist
- Lal as Issac, a violinist
- Manoj K. Jayan as Gireeshan a.k.a. Saidapet Giri, an aspiring singer-turned don
- Rahman as Henry, a keyboardist
- Harisree Ashokan as Balachandran a.k.a. Balu, a tabalist
- Jagathy Sreekumar as Khader Khan
- Lakshmi Rai as Daya Sreenivas, a singer
- Anoop Menon as Vivek Sreenivas
- Suraj Venjaramoodu as PP Shiju a.k.a. Maharaja (extended cameo)
- Swetha Menon as Meenakshi
- Praveena as Maria
- Anil Murali as Satheeshan, Police Inspector
- Augustine as Production Controller Subramaniyam
- Rohini as Nirmala
- Joju George as Hari, Gangster of Saidapet Giri
- Dinesh Panicker as Sreenivas, Daya's father
- Chitra Shenoy as Daya's mother
- Sindhu Shyam
- Lal Jose as himself (cameo)
- Vanitha as Chandramouli's mother (cameo)
Reception
editThe film received mostly negative reviews. On the other hand, the music was well received. Vidyasagar's music was popular, especially the song "Chandamama", which stayed on the charts for many weeks. The failure of the movie also resulted in a small spat between Mohanlal and Ranjith which continued till the duo came together for the hugely successful Spirit in 2012.[4]
Soundtrack
edit| Rock 'N' Roll | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by | ||||
| Released | 3 November 2007 | |||
| Recorded | Varsha Vallaki Studios | |||
| Genre | Feature Film Soundtrack | |||
| Length | 21:25 | |||
| Language | Malayalam | |||
| Label | Manorama Music | |||
| Producer | Vidyasagar | |||
| Vidyasagar chronology | ||||
| ||||
The film's background score is composed by Bijibal,[5] while the songs are composed by Vidyasagar with lyrics written by Gireesh Puthenchery. The songs were very popular.
| Song Title | Singers |
|---|---|
| "Chandamama" | Anitha Shaiq, Rija, M. G. Sreekumar |
| "Dhiruthana" | Ranjith, Tippu |
| "Manchadi Mazha" | Madhu Balakrishnan, Sujatha |
| "Ravereyayi" | Madhu Balakrishnan |
| "Valayonnitha" | Vijay Yesudas, Ranjith, Jeemon KJ, Pradeep Palluruthy |
Quotes
edit"Rock & Roll is an out and out musical entertainer set in Chennai milieu with the background of a recording studio and the world of musicians. It's a fun-filled movie with Mohanlal leading the pack of merry men." – director Ranjith[6]
References
edit- ^ "Rock n Roll Malayalam Movie review-Rock n Roll film review-Rock n Roll review-Rock n Roll review".
- ^ "Rock ?n? Roll". Sify. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022.
- ^ "Review: Rock n' Roll".
- ^ "Rock N Roll Review". Oneindia.in. 25 January 2008. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Vijay George (20 June 2008). "Lyrical notes". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012.
- ^ Release news:Sify.com Sify.com Archived 29 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
External links
edit- Rock N' Roll at IMDb