Rocket Singh Movie Review

After Chak De India, the expectations are high from the men behind the classic – Shimit Amin (director) and Jaideep Sahni (writer) – who return with Rocket Singh – Salesman of the year, stars Ranbir Kapoor, Gauhar Khan, Shazahn Padamsee, D Santosh, Mukesh Bhatt, Prem Chopra and others.

The movie is about Harpreet Singh Bedi (Ranbir Kapoor), a below average student in school and college, who takes up marketing as his career. He joins a computer sales company, AYS, as a trainee. Under a corrupt senior, the job soon turns into one of his worst nightmares. Rocket Singh in short is Harpreet Singh Bedi’s journey from a zero to a hero. 

Rocket Singh Review

What works in Rocket Singh – Salesman of the year

  • Shimit Amin, the director of Ab Tak Chappan and Chak De India, is in top form. The feel of the corporate world has been captured very realistically. The writing (Jaideep Sahni) is top notch too, with several scenes making great impact – the first job interview, conversations between Harpreet and his senior manager Nitin, the scene in the club where Harpreet is insulted by his boss, when his boss gets to know about his secret company, his confrontations and many more.
  • The second half is better paced (compared to the first) and much more entertaining.
  • Like Chak De, Rocket Singh too has some fantastically written characters. The one that stands out though, is Nitin’s. We have no clue about the name of the actor, Yashraj hasn’t revealed it just yet. Nitin as Ranbir’s senior, is fantastic and easily the deserves the top acting honors.
  • For probably the first time in his career, Ranbir Kapoor is not the pick of actors. While he does a good job as a Sardar, mingling with the others and completely looking the character, the others steal the scene.
  • The romance too works largely due to Shazahn Padamsee’s sweetness, charm and fantastic screen presence.
  • Its nice to finally see a Sardar, who are usually seen as clowns, presented realistically.
  • Background music by Salim – Suleiman was good.

Performances, in no particular order, since all were good!

  • The guy who played the character of Nitin, is by far the best of the lot.
  • Ranbir Kapoor – As usual natural, perfect for the character and proves yet again why he’s considered, by many, as the next superstar.
  • Shazahn Padamsee – Sweet, sexy and does very well in the acting department too.
  • D Santosh – Was brilliant as Rajguru in the Legend of Bhagat Singh. In Rocket Singh, playing a sex-obsessed character, he does very well.
  • Prem Chopra after a long long time is good as Harpreet’s father.
  • Suri as the owner of AYS, is good.
  • Gauhar Khan is as good as the others.
  • Mukesh Bhatt too was fantastic.

Coming to the negatives

  • Rocket Singh is too long, exceeding 3 hours (including intermission)
  • The pace isn’t too great. The first half was slow and at times boring.
  • Music is average.

Don’t go in expecting a comedy, Rocket Singh is a realistic film that deals with serious issues. Perfect casting, fabulous performances, good direction and writing make Rocket Singh a good one-time watch.

All said and done though, without taking any credit away from Shimit Amin, Rajkumar Hirani was probably the best man to direct a film like Rocket Singh.

Rating: ★★★½☆ With a bit of patience, you should enjoy this.

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107 Comments

  • Indicine team:U r going good way….Eventhough u trash akshay movie…but love ur site!!!!!!If any award happens for best movie site,definately u should get it!!!!!!!! U r unbiased which make this site good…
    Another 3 n half star……..Later portion of year seem good for u…except DE DANA DAN which u give 1 n half……Seeing the way u r going… 4 star is definately for 3 idiots….

    Nauman:good review as always….

    I m not too much interested on this movie…yesterday i saw paa….which was below my expectation…….and i m not going to waste my money on this movie (will watch it on dvd)…3 idiots i m gonna watch definately beside christmas n new year…have to manage budget…So i will put review of this movie only after watching on DVD…..

  • if u hv done sales job or working in sales deptt u will like this movie coz u ll remember ur days when ur boss screme on u he gives u big big targets and u hv to fulfil all these targets, i did sales job in standard chartered bank in lahore in credit cards deptt. so i remembered those days.
    fathiya aapi cinema manager suggest u that this movie is good for u and this is not , how strange it means he is ur good friend. i like it

  • Veer first song “Salaam Aaya” is poison song…it will built u up more n more if u listen many time……Look like good album is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!I m waiting for R.F.A.khan song…he is great singer..and listen his 45 sec caller ringback tone…it was superb….looking forward to VEER music album

  • Rocket singh rocks…the first half is bit slow but the second half is the soul of the movie……its simply brilliant and now my top 5 movies this year are
    ! rocket Singh
    2 wake up Sid
    3 Paa
    4 london dreams
    5 Kurbaan

  • Nauman: haha.. no.. don’t missunderstand.. he said this only when I told him that I heard that the movie is long, boring and that it’s not entertaining.. so he was afraid to tell me that the movie is good and then I’d decide to see it, and then I don’t like it.. so he’ll be the one to blame! that’s the reason.. they also sometimes missguide me.. they tell me about a specific movie that it’s good and I find it bad or vice versa.. but that’s not the main reason for me not to watch it.. because of the reasons which I already mentioned.

  • Well honestly I didn’t like this movie at all.I am very much disappointed by Indicine n Nauman Reviews.I watched this movie coz u ppl gave such nice reviews.Akhlaq I agree with your one point that you wrote on some other page that this movie is way ahead of its time.Maybe 10 yrs down the line ppl will start enjoying this kind of Cinema.But point is what kind of taste ppl will have then?I have seen ppl losing standard of sense of humour n now I have doubts about the serous cinema too.For me Ranbir is the most over rated actor of 2009.N Nauman not everybody is a salesman so not everybody can enjoy this movie.

    Indicine..Chak De had charm.It was serious n intense but it had homour too.It was total entertainment package with blockbuster song Chak De India.N one thing more I luved Ranbir in Wake up Sid even that was a bit serious movie but atleast it was entertaining.Rocket Singh is headache,first time in my life I think Taran is spot on with his review.In DDD review you ppl said you dun want to mislead ppl n waste their money.Why are you misleading ppl now?

    Treatment n acting is novel 4 Rocket Singh but not that refreshing.I could have posted the detail review but I feel users here are in competition with eachother in writing reviews n with that they dun highlight the proper skeleton of a movie.

    I am sorry for this Indicine,Nauman n Akhlaq but it was an honest opinion.

  • Hina …
    ok not every one is salesman . but story is so simple even a person who never walked near to school he can understand that whts going on in this movie …
    simply he gives interview and try to sale pencil
    his boss select him and he goes with his manager for marketing
    then when he goes alone then he did a shit
    then his boss put him only for telemarketing .
    he recieves a call from a girl and she wants 2 computers then he decided that he wont tel them know and he full complete this prder by his self and he will get the money, later on he involves some other colleagues .
    tell me wht is hard to understand in this script ??? every one knows about marketing staff like , credit cards , personal loans , mobile companies , car finance , ad so many other things , every one is recieving these kind of calles didnt u get yet any call from credit card or car finance salesman since u r working in a good software house.????

  • sudeep:
    u will miss a good cinema if u wont watch RK. it is batter then Paa but due to so many flaws and low marketing and diffrent script it became an avarage fair.

  • @sudeep.if u want gud cinema than watch shaurya black friday johny gaddar luck by chance devd gulal instead of crap rocket..no wonder it Is not liked by target audience..

  • ranbir kapoor is as annoying as they come. another superstar wannabe who doesn’t have a clue what he is doing. the teenagers may like him, but the real janta can’t be fooled. this guy is a joker just like akshay kumar. annoying pompous little brat son of rishi kapoor. rocket singh my ass.

    what happened to all the REAL actors with real talent who made real movies ?

  • @amit singhania

    glad to read that u liked shaurya. It is one of the best movies I have seen and those who havnt seen it please see it guys. it is indian cinema at its best though it is inspired from hollywood movie few good men

  • Kk menon was outstanding in sourya..wht a performance.even big b would not be able to do that..shourya 4.5star from myside..

  • @ Amit ,Nauman:I watch mostly commercial movie.So,there is less chance that i will watch Rocket singh or other u mention…I also watch non commercial movie but when i feel it is interesting like
    DASVIDANIYA,BEJHA FRY,Wake up sid,tare zameen par ,Chak de ……and latest Paa(Paa was weakest non commercial movie for me)….For LuCK by chance,i have seen but found dull(How can u say this is good movie when u never carries on the character of the actor who play there..And For johny gadhar , i even cannot figure when it was released ..only knew about this movie when there was award ceremony..In nepal,it was not released. I like DEV D though!!!!! Best non-comercial movie of 2009 !!!!!! I have heard abt shaurya but i never feel like watching it!!!!!!!!

  • also, INDICINE TEAM you are extremely biased in your reviews. how can you give this nonsense of a film 4 stars ??? are you serious ??? do you even know what good cinema is ?? this isn’t a ghajini or a dilwale dulhania le jayenge is it ? iam thoroughly dissapointed with you guys. always thought you would know better.

    you give de dhana dhan, which was a decent comedy in my book, 1 star, and rocket singh 4 stars ?? how do you explain that ? de dhana dhan should have got at least 3 stars. this is clear bias without any doubt.

  • Akhlaq, great review. Loved the way you described all the characters. Its sad that such movies have no audience and those that actually watched it, find it too boring. Not all movies are meant to be “entertaining” but Rocket Singh in its own subtle way, was.

    By the way, what’s your on take on the romantic bits? Thought it was very well done.

    We watched it once again, to grasp the finer nuances and loved it.. Rocket Singh is a movie that you need to watch with a bit of patience and a lot of attention.. Just the way Ranbir gets up when his father arrives at the station, says a lot, without any dialogues uttered.

    Hina, Taran totally lacks any sort of understanding when it comes to cinema, he’s great with the trade, but his reviews outright suck.. He calls it a documentary, which IMO was one of the many stupid lines in his review.. He rated Chak De 2 stars, Ab Tak Chappan 1.5… Enough said!

    Not misleading the readers at all.. Read the negatives.. its not for those seeking fulto entertainment, but for those that appreciate GOOD cinema. We can’t love a movie and rate it 2 stars, just because the readers may not like it.. can we?

    As for, you not having liked the film.. we respect your opinion :)

    Spiderman, sorry but lets not even get down to comparing thrash like De Dana Dan to brilliantly written films like Rocket Singh.. Films like these require a lot of talent and honesty..

    And DDD, although we have immense respect for Priyadarshan the director, when it comes to comedies, he has just lost it.. Is he the same director who directed classics like Hera Pheri and Hungama ??

  • @ Hina,

    it is very much understandable why you and so many others didn’t like the movie. as i wrote in my review, the people who do not have an experience of sales, will find it difficult to relate. Another reason for the disappointment for people his been unclear / wrongly preceived promotions.

    Anyways, regarding your point on fall in people’s standards…well i’m sorry but i dont agree with you at all. I think that the audience have grown with the passage of time in both taste as well as better understanding of the cinema. I think we should own the fact that we, as audience have better standards and taste as compared to the audience of previous years. Specifically regarding the sense of humor aspect…well Andaz Apna apna flopped as those days…humor was only associated with vulgarity. The comic hits of those times were films like Aankhein (govinda, chunkey pandey) nad Raja Babu (govinda, Karishma). These films were quite high on dual meaning jokes and vulgar dialogues and became instant blockbusters…and the sense of humor at that time didn’t accept a neat ‘n clean comedy such as AAA. I think either the audience of pre-70’s had good taste or the current audience is reviving it…the period of 80’s and 90’s was the lowest in content.

    So my dear sis, i think we should own the fact that we have grown as audience. And we’ll keep on growing with time. as far as opinions are concerned…everyone has a different opinilon and i respect your opinion. thanks for your comments.

  • Taran adarsh reviews r most read worldwide..no body gave a damm to indicine,just coz ur reviews dint match to taran he is a bad reviewer..this is height…dun bash other critic.its unprofessional,,btw wht about u ddd 1.5star..kurban 4.5star…even i dun like taran reviews most of the time but that does not make him any lesser.,as far as trade is concerned u said he is gud..indicine he is not only gud HE IS THE FATHER OF INDIAN BOX OFFICE..

  • a rejected movie cant gross 50cr net.how dere u called ddd trash..u hve no rt to call a movie trash just coz u dint like a movie..priyadarson is not lost u r lost ..bhagbhag malamal weekly ddd phirhera pheri were superhits..just coz u dun like priyadarsan ll not change anything..

  • Everyone is free to express their opinion and we don’t like his reviews. Doesn’t matter if his reviews are most read (which by the way should go to Nikhat Kazmi of Times) or if someone believes he’s the best.. He’s been in the industry for so long now with loads of experience, so obviously he’s good with the trade..

    Didn’t mean to disrespect him, but if someone rates films from TIPS high (just because of their tie-up with Hungama) and certain universally great films low due to some personal issues…… shows how responsible the critic is towards his readers..

    Forget the ratings, to each his own.. its the honesty towards your profession that counts :)

    Anyway, lets get back to the Rocket Singh discussion..

  • i hve never seen a critic bashing other critic..this is highly unprofessional from ur side..that wht m trying to say.btw times of india is most read not their reviews..youth of metro follows rajev masand nd majority of overseas taran adarsh..

  • Dun mislead people here.tips last two movies ajab nd race were gud so he rated them highly.btw u hve dharma connection than..learn to respect ur counterpart.

  • Indicine i am with you taran is an idiot. times is most read review in india. i was in hostel last year and we had no internet connection we read only revewi from times and watch the movie if rating is good.

    @amit someone who said srk can sell his mother for money is talking about respect. lol.

  • M a user i can say that..btw suneil tu hamesha beech me kyu aata hai..INDICINE hope u r taking users critism in a positive way..remember our target indicine best site at the end of 2011

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