Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year
Director: Shimit Amin
Starring: Ranbir Kapoor
Rating:
Very rarely is a film based on life. Most are based on other films, which are sometimes based on yet other films. But then along comes Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, which transports you to the world of Harpreet Singh Bedi, 38.72 per cent graduate in BCom from University of Mumbai, capable of doing nothing else than being a salesman. He has a sweet old grandfather, played by Prem Chopra, who's taught him everything right-how to brush his teeth before going to sleep, how to watch the Ramayana, and how to work hard. Everything except "chori karna". And that's the lesson life expects Harpreet Singh Bedi to learn.
Ranbir Kapoor as Rocket Singh
Only Harpreet refuses to learn. He believes in honesty and honour. He's not a do-gooder. Just a can-doer. Just a happy young man in middle India, without the ability to crack the CAT or the money to do an MBA from a private institution. A young man with no marks, but enough brains. Not a zero as his new boss thinks. That insult, heaped on him when he inadvertently exposes the chicanery that accompanies the placing of large orders by companies, is what fires him up, gives him a purpose in life. It's not a gargantuan dream, to change the world or society. Just his company, and just the way it does business. And that's what Harpreet ends up doing, rousing everyone around him, in a very Jerry Maguire fashion, ending up being a winner.
It's a movie which can be epitomized by its aphorisms. The slogan at the college get together says: "We passed, college failed". Another says "risk to Spiderman bhi leta hai, main to sirf salesman hoon". And my favourite, "ande se bahar nikle nahin, butter chicken banne ki soch rahe ho". The movie is exceptionally well written, by Jaideep Sahni, who has mastered the art of writing reality. He gets under the skin of his characters, creating the typical boss, Sunil Puri (Manish Choudhary), who undermines to motivate; the typical colleague, Nitin Rathore (Naveen Kaushik), who insults to feel superior; and the typical helpmate, Giri (DSantosh) who is generous with his time but skittish with his emotions.
It's tightly directed as well, by Shimit Amin, who is probably now one of the best directors in India, with Ab Tak Chhapan and Chak De! India under his belt. He has created a wonderful office space in the film, with its targets that are not given but fall on the head, its small crushes, its po*n watchers, its voucher fudgers and its men and women who get ahead by stamping on the heads of other people who bite back the minute they can. The physical office space, especially the area that Harpreet occupies, which is right next to the loo and the kitchen, is beautifully captured, as is the dynamics of the office party, with its drinks in plastic cups and music from the computers. As lovely is the life of the salesman, its travels on the bike, with jacket, clip for the trousers and helmet as eternal accessories.
Rocket Singh is not a showy film, not one that says "look at me, I am making a statement to change the world". But a quiet and subtle appreciation of the life we've been given and what we can do with it. "Ek bar bik gaye to log samajhte hain har bar bikao hai," says Nitin. Indeed. But the film is about how you can be successful without selling yourself in a world where so much is surface glitter. Harpreet ends up teaching his boss how business is not only about "schemes" and "chalaki". It can also be about good service and sheer commitment. That you can be a mahatma in the jungle and still be a winner.
And all this with a wonderful lightness of spirit that everyone who has a job or will end up with a job will love.
Go watch it to see why even zero has a value. And why Ranbir Kapoor is the future of Mumbai films. An effortless actor, he's just the perfect embodiment of the times we live in. Confident without being cocky, spirited without being arrogant, hard working if not always gifted, he is the Young Indian we all want to see.
Plus, girls, he's cute.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/74647/Cinema/Review:+Rocket+Singh.html
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