At last, one can now say undoubtedly that Bollywood has finally come of the age! The biggest film industry of the world has now finally proved that it can also make a superior animated film in all respects just like Hollywood! And all this is achieved by Roadside Romeo! The film has songs, drama, tragedy, romance, stupidity-in all, it’s a complete entertainer!
The story of the film: Romeo (Saif Ali Khan) was a rich, cool, spoilt dog who was having a time of his life in his mansion. But one day, the family with whom he was staying shifted to London and Romeo was abandoned on the streets of Mumbai. And here he has to face the harsh realities of life. He is threatened by a gang of three dogs-Guru (Vrajesh Hirjee), Hero (Kiku Sharda), Interval (Suresh Menon) and a cat Mini (Tanaaz Irani). But soon Romeo befriends them. After finding friends, Romeo finds love in Laila (Kareena Kapoor), a hot beautiful female dog! She too gets charmed by her but there’s a problem and that’s Charlie Anna (Jaaved Jaaferi), a local dreaded goon dog. And to make matters worse, Charlie loves Laila too!
Roadside Romeo, no doubt, has a weak plot. It has a story which is beaten to death thousand times in Bollywood-a handsome hero falls in love with a beautiful heroine, the villain creates an obstacle; then there is misunderstanding, action and finally love triumphs! So the storyline of Roadside Romeo is completely predictable. Yet, the film works and that too big time because all the characters are dogs, thus making the experience a unique one!
The characters in the film are excellent and its one of the big plus-points of the film! The lead character Romeo looks handsome, smart and at the same time stylish. His entry and his introductory song (title track) were terrific and it gave the film a rocking beginning!
Yash Raj Films has always presented their heroines as hot-n-sexy chicks (Amisha Patel in Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, Kareena in Tashan, Ash in Dhoom:2, Rimii/Esha in Dhoom etc). This trend continues with Roadside Romeo with Laila who is given a preety, hot and sexy look with glittering eyes! Move aside Ash, Kareena, Minissha, Bipasha, Mallika and all other hotties….’cos Laila is here!
The audiences are surely going to love both these characters. While the girls will go ga-ga over Romeo, the guys will surely admire and marvel at Laila! And not to forget the actors who voiced these cute characters! Saif Ali Khan was perfect choice for Romeo. His voice has that mischievousness and style which suits perfectly for the character. Note the scene in the beginning where he’s narrating his tragic experience of getting abandoned on the street-the pain that Saif brings through his voice is worth appreciating! And Kareena’s seductive voice also suits to the T for Laila!
But the best was certainly Jaaved Jaaferi who voiced the villain, Charlie Anna! His accent was particularly funny and the way he pronounced certain words was too good! Although in certain places, it becomes a difficult to decipher what he said, overall he does a fantastic job! The characters of Romeo’s friends were also good, but Tanaaz Irani was the best among them. Also the director could have done away with one of Romeo’s friends. And lastly, special mention should be made of Sanjai Mishra, who voiced a dog ‘Chhainu’ (Charlie’s chamcha!). His efforts are worth appreciating!
Salim-Sulaiman’s music was good, but not the best. But still, it doesn’t go against the film as the picturisation of the songs were excellent! All the songs were good, but the best was the title track, ‘Apni Duum Bhi Oonchi Ho, ‘Cool Cool’. The duo’s background score like always was fantastic!
The world-class animation by Tata Elxsi/VCL was the best compared to the animation used in other animated films of India! Everything in the film looked real, especially the city. The dark dingy lanes, the torn posters of Hindi films, advertisements of English speaking courses and many such things seen in the film in the background helps in making the film look real as much as possible.
And finally, Jugal Hansraj stands out as the winner! He wrote the story, screenplay, dialogues and directed the film. The story was waferthin, but the screenplay was effective in majority of the scenes although, there were some sequences which were disinteresting. Dialogues were damn funny, especially the typical Hindi film dialogues mouthed by the dog Interval! And his direction was first-rate and completely flawless! Though the film was predictable throughout, the climax was quite interesting and the twist in the events was worth applauding! Mr Hansraj, any plans of a sequel to Roadside Romeo?
Some of the best scenes of the film:
1. The first scene and the title track (excellent!)
2. All songs (picturised wonderfully!)
3. Chhainu and Charlie Anna’s entry!
4. Laila and Romeo meeting for the first time
5. Romeo and Anna meeting for the first time
6. The intermission point
7. Laila at Romeo’s place for a haircut!
8. Mini pretending to be Laila!
9. The last 15 minutes (excellent!)
- The last scene (at the station)
On the whole, Roadside Romeo is entertainment and animation at its best! The film has a weak story but yet it works for its cuteness. The film is not only targeted at kids and will be loved by one and all especially those who loves animals! It’s less than 2 hours and doesn’t bore even for a moment! It may eventually not turn out to be a huge grosser since its released with a biggie (Heroes) and will have to face two more biggies after 6 days (Golmaal Returns and Fashion). But still, the film has the chance to stay at the BO by a strong word-of-mouth!
This Diwali, have a barking good time!!
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