The actors with a crowd of 2000-plus and 250 dancers rock on at The Gateway of India for a cause
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 17, 2016)

On June 6 and 7, a crowd of over 2,500 had gathered at The Gateway of India to cheer on Farhan Akhtar, Arjun Rampal and Purab Kohli as they took to the stage for Rock On 2.

Besides the stargazers-turned-junior artistes, there was a crew of 200-plus along with 200 background dancers, and 250 bodyguards on the scene. "The crowd was huge and uncontrollable," recalls one of the security guards who is delighted to be making his Bollywood debut as one of the background artists. "We've managed Farhan sir's real concerts. We know what happens and that experience came in handy."

It was no ordinary concert, there were huge 'MARD' hoardings, posters and standees in and the performance was all about women empowerment. Farhan is the brand ambassador of MARD - Men Against Rape and Discrimination and many of the concerts in the Rock On! sequel are socially driven, choreographed by Bosco Martis and recorded live. Shooting went on from 7am to noon during which Farhan belted out four new singles, as he swung from a rope suspended from the ceiling and dived into a crowd surfing routine.

Leading ladies Shraddha Kapoor, Prachi Desai and Shahana Goswami were not a part of the sequence, but Luke Kenny, whose character Rob Nancy, died two months before the band Magik's final act in the 2008 film of a brain tumour, was in the wings, trying to muscle his way on to stage. "Luke will return in a special appearance as a drunk who gets into an argument backstage. His sudden appearance takes the band members by surprise. Whether he's just another star-struck fan or ends up making the band nostalgic is one of the surprises of the film," says a source.

Writer-director Shujaat Saudagar and actor-producer Farhan Akhtar met Luke three months ago to finalise the details of a special appearance. "He was always going to be a part of the film, they will be shooting one more sequence with him soon," the source adds.