Shashank Arora joins the Rock On sequel as a musician from Varanasi who is a champion of Hindustani music
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 29, 2015)

Rock On!! ended with Magik, the band, reuniting for a final performance. The climax of the 2008 rock musical drama had Rob (Luke Kenny) dying of brain tumour and Aditya (Farhan Akhtar) and Sakshi Shroff (Prachi Desai) naming their son after him. The other two band members, Killer Drummer aka Kedar Zaveri (Purab Kohli) and Joe (Arjun Rampal) went on to start a record company together. "The band members and their families meet every weekend..." the end credits stated.

Seven years later, Magik heads off to Mizoram for a live act. "They will be performing at a week-long music festival from October 10-16 and the live video shot there will be incorporated into the sequel," reveals a source.

Shujaat Saudagar, who has replaced Abhishek Kapoor as the director, will shoot festival-style footage. "This is another exercise in the six-month long tour Farhan had undertaken to prep up for his role. His concerts, Farhan Live, were successful and now the Rock On!! 2 cast will tour together too," adds the source.

And there's a new addition to the band to Part 2 - Shashank Arora, popularly known as Sunny. Born and brought up in Delhi, the actor made a red carpet appearance at the Cannes Film Festival, where his Bollywood debut, Titli, directed by Kanu Behl was screened in the Un Certain Regard section.

"Shashank's character is from Varanasi and will be styled accordingly. His lines will be a mix of Urdu and Hindi and he will be seen playing the sardana," says the source.

Shashank plays the sardana, saroj and sitar for real too and comes from a family of artistes. He has studied music too. "That is one of the reasons he bagged this role. His character is filled with nazaakat and is a champion of Hindustani music," says the source. Shraddha Kapoor is an addition to the cast too. "The film has over eight songs and will draw from the music culture of the North East," says the source.