Rock On 2 director Shujaat Saudagar has defended Farhan Akhtar’s singing in the film, saying Akhtar “never claimed to be Mohammad Rafi“. The comments came on the heels of negative reviews by critics, especially on its music. While The Hindu called it “a musical without any memorable songs“, Livemint described Akhtar as “hoarse-voiced” and said the film “sounds right but rings false“. The film’s box-office returns had already taken a hit after releasing last week in the middle of demonetisation.
Saudagar told Deccan Chronicle, “Farhan Akhtar has never claimed to be Mohammad Rafi! I’ve read and heard some of the critics slamming his singing and saying that the songs are bad compared to the first part! Who do they think sang all those songs in the first part? Kishore Kumar? Here is an artiste trying to be true to his character and his art by singing his own songs. Ninety-five per cent of the actors in the industry will shy away from training. I really would like to see them croon half a line!”
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Saudagar also attributed the film’s poor performance at the box-office to demonetisation. He slammed reviewers, and said that the reviews sounded more like “a personal attack” than an objective critique of his work. He said, “I don’t know where the viciousness in the reviews is coming from. To me, it feels more of a personal attack than reviewing the film — from being nasty to outright bizarre. These critics seem to give outrageous number of stars to fluff and froth that some of our mainstream cinema is seeped in; in fact they call it path-breaking cinema!”
Rock On 2 is the sequel to the 2010 film of the same name. The film stars Farhan Akhtar, Shraddha Kapoor, Arjun Rampal, and Purab Kohli. The project took in a little over Rs 7 crores in its opening weekend, according to reports.