Rocket Gang review: Melodrama ruins what could have been mad, mad fun

2.5/5

STORY: All the big dreams of five little dancers are dashed when an unfortunate occurence claims their lives all too soon. However, after life needs to wait as the children have one last desire to fulfil and they have found their perfect human vessels for it to materialize. Choreographer-turned-director Bosco Martis got the dance bit right, but he seriously needed to tone it down a notch when it came to drama. 

REVIEW: To be super young and confined within the gates of an abandoned villa (Wonder Villa, in this case) must feel like a real tragedy. So, when a bunch of carefree adults come knocking at the doors of a sprawling commercial property—Amar (Aditya Seal), Tania (Nikita Dutta), Bunnu (Jason Tham), Pia (Mokshda Jailkhani) and Sahib (Sahaj Singh)—they are ushered in by a bunch of kids. As it turns out, the villa has paranormal presence and the back story behind it all somehow involves these latest guests. 

As a well-respected choreographing duo, Bosco Martis and Caesar Gonsalves have always brought their A-game to Bollywood as far as making film stars dance to their tune is concerned. Now, with a sizeable crowd from the dance fraternity getting into film direction and acing in this field as well, our expectations from Bosco was naturally high. While he has chosen the right kids—Tejas Varma as J.J, Aadvik Mongia as Montu, Jayshree Gogoi as Saher, Dipali Borkar as Kiara and Siddhant Sharma as Ganesh—for his debut, it is the narrative itself that is riddled with flaws: just how much drama is too much drama, one may ask.

Clearly, the debutant has been heavily influenced by other movies from the comedy-horror/ dance-drama space, both from the international ones as well as the ones made by his counterparts. Rocket Gang, in essence, feels like Home Alone had a crossover with Street Dancer 3D. 

But, while melodrama laced with passion for dance may have worked for others (only in some cases though), here, sadly, it doesn't. For the audience to be sold on the idea of five kids coming back to life for their lovely mothers, one has to lay out the details first aka a convicing back story. In Rocket Gang, the flashbacks only reveal the bare minimum. 

Aditya Seal and Nikita Dutta, as the lead pair, have a sweet chemistry going between them but their love story, too, has not been explored beyond a certain point. Jason Tham, as the group clown Bunnu, is a delight to watch. Sahaj and Mokshda are likeable in their brief yet impactful roles. However, the real stars of the film are, of course, the kids. From Tejas, Aadvik and Siddhant to Jayshree and Dipali, everyone's just so adorable as little ghosts and their energy during the dance segments is palpable. 

Rocket Gang could have been a fun horror-comedy for kids over the weekend, but the drama aspect of it brings the entire show down. This rocket jets off in a hurry, only to crash and burn later.