Sometimes, simplicity is everything. Forget the flamboyance, the grandeur and the melodrama.
Rocket Singh Salesman Of The Year
U/A; Drama
Directed by: Shimit Amin
Cast: Ranbir Kapoor, Gauhar Khan, Shazahn Padamsee and Prem Chopra
***
What it's about: Sometimes, simplicity is everything. Forget the flamboyance, the grandeur and the melodrama.
What strikes you most about Rocket Singh Salesman Of The Year is director Shimit Amin's ability in telling a tale that connects with you purely because of its sincerity.
The film starts with average middle-class student, Harpreet Singh Bedi (Ranbir) passing out from college. He decides to work as a salesman as he doesn't have the means to study further and isn't qualified for any other job. He lands his first job soon enough at AYS (At Your Service), a company that sells computers.
Like most young people who graduate from college, he has high ideals and big dreams but they crash and burn when he realises that it is a cut-throat and aggressive world where values have little or no place.
But unlike most people who learn the tricks of the trade and jump on the bandwagon, he sticks to what he believes in and makes it big on his own terms. He finds himself four like-minded 'partners' and starts his own company Rocket Sales.
Things go wrong for him. But everything is right with the film. And for once, it is not a movie where you have to leave your brains behind. Take them with you. Because Rocket Singh touches the right chords.
What's Hot: Shimit Amin who made Ab Tak Chappan and Chak De! India comes up with a film that's totally different from his previous two offerings full marks to him for originality.
And bonus points to the director and lead actor Ranbir Kapoor for making a film that is as brave as it is path-breaking. How many films can you recall that have had a salesman as the 'hero'? Harpreet is not larger-than-life. He is real. He is someone who you may know or someone you may have been at some point in your life.
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If one has to find a Hollywood equivalent, it would be Jerry Maguire, even though that was a fantasy in part.
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But Rocket Singh is real. It doesn't try to be funny or romantic or even dramatic. It is a well-told story that doesn't compromise at all. There are no peppy songs in foreign locations, no item numbers and no sexy leading lady to add shallow glamour.
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Ranbir comes up with yet another effective performance. He grasps the character well and portrays all his struggles, doubts and fears effortlessly.
All his partners do a fantastic job and help make it the film it is. The encounters between Harpreet and his work friends, his boss and even his aging father are warm and tender. Gauhar Khan is surprisingly good.
The story and dialogues by Jaideep Sahni deserve special mention. Simple and meaningful, the film comes with a purpose and even though it may not be commercially appealing (neither were Yuva and Swades), you have to admire Yash Raj Films for attempting a subject like this.
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What's Not: The director sets the pace from the word go, so you know this one isn't going to be a roller-coaster of surprises.
But there are portions that test your patience. You wish the director had not resorted to the predictable scenes of Harpreet practising in front of the mirror. The change of heart of HP's boss Puri is also unconvincing. Newcomer Shazahn disappoints she doesn't have much to do anyway.
What to do: It may not be your kind of film, but you should watch this one. Simply because our cynical world needs more Harpreet Singhs. It is a film about hope. And about a better world with honest people.
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