Well intentioned but not well delivered is the fate of Rocket Singh. It shows an earnest man trying to do things honestly and it does provide some good moments, is also touching at times, however the momentum fails to build to deliver a good story.
Structure
The first act has Harpreet, an honest bloke getting a job into the messy world of sales.
The second act has him running into problems that are alien to him - a world of lies and deceit. His honesty gets him into trouble with his bosses since he almost loses a big customer of his company as he refuses to bribe. Demoted and made fun of, he starts another company working within his, gets collaborators and partners, but eventually this activity is caught by his antagonist.
The third act has the antagonist coming back to him, acknowledging that he lost and Harpreet won and gives back his company that he had taken from his ex-employee.
The start is kind of too cliched - graduating and discussing about what to do. Typically, it would be done much before but then...showing such a naivety has been in vogue for decades. Nevertheless with his friends circle set-up, his family shown (his grandpa, a nice and upright bloke who doesn't understand 'professionalism') it does move him into a corporate world of sales but...the depiction gets too cute. However this is still not so much of an issue but emphasizing the conflict. Yes, you know he is entered an alien world, yes he shall default and when he's shown as happy and satisfied it's taking too much time to get the action moving.
The so-called rising complications doesn't happen effectively - there are conflicts that arise and Harpreet finds his way but...it never builds the tension. A flaw could be not bringing-in opposition more forcefully, not building antagonist effectively.
Yes, the protagonist has an objective but what's the opposition? Fear of being caught. And it's plugged-in quite softly. Since the intention is to keep him as good-natured and have him enabling goodness in everyone, it can get tricky if conflicts are not built cohesively.
The ending is again - good-natured - evil guy becoming a nice bloke - all too quickly and when you are bordering on building caricatures the effect does not flow well.
Characters
The key aspect in this case is character depiction and with Harpreet being quite on a passive side, the momentum doesn't build up too soon. Plus every one else on the outer-circle (like folks in the office and clients) are too uni-dimensional.
The story hinges on the other inner characters - folks who become his partners and critically on the antagonist. But...it's an opportunity lost since they are propped-up only to come-in and go-out as per convenience.
The big problem is dialog takes over action too much; it would have been perhaps good to hang around more with some characters. Eventually there tend to be too many characters floating around him.
Harpreet is supposed to a quiet types but a resilient dude, but that does not mean he can't be active. He owns most of the frames and rightfully so, but...when things resolve too quickly it doesn't work great, he is never pushed too much into a corner despite us being told that they could lose jobs; one doesn't sense that tension, as such the characters come out as not so energetic. Though...being with him and his team one does relate to the sense of camaraderie.
Dialog
Well...I find them too much and when action per se is less it harms the flick. Also...with cuteness as a goal, it tends to fall flat.
Theme / Story
This is an interesting one - the intentions are good. But...how is it being manifested? By a good guy sticking to his guns and an antagonist who makes fun of him and who later changes his tracks eventually respecting the protagonist.
However it doesn't feel so much. There are messages and dialogs talking about the issues. Not much, but when the story doesn't have a tension, when you don't end up relating too much to the character, you miss hitting the mark. The film tries to talk about a good amount of relevant stuff but isn't so effective to show.
What's the story about? It's about a man who manages to work in an honest way in a corrupted world. So...what's the value that comes into play, caused by what? That the guy learns to work with the world, find honest blokes and work with them. Caused by...the harshness of the world.
Is there an arc for Harpreet? It's like - yes and no. Showing a do-goody-good bloke who ends up making other folks aware typically doesn't arc much; it's the others who do. However the fundamentals stressed through antagonist change doesn't work. Why? Well..since he has not been fleshed out greatly and the change in character is kind of contrived.
So...the good bit - it's somewhat of an earnest flick. By staying with one character all the way through as his conditions change isn't too bad a ride. But...it's not so effective.
Rating **1/2
[Max Rating ****]
[Viewed at Chembur, Suhas's, in Feb, 2010 thanks to Guru's DVD]
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