''Rockford'' is a 1999 Indian English-language,

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

drama film written, and directed by

Nagesh Kukunoor Nagesh Kukunoor (born 30 March 1967) is an Indian film director, producer, screenwriter and actor known for his works predominantly in Hindi cinema, and few Telugu language films. He is known for his works in parallel cinema, such as ''Hyderab ...

. Produced by

Padmini Kolhapure Padmini Kolhapure is an Indian actress and singer, who works primarily in Hindi films. She began her acting career in 1972 at the age of seven, and her early works include ''Zindagi'' (1976) and ''Dream Girl'' (1977). She had her breakthrough ...

, the film starred Nagesh Kukonoor,

Nandita Das Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), '' Bawandar'' (2000), '' Kannathil Muthamittal' ...

, and Rohan Dey in pivotal roles. The film received positive reviews, and was screened at the MAMI Film Festival.

Plot

Thirteen-year-old Rajesh Naidu arrives at Rockford Boys' High School. Having left home for the first time he is a bit sad. Rajesh's best friends are Selva, a good spirited boy, and David, an arrogant sports hero but with a good heart. The captain of the school – Raja, hates Rajesh. At school, Rajesh experiences the joy and agony of living in an all-male boarding school, learning to fend for himself without the safety net of his parents. There he befriends PT Instructor Johnny Matthew, who teaches Rajesh a lot of lessons of life. One day the school arranges a fete in which the girls also participate every year, and all the boys are to propose at least one girl. Rajesh is least interested, but goes anyway on Selva's insistence. Unfortunately, David gets hurt and cannot go to the fete. Hence he tells Rajesh to give a card to Malathi, a student from the girls school. But Malathi becomes attracted to Rajesh which David takes in his stride easily. On Rajesh's birthday, Mr. Matthew pretending to be Malathi's uncle, brings her out of the school to meet Rajesh. This information is then passed on to the headmaster, Brother Lawrence. Shravya, Malati's friend also accompanies them. Malathi and Rajesh spends some time together, sharing their first kiss. Shravya and Mr. Matthew go together for an Ice-Cream. She then accuses Johnny of having assaulted her when they were alone, which is in fact a lie fabricated by Raja. Brother Lawrence, believing the lie to be true asks Mr. Matthew to resign from the school. Rajesh gets bewildered by this and fights Raja with the help of David, and makes him confess the truth in front of Brother Lawrence. Johnny Matthew then gets reinstated and everything ends well.

Cast

* Rohan Dey as Rajesh Naidu * Kailash Athmanathan as Selva Reddy *

as Johnny Matthew (PT Instructor) * Ulrika Krishnamurti as Malathi * Imran Mirza as David Fischer *

Jayant Kripalani Jayant Kripalani is an Indian film, television and stage actor, director and trainer. He is most known for his role in the TV series, like '' Khandaan'', ''Mr. Mrs'' and '' Ji Mantriji'' (2003). He also wrote the screenplay for Shyam Benegal's f ...

as Brother Lawrence * Shilpa Pai as Shravya * Suhail Bajaj as Raja *

as Lily Vegas * Debasakti Mohapatra as Happy * Sohrab Ardeshir

Soundtrack

References

External links

* {{Nagesh Kukunoor, state=collapsed 1999 films Indian drama films English-language Indian films 1990s coming-of-age drama films Films about bullying Films set in schools Films set in boarding schools Films about teacher–student relationships Films about sexual abuse Films directed by Nagesh Kukunoor 1990s English-language films