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It’s a film that is a proper curate’s egg. A colleague said illuminatingly, “It is a different film!” I told him, “But Vishal Bhardwaj always makes different films!” He replied, “Yes, but this is different even from him!”
Watching the near 3-hour marathon (179 minutes!!), I cannot but agree.
The film is dark, ominous in most parts, in the best Bhardwaj tradition. Gangs, betrayal, murder: all motivated by powerful emotions. Love, not traditionally bright but again dark: Bhardwaj cannot present the light side ever. The songs are there for support (the man initially was a composer before turning writer-director) and have gimmicky lyrics (by Bhardwaj’s God of esoterism, Gulzar). The technical side is decidedly Indianized noir: a tribute to so many Western filmmakers in that genre like with most of the director’s work.
The violence is gruesome, very Ram Gopal Varma-Anurag Kashyap (with a few more down the line added filmmakers). The visuals include graphic scenes like weapons passing from one cheek through the other and the now-familiar willful slitting of the throat in Cinemascope.
Where then, is this film different from a long line of bonafide Bhardwaj cinematic victuals? First and foremost, it does not veer towards Shakespeare or esoteric fare but sticks to an age-old gangland template. This could have been Bhardwaj’s version of an inept mainstream attempt like Bombay Velvet from the “arty” Kashyap. Happily, it is not.
Despite (not because of) its length, this one is generally witty, paced up, and commercially inclined. Shahid Kapoor and Bhardwaj have come together in the gimmicky but finally vacuous Kaminey, the abominably distasteful Haider (which glorified terrorists) as well as the pathetic Rangoon. Shahid may have only accolades for this filmmaker, but this time, the director gives him a much more commercial proposition. This is as near as Bhardwaj gets to the commercial mainstream. There is no middle path, no concession to iconoclastic or political views or stands. It’s a straight, typically ‘today’ violent entertainer.
The story is basic. Afshan (Triptii Dimri) contacts Ustara a.k.a. Romeo (Shahid Kapoor) as she wants to kill the four men who betrayed and killed her husband (Vikrant Massey). At first, Ustara turns her down, but soon, he realizes how serious she is and takes on her assignment. And life is never the same again.
Mind you, Bhardwaj has admitted in public at the Mumbai International Film Festival (MAMI) a few years ago the incontrovertible but deliberately withheld truth that none of his films have made money or recovered investment. So, this is perhaps, his desperately honest attempt to connect with the masses.
Again thankfully, the film is quite involving and even if bloody and stre-ee-etched, makes sense most of the time, unlike recent violent disasters like Kapoor’s Devaa or Bloody Daddy, Rajkummar Rao’s Maalik and the likes. We even have a very-unlike Bhardwaj subtle hint of patriotism at points. This is Bhardwaj falling in with film watchers’ mood 2026.
We even have a Muslim girl seeking Lord Ganesh’s blessings when in dire trouble, even if gory violence is shown on the streets during a Ganesh Visarjan (immersion) procession. There is a suggestion also that a meek wife of a criminal turns against him only when he joins hands with the ISI (Pakistan’s intelligence agency).
The absurdities reach rare heights. We have Jalal (Anshuman Tiwary), the main villain, living in Spain as a matador-cum-crime lord-cum-(now)-ISI agent, who can with a few hoodlums force the entire bullfight audience watch his duel with Romeo instead and not be allowed (!) to leave the arena. He also demonstrates a human head he has severed in public. The pre-climax where Romeo seems to be dead (no spoiler there) is very old-world.
Vishal is so much after success that even among the songs he creates Aashiqon ki colony mein ghar le liya. This seems a straight designer reprise (not copy) of the epic Sachin-Jigar creation, Aaj ki raat from Stree 2 with the same female voice (Madhubanti Bagchi). But I liked both Ishq ka fever and Paan ki dukaan musically and the former lyrically.
Adapted from the book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, by Hussain Zaidi, the film features Triptti Dimri as Afshan, the queen here. She is superb yet again after Bbulbul and Dhadak 2 in an author-backed role. Shahid Kapoor as Ustara (which means a razor) is his usual self, rakish and grim in turns as per the demands of the scenes. Nana Patekar is excellently low-key as Ismail Khan, the intelligence officer.
Farida Jalal is good as Dadi, ditto Hussain Dalal as Chhotu, but Aroona Irani, Vikrant Massey and Disha Patani are wasted in inconsequential roles that are fit for junior artistes. Avinash Tiwary, that substantial talent, is reduced to play the gimmicky Jalal, but Rahul Deshpande (a Marathi classical singer-composer-actor of no mean repute) amuses as Pathare, the music-loving scumbag of a cop.
At best, you will not regret watching this one. But it is far from the pseudo-intellectual fare that Bhardwaj delivers most of the time. I am thankful for that, but I do not know if his admirers will take to it.
Rating: ***
Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment presents O’Romeo Produced by: Sajid Nadiadwala Directed by: Vishal Bhardwaj Written by: Hussain Zaidi, Vishal Bhardwaj & Rohan Narula Music: Vishal Bhardwaj Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Triptii Dimri, Nana Patekar, Avinash Tiwary, Farida Jalal, Rahul Deshpande, Rohit Pathak, Resh Lamba, Hussain Dalal, Rohit Pathak Sp. App.: Vikrant Massey, Tamannaah Bhatia, Aruna Irani, Disha Patani & others
