It was 11/11/11 when Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar landed in theatres, a date as lyrical as the film itself. The reviews were divided from 'brilliant' to 'too much back and forth, confusing.' But nearly 15 years on, the story of a Delhi boy who wanted his heart broken so he could become a great artist still beats like a pulse, a feeling, and a soundtrack to love and chaos.
Inspired by the Sufi idea that a broken heart fuels creativity, Rockstar follows the journey of Janardan Jakhar, a simple Jat boy from Delhi who dreams of being a musician. The story unfolds in a series of flashbacks. Janardan loves music, has heard of Jim Morrison, and he wants to make music that moves souls, but the secret to it eludes him.
On his college canteen friend's (Kumud Mishra) playful advice, he sets out to chase an impossible muse, Heer (Nargis Fakhri), a posh, free-spirited girl studying at St. Stephen's College. She's everything he's not. In Janardan, Here sees a chance to live out her rebellion before she's tied down by marriage. They connect deeply, and soon it turns into something fierce and unforgettable. But when Janardan's heart finally breaks, the boy from Delhi disappears, and Jordan, the rockstar, is born.
The character of Janardan, who becomes the rockstar Jordan, was inspired by one of Imtiaz Ali's Jat friends from a small Pitampura settlement in Delhi. Ali described the character 'like a falcon' with fire and restlessness in his chest. He carries it alone, never quite finding a way to let it out. This sense of inner turmoil runs like a thread throughout the film, and AR Rahman's splendid music became a driving force for the narrative.
John Abraham, nearly the Rockstar before Ranbir happened.
Imtiaz Ali began dreaming up Rockstar right after his debut Socha Na Tha (2005). Originally, John Abraham was set to play Jordan, and UTV was lined up to produce. AR Rahman loved the story and was on board as composer, but despite the excitement, the project fell through.
Imtiaz moved on to other stories and went on to make Jab We Met (2007) and Love Aaj Kal (2009), cementing his place in Bollywood. At one stage, he even thought about his Love Aaj Kal hero, Saif Ali Khan, as Rockstar, thanks to his guitar skills, but that too didn't happen.
When Ranbir narrated the Rockstar story to Imtiaz
Years later, it was Ranbir Kapoor who reminded Imtiaz of the story he'd almost forgotten.
The story was circulated among a select few producer years ago. Ranbir had heard the idea from a producer friend before it was shelved. Imtiaz happened to meet Ranbir to discuss another project, but Ranbir asked about Rockstar and began recounting the story back to Ali, almost verbatim. Imtiaz was struck by Ranbir's passion and precision. With Ranbir's belief lighting the way, he decided to make the film only to realise the script had gone missing. Imtiaz rewrote the script from scratch, with Ranbir in mind. In the process, the character of completely transformed into something deeper.
And for the girl who breaks Jordan's heart... Sonam Kapoor and Diana Penty were the first names that came up. Imtiaz was looking for someone so effortlessly glamorous and out-of-Janardan's-league that just the thought of being with her felt impossible. As he put it, he wanted a 'dil todne ki machine' look. Enter Nargis Fakhri, straight from America. When the film released, the choice sparked severe criticism from Fakhri's accent to her performance, even down to her looks and lips. But Ali stood by her, insisting she gave a wonderful performance.
In hindsight, maybe her accent and mannerisms didn't quite capture the 'Kashmiri girl' vibe Imtiaz had envisioned.
The Other 'Protagonist' In Rockstar
It wasn't just Ranbir who couldn't let go of Rockstar. Another key player couldn't either. AR Rahman hadn't forgotten the story in all these years. Imtiaz had also approached him with Jab We Met and Love AajKal, but Rahman's wasn't interested. His mind always wandered back to one question: "What happened to that story of the Rockstar?"
Years later, Imtiaz finally called to say it's happening. That's when Rahman stepped in, shaping the music that would make Rockstar unforgettable. In many ways, the soundtrack became a protagonist of its own, living and breathing right alongside Ranbir.
"Rahman sir was like he entered the body of this musician," Imtiaz Ali had said. For this rockstar's anguish, the spellbinding combination of A.R. Rahman's music and Irshad Kamil's verse simply worked. What makes this soundtrack so incredible is how it manages to be a full-blown 'rockstar album' while still feeling like classic, heartfelt Bollywood. Fourteen songs, and every one of them hits the mark.
Rahman used Mohit Chauhan as the voice of Janardan/Jordan. Listen to Phir Se Ud Chala and his voice floats effortlessly, dreamy, making the words float, just like in Kun Faya Kun, giving you goosebumps every time. Then the adrenaline hits with Sadda Haq, building perfectly into the soaring Naadaan Parindey. And of course, Katya Karoon captures Heer's playful charm, timeless favourites all the way.
Imtiaz Ali also recalled that for the song Sheher mein hoon mai tere, where a composer humiliates Jordan, AR Rahman was asked to compose a deliberately mediocre track. But perfection took its time. Even his supposedly 'mediocre' song took longer than the main tracks.
Interestingly, Ranbir Kapoor's late father, Rishi Kapoor, didn't like the songs initially and even told Imtiaz Ali that the music might not work. But watching his son Ranbir bring the music to life, capturing an artist's inner turmoil, he was blown away.
The Filming
Rockstar was actually shot in reverse. The scenes with Ranbir's long hair were filmed first, just to keep the flow of his transformation intact. There's something quietly poetic about that: a story unfolding backwards, just like how we sometimes revisit our memories. In Rockstar, every detail of Jordan's look tells a story.
When I watched the film again recently, I began to notice the softer, smaller details that often get lost in the noise of a big release. Costumes were designed by Aki Narula and Manish Malhotra to represent Jordan's transformation.
Aki Narula had once said that Jordan is "a collector of memories from different phases of his life," and suddenly, that description came alive. Jordan's much-publicised look in the Prague scenes, the famous khaki kurta, isn't a random choice; it's a collage of his journey. The hood attached to it once belonged to a college T-shirt. He cuts it up and attaches it to his kurta like a piece of his carefree youth.
The kurta itself is from his spiritual dargah days, and the old jeans were picked up from Delhi's Palika Bazaar during his college phase. Even his accessories hold meaning. The thread around his neck gathers little tokens from his life: a piece of his mother's earring, a few beads, strings and the black band on his wrist was a talisman from the dargah. He's literally wearing his life events. Heartbreak, faith, rebellion, and love layer upon layer, memory upon memory.
The film was shot across stunning locations in Prague, Kashmir, Mumbai, and Delhi. The song Kun Faya Kun was filmed over four nights at Nizamuddin Dargah in Delhi, and it has one of my favorite moments as Jordan, completely zoned out, looks up to the sky, as if searching for God, music, and meaning all at once. It's a sublime, magical beat in the film.
Recalling the moment, Imtiaz Ali said on the re-release of Rockstar last year, "When Ranbir looks up, it's beyond anything I could have directed." Ranbir recalled, "I was just singing, the camera was moving, and somehow it captured something magical. I've gotten a lot of credit for it, but it wasn't really mine. Even the lyricist Irshad Kamil was surprised, "In the middle of it, I called Imtiaz and said, 'Something else is happening here. Please come and witness it.'"
To play Janardan, Ranbir stayed with a Jat family in Punjab learning how they spoke, ate, prayed, and laughed. To play Jordan, he lived inside A.R. Rahman's studio, learning the guitar until it became an extension of his hands. In between, he shared screen space with his grand-uncle Shammi Kapoor. Their first and last film together. Shammi portrays the role of Ustad Jameel Khan in the movie, someone who recognises Janardhan's potential and promotes him. Unfortunately, he passed away on August 14, 2011, almost three months before the release of the film.
Controversies
When Rockstar hit theatres in 2011, it stirred up a couple of controversies too.
First, parts of Saadda Haq were filmed at the Norbulingka Monastery in McLeodganj, where the Free Tibet flag made an appearance. The Censor Board had an issue and asked the team to blur both the flag and the slogan.
Then came the "accidental cameo" drama. In another scene, Janardan and Heer watch a C-grade film, Jungle Love, in a seedy theatre, but the footage was actually from Junglee Jawaani. The original film's actress, Ashika Suryavanshi, wasn't pleased and even threatened to sue.
The Legacy
Ranbir Kapoor won his first Filmfare Award for Rockstar, but the film's real triumph lies in the way its music still lingers. Years later, Sadda Haq still echoes through college fests, and Kun Faya Kun still finds its way into 2 am playlists in dimly lit rooms. The songs somehow refuse to age, connecting generations through emotion and memory.
Every now and then, whispers of Rockstar 2 make the rounds. There's been no official word, but I remember Imtiaz Ali once being asked years after the film became a cult phenomenon:
Question: Where do you think 'Jordan' is right now as we speak?
Imtiaz: I think he has moved away from a city (to a remote area). He is in a place where no one recognises him, and he is not doing music.
Question: But it is tough to imagine 'Jordan' without music
Imtiaz: Yes, but he hates it, because he feels that's what took 'Heer' away from him. He is now showing his anger towards music, rather than through it.
As the film beautifully quotes Rumi: "Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I'll meet you there." I'm not one for sequels, but if Imtiaz, Ranbir, and Rahman ever reunite, I wouldn't mind meeting them there, for Rockstar 2.