It sings, stands and soars

Nonika Singh

“You have to kill the person you are born with to become the one you want to.”

Hmm, but is it so easy to make the switch, to let go of the ghosts of past and insecurities that plague one in early life? Rocketman isn’t merely about an unloved child Regi (Reginald Kenneth Dwight) and his transformation to John Elton the legendary rock star. Success, we all know, exacts a heavy price. And when it comes knocking at at a rather young age of 25, dealing with millions of currency notes as well as fans can only be problematic. Why it may even turn fatal… the tipping point in the lives of artistes, especially as hugely famous as Elton, is only lurking close by. 

But of course, this biopic, though looking at the flip side of fame and money, is no sad story but brimming with energy and excitement. A musical drama, indeed, a film on Sir Elton John can only be so. Music sets the tone and tenor. Music is not an intrusion/intervention but a thread that connects it all. There is much to weave in. His prodigious talent, his troubled childhood, discovery of the English singer in the US and his early success. By 25, Elton was a millionaire. The faithful, who have been following his career graph, will find much here. His gravity defying antics, his legs fly while hands move on piano, his flashy attire, his in-your-face flamboyance and many leaves from his personal life.

Early on, the song, “I want love….” is a foreboding of what will follow. A gay, his mother tells him, will never ever find it. Is it the quest for love that a homosexual yearns for and can’t find it in the world of scheming managers such as John Reid (Richard Madden of GoT fame deliciously conniving)? Or, the downside of stupendous fame that plunges him deep into a morass of drugs and hedonistic lifestyle, who can tell?

Suffice it is to say, you leave the theatre with a smile and a happy humming heart, on a song literally. For, unlike other artistes who succumbed to the perils of a charmed life, we are reminded Elton has been sober for 28 years and is leading a happy married life. 

 “I am still standing,” goes the song almost like a life mantra. So does the film firmly on its two feet, often soars too and takes us right into the centre; making of Elton as well as his unmaking before he discovers his true self.

Though a real story of the singer, who has given us the song Rocket Man among many others, there is a fantastical touch to the treatment. Not merely for the narrative breaks into a song every now and then, which anyway makes you hum and tap along. Directorial flourishes by Fletcher rope in the flight of surrealism, making it light and entertaining, even when Elton’s life touches a low. Taron Egerton makes Elton endearing, vulnerable and a survivor in equal measure. If he lends wings literally as well as metamorphically to his flamboyance, his emotionally choked confession to his mother about his sexual orientation is a cinematic moment to cherish. Many a tender moment, especially the hug the child (Matthew Illesley is oh so adorable) in him shares with the mature Elton define the film, which is inspirational not merely in unravelling of a success story. Triumph of human spirit, it offers a musical high as well as a touchdown to the world Elton inhabits.  

nonikasingh@ tribunemail.com