Director Vishal Bhardwaj delivers his most massiest film to date. The best part of O Romeo is the transformation of Tripti Dimri’s Afshan. Her character arc from fragile to driven by vengeance drives O Romeo. Tripti also gets some good action blocks including one where she saves Shahid’s Ustara and she makes complete use of it. The overdose of blood and cuss words though isn’t everyone’s cup of tea
Starcast: Shahid Kapoor, Tripti Dimri, Avinash Tiwary, Farida Jalal, Nana Patekar, Hussain Dalal and others
Genre: Action drama/romance
Based on: Mafia Queens of Mumbai Hussain Zaidi
Story: Hussain Zaidi
Direction, screenplay, music dialogues: Vishal Bhardwaj
Additional screenplay: Rohan Narula
Producer: Sajid Nadiadwala
Production Companies: VB Films and Naidadwala Grandson
Cinematography: Ben Bernhard
Running time: 2 hours and 58 minutes
The works of noted crime and investigative journalist Hussain Zaidi has often been adapted by Bollywood filmmakers. These include chapters from the novel Black Friday and Mafia Queens of Mumbai. Vishal Bhardwaj’s latest is also inspired from the latter’s source material focusing on Hussain Ustara and Sapna Didi. Of course, O Romeo has its fictional elements, but the characters are loosely inspired from a chapter in Hussain Zaidi’s book.
The storyline of O Romeo briefly focuses on contact killer Ustara (a swashbuckling Shahid Kapoor) and a woman hell bent on revenge Afsha (a terrific Tripti Dimri). How romance develops between the two amidst Afsha’s quest for revenge and how this in turn flips Ustara’s life upside down forms a major part of O Romeo. Avinash Tiwary plays the primary antagonist Jalal.
A strong aspect of O Romeo is the world building of Vishal Bhardwaj. The director takes his own sweet time in establishing the world of both Ustara as well as Afsha. How their paths interconnect has been nicely done. Yes, Ustara is a merciless hit man and a womanizer at the same time though he isn’t a one tone character. Both Vishal and Shahid imbibe him with different shades like the scenes of concern towards Afsha or even the portions of vulnerability. The little nuances make him come across as a flesh and blood human being rather than a caricature.
How Ustara gradually falls in love with Afsha has been well written and enacted. The viewers feel the intense love of Ustara when Afsha goes missing for a while. In the case of Afsha too how her back story shapes up the present personality is top notch. Vikrant Massey as the dead husband has a brief but important role. The scenes between Vikrant and Tripti are few, still they play a key role in the audiences connecting to her current emotional scars.
The transformation of Tripti into entering the crime world never comes across as jerky. It has been written and enacted in a layered manner. Tripti is absolutely solid in portraying Afshana’s different shades whether its oscillating between revenge and falling in love again or fighting against the baddies like pre interval action block. Afshana starts off as fragile but finds agency in the world of crime. This aspect in particular makes her an interesting character and Tripti doesn’t miss a single beat.
Shahid as Utsara is purposefully over the top delivering a deliciously unhinged act. He brings in both style and emotional depth as per the requirements. The actor especially shines in the intense scenes with Tripti. Nana Patekar as Utsara’s boss also makes his presence amply felt. The scenes between him and Shahid are filled with dark humor making the viewers chuckle. Farida Jalal as the grandmother has a striking presence especially in the scene of giving an important advice.
Tamannaah Batia as the wife of Avinash Tiwary brings a quiet strength. Avinash Tiwary as the Spanish based don proves to be more than a worthy adversary with his strong personality coupled with the quirky nature. Last but not the least Hussain Dalal is entertaining too as Shahid’s friend/sidekick.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s music with his longtime collaborator Gulzar has an interesting mix. On the one hand there is Ishq Ka Fever and Hum To Tere Hi Liye. Then there are the likes of Aashiqon Ki Colony. This mix makes the soundtrack diverse, and the songs look good on the screen.
Coming to the flaws the second half feels quite stretched with some of the twists. A few revelations like the one involving Tamannah’s character need not have been withheld for so long. Also, the movie tends to become self-indulgent with the overdose of blood and cusswords. The track of Disha Patani too doesn’t add much value to the movie apart from her sensuous moves with Shahid.
Apart from the soundtrack Ben Bernhard’s cinematography also deserves a mention in the technical department. How he captures the notorious world of crime as well as the larger than nature is noteworthy.
Final word: O Romeo is a definite big screen watch in spite of the somewhat overindulgent nature.
