Romancing with the music in ‘Rock On!! 2’

Arjun Rampal says half of upcoming film already shot and final schedule to begin come January

MUMBAI:

Rock On!! 2 star Arjun Rampal said there isn’t much of romance in the upcoming film and that for most of the time it will revolve around music. “There’s not much romance in Rock On!! 2 because the romance is with the music. So hopefully you’ll see me romancing with my guitar,” Arjun responded to questions at the trailer launch of Ishq Forever.

Ishq Forever’s co-producer-writer Shabeer Boxwala was also the writer of Arjun’s debut film Pyaar Ishq Aur Mohabbat and his film opposite Aishwarya Rai, Dil Ka Rishta. The first part of the franchise, Rock On!! also didn’t feature much of romance. Arjun shared some love scenes with Shahana Goswami’s character in the film before the band separates. But after their marriage, cracks emerged between the two. Similarly the storyline revolving around the characters of Farhan Akhtar and Prachi Desai was also an on-off thing in terms of a romantic relationship.

Though music will obviously be a crucial pillar of the film, the casting of Shraddha Kapoor in the sequel had ignited hopes that the romance factor would be more prominent considering her track record of romantic hits like Aashiqui 2 and Ek Villain.



When asked about his absence from the media recently, Arjun said, “I was shooting for Rock On!! 2 in Shillong, which is very far from here. It’s going good. Half of the film has been completed and the Mumbai schedule remains, which will commence from January 15.”

The cast of the film has been posting pictures and selfies from Shillong regularly. The director of the first part, Abhishek Kapoor was involved in a dispute with the producers — a matter resolved eventually. Rock On!! 2 will now carry story credits for Abhishek and Pubali Chaudhuri.

Separately, Arjun’s Rock On!! 2 co-star Purab Kohli said he now ends every workout with an ab routine, thanks to Arjun. “Arjun got me addicted to ab workouts. Whenever time permitted during our busy schedule in Meghalaya, we would hit the gym. He carried some interesting equipment with him and would let me have a go at it,” Purab said. The actor added he now follows Arjun’s ab workout regime regularly. “The first time we worked out together, he [Arjun] made me do close to 2000 crunches. I was in serious pain the next day, but now it’s almost two months since and I end every workout with his ab routine,” he said.



On the personal front, it seems Arjun is planning to make this Christmas a special one for his family. The actor has already started making plans for the festival with his daughters. He shared a black-and-white photograph on Instagram on Sunday in which he and his eldest daughter Mahikaa can be seen thinking up plans for Christmas, while posing for the camera. “Making a Christmas plan! #MerryChristmas #Happyholidayseveryone,” Arjun captioned the image. The 43-year-old, who is best known for his roles in films like Rock On!!, Raajneeti, Ra.One and Satyagraha, is married to former Miss India Mehr Jesia. Apart from Mahikaa, the couple also has a daughter named Myra. 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 22^nd, 2015.

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