Arjun Rampal holds his National Award for Rock On very close to his heart. Joe, his character from the film, is extremely special to him too. A self confessed Pink Floyd fan, Arjun has a good ear for music and all he wants, is to be remembered for his work.
Q: You’re coming back to Joe after eight long years. Was it difficult reprising the part?
Arjun Rampal: It was challenging just to make the sequel and that’s why it took eight years. We all thought there will be a sequel to it and we left the film like that, but we couldn’t get a story around it.
The characters are the same but their environments now have changed in eight years. How much have they grown or not? Or have they become depressive or super successful. What is it? Where are these people now? It was nice to explore all of this, and then how music brings back certain memories. I thought it would be difficult but once I was together with the team, it took us three days, for Farhan to be Adi, me to be Joe and Purab to be KD.
Also, the film is not about Joe. It is more about the two generations. Of course you will find Joe and he needs to be there because he’s a very important character. In the previous film, the conflict was between Adi and Joe. Here the conflict is within us, because that’s what happens when you grow up.
Q: What about Shraddha, the newest member of the band?
Arjun Rampal: Initially I felt ‘how is this girl going to fit in?’. She’s from a totally different generation, but that’s what the film is too. I had no idea at that point in time because, I hadn’t seen any of her movies, I hadn’t really interacted with her. But when I heard what she had done with her vocals, it was so incredible. It’s amazing to see the kids of this new generation. They’re so focussed. At her age, I was not that person. Shraddha has been a huge fan of Rock On and we spent a lot of time in Shillong, and it was nice that we all went and started shooting in there, so we could spend time with each other. I got to know her very well and she is a perfect band member.
Q: Strangely the album of Rock On 2 hasn’t picked up as much as the previous one did.
Arjun Rampal: Even Rock On was not number one on the charts before it released. It only picked up after the release. Before that people were wondering ‘what the hell is this? What are they singing?’ We got the same reaction.
It’s not something that I’m worried about because I know that this album is a phenomenal album by Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. What also happens with rock music is that there is no situation to these songs, there is always a concert. You will only be able to understand what’s happening once you experience the movie.
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