Great entertainer. Review on Raghu Romeo

When I decided to watch Raghu Romeo, I had no idea what I was in for (Over here in France one doesn't really get the blurb about movies). I must say I was pleasently surprised by the movie. It is something bordering on a dark comedy, a genre which I enjoy immensely. Remember Jaane bhi do yaaron?

I am not saying that Raghu Romeo is in the same league as Jaane bhi do yaaron but it is a very powerful movie, which somehow connects with you.

PLOT (read at your own risk)

Firstly, I must say that if you are addicted to the current soaps being churned out by te like of Balaji telephilms, you may not actually realize the irony of the movie. On the other hand, it may actually make you realize the stupidity of all that you watch.

Raghu Romeo is the story of a waiter working in a dance bar. Raghu (Vijay Raaz) lives with his mother (Surekha Sikri) in a chawl and leads an otherwise humdrum existence. He comes alive only when watching the serial Dard Ka Rishta, starring his favourite Neetaji (Maria Goretti). He believes the character Neetaji is real and not just a role that she performs.

One of the girls at the bar, Sweety (Sadiya Siddiqui), has a soft corner for Raghu. Of course, Raghu is very discomfited by her 'forward' approach. To complete the triangle is Mario aka Brother (Saurabh Shukla), a contract killer who is besotted with Sweety. Raghu, however, is unaware of what Brother does for a living, atleast in the beginning.

On Neetaji's birthday, Raghu borrows a Taj Mahal miniature from a shop where his friend works, to gift her. He promises his friend that he will pay its price (Rs 400) later.

When Raghu returns to work the next day and asks the bar owner for his dues, the owner refuses to pay Raghu's outstanding four months' wages. As a result, Raghu grabs Rs 400 from the day's collections. But he gets caught and loses his job.

Brother, who is present at the barat the time pays off the owner and hires Raghu as his driver, as his original driver has gone on vacation.

When someone puts out a contract on Neetaji, Raghu vows to rescue her. But Brother has to kill her, to save his reputation.

As a result, Raghu kidnaps Neetaji and locks her in Sweety's village house. The story gets even more interesting when Sweety arrives at the house and Brother, who was following her, finds out about Neetaji.

In short, the story presents many humourous situations, which are a joy to watch. The only problem with the movie are the songs which weren't really required, but it is a minor annoyance.

PERFORMANCE

Awesome!!

Vijay Raaz protrays Raghu to perfection. His dialogue delivery, facial expressions, body language make you really believe in the character of Raghu. He is not a larger than life character, just a simple man.

Sadiya Siddiqui, as the bar dancer, is also really good. She portrays the various shades of her role( flirting with Raghu, playing with Brother and the emotional girl at heart) with elan. Never knew she was this good an actress.

Maria Goretti brings out the humor in the Cliche' dialogues as Neetaji... makes you really laugh. Also, here expletives laden dialogues when she is kidnapped and when she is interacting with Sweety make you smile.

Saurabh Shukla is known to be a great actor and he doesn't disappoint. His dialogues throw one in fits of laughter.

Conclusion

To conclude, this is one movie which I will recommend to everyone. It simply is an ode to the direcor Rajat Kapoor who has shown that it is possible to make a great movie on a shoestring budget.