Dog's day out :: RoadSide Romeo

Originally published on Passionforcinema.com

Author : Ajay Kumar Saxena 

Every dog has its day!! Yes the same happened this Friday, with the release of Roadside Romeo. Animation found another taker, this time in form of YRF and in debutant hands of maasoom Jugal hansraaj. First thing first, animation is at par with Hollywood and its obvious, walt disney is co-producer of the movie and you expect at least this much from a proven production house .Walt-disney scores full marks for the animation quality , now comes the Yash raj brigade and they don't do bad either.

Okay, so story belongs to the Dog, Romeo, once a favourite pet of a rich family and once the family decide to move to London, dog is strayed and is roaming on Mumbai streets. It meets a band of 3 dogs, 1 kitten and 1 mouse to form a hair cutting band cum saloon and soon they are the talk of the town for styling the local dogs and bitches. But mind you, its Mumbai and doesn't matter where its humans or dogs, a DON is the need of the city, and we are introduced to the Bhai of movie, Anna, a bulky bull-dog with south-indian accent ,but yes it works, and works big time. What is Charlie Anna doing, he is collecting hafta from the local businesses, commands three Charlie's angles and a side kick Chennu (it isn't even remotely connected to Shotgun's character in Gulzar saab's debut classic Mere Apne!!).Oops! And you always knew, there is charming BITCH (... what else should I write, though in movie it says " mai aise vaise ladki nahi hoon", can I call her a girl, no i can't).Okay, cut this bitch/ladki crap and call her by name, Laila, a night club dancer and apna Anna is ga ga over her and of course Romeo is in love with her. The moon sequence, where Romeo and Laila meet, it's so visually rich and charming.

Story moves in typical bollywood ishtyle without little or no innovation, should I call it its demerit or playing safe?  But the filmy dialogues, Charlie Anna and animation keep you glued to the movie. Oh boy! I loved it, the climax, and a spoof on DDLJ's eternal Simran-holds-Raj's-hand-in-running-train sequence. Whoever pitched in this idea to the team, i hats off him! It works well and the characters are put to rest in one and half hour and it's something good that YRF didn't try to tweak the script to stretch the movie reels. Happy ending is what the audience takes back to home and it's a good Diwali Gift from YRF to the audience,especially the kids!!!.

Okay, let's do the cheer-faad of movie, animation top notch, script "play-safe" and Jugal hansraaj definitely deserve a mention for a neat and clean direction. Saif ali khan , looks more like Saif than a DOG or Romeo, Laila hmm.... Kareena's voice doesnt suit her, period. And it's the side kick, chennu (ha ha... bhaiya ab ka bataayein, aisan kaamal ka kaam karis hai ki bas pooncho na... lage raho bahiya..yes you got it right, he is our own Mr Sanjay Mishra ) who is in full form and delivering his C grade type (but effective) lines with aplomb and leaves audience in split every time he opens his mouth, he should be given a lot of credit, if movie mints good money. hirish virjey,k.k.menon and tannaz karim all have excelled in lending their voice to respective characters on screen and wait last but not the least hail the finest(now its unanimous) mimic of India, Javed Jaffery donning south indian accent and displaying a range of emotions apt to his character Charlie Anna.

Roadside Romeo is definitely a watch to laugh a bit and crack some laughter crackers in your life. Happy Diwali.

© Ajay kr Saxena