Rock On!! (2008) traced the journey of four friends, who form a rock band, Magik. A misunderstanding pulls them apart, but they later reunite to live their dream. As the film clocks 15 years of release, actor Arjun Rampal, one of the leads, gets nostalgic. “Learning to play the instruments and singing were the main criteria for the cast. Farhan (Akhtar, co-actor) already played the guitar, Purab (Kohli, co-actor) learned the drums and I had to learn [to play] the guitar. We truly became musicians in the process,” he reminisces.

The 50-year-old, who played lead guitarist Joseph Mascarenhas, says he was “blown away” by the role when he read the script. But, from then to actually bagging the role, it was quite a journey:

“Gattu (director Abhishek Kapoor) had doubts about my suitability for the role. He came home, saw me and said, ‘I don’t know yaar, you have to be good looking to be Joe’. I gave him an impromptu audition, we did readings and he gave a nod, though I don’t think he was convinced. But, when we went on set and I did a scene, he hugged me and said, ‘You are my Joe’.”

The camaraderie among the band members is something fans remember vividly. And that holds good off screen, too. “To this day, we call each other by our character names. Farhan is still Adi to me, I’m Joe to him,” says Rampal.