A rich, cool, spoilt brat of a dog is abandoned on the wicked streets of Mumbai. He faces situations he has never faced before. He is confronted by dangerous, loony characters, the likes of which he has never met before.
From mansions to streets. From five course meals to five courses of scraps. From soft beds to piles of garbage. From champagne to tap water.
Hop on to the adventure as Romeo turns into "Roadside Romeo"...
Character Sketch
Saif Ali Khan as Romeo
Romeo is a small cute looking pet dog of a super rich human family. He's a real good looking guy and he makes sure everyone around him thinks so too! He lives the good life. He's got a butler waiting on him, the best food to eat, a grand car to go out in, loads of super rich guy friends. He is extremely popular with the ladies, he's a big flirt! He is very savvy and smart. A guy with loads of intelligence and he knows how to get what he wants. A smooth talker, a smooth dancer, Romeo's a smart Alec, a wise guy.
When fate lands him in a slum, after his initial disappointment, he smooth talks his way out of trouble. He finds himself to be more intelligent than the average street guy and he takes full advantage of this fact to turn things around to his benefit. He thinks there is no harm in lying to get the things you want badly
All said and done, Romeo's heart is still in the right place. He's great guy. He's a dude!!!
Kareena Kapoor as Laila
Laila's the hottest female dog ever and she knows it! She is the lead singer and dancer at the Moonlight Nightclub. This is where all the males throng every week when she performs. There isn't a male guy alive in the slum who doesn't dream of dancing with the beautiful, Laila some day. She's not only got the looks, but the talent to sing and dance and heaps of attitude and arrogance to go with it too.
In spite of the large list of admirers, Laila is a lonely girl, all thanks to Charlie Anna, the Don of the slum. He is besotted by her and everyone is terrified of his anger. The consequences of just talking to Laila, forget dancing with her, can be fatal and due to this, she has no friends. The girls are jealous of her and the guys scared of Charlie's wrath.
She dreams of finding a sweet, honest and brave guy who will have the courage to be friends with her, dance with her, in spite of whatever Charlie may feel. Even though she is the hottest girl, inside she's a sweetheart.
Javed Jaffrey as Charlie Anna
Charlie Anna is the dreaded Don of the slum. Anna means big brother and that's what everyone calls him out of fear. He is the cause of fear in everyone's heart. He's a dirty, fat and ugly dog with a big bouncy belly.
Charlie Anna is a pompous old fool who loves nothing more than hearing his praises.
His moods are unpredictable and that is what makes him dangerous, yet at heart he is a hopeless romantic, a softie with a tough exterior.
Vrajesh Hirjee as Guru
Guru is the oldest among the four goons. He is also the wisest among them, though that's not saying much. The other three always look up to him like an elder brother for advice. He's also a typical street ruffian.
Kiku Sharda as Hero English
Hero English is one of the four goons, part of the gang of friends in the slum. He's a typical goon, a ruffian but a bit slow in the head, just like his three friends. Though he looks ferocious, he's a harmless chap. He's been born and brought up in this slum. Even though he has no clue, he's always trying to speak in English, to a very comical effect.
Suresh N Menon as Interval
Interval is the third member of the gang. He's a total film buff.
Tannaz Irani as Mini
Mini is the last member of the gang of four. Mini is actually an alley cat who is a wannabe stray dog. She looks up to Guru, Hero English and Interval and wants to be just like them. She is in denial that she is a cat. She refuses to accept that and thinks of herself as a stray dog much to the annoyance of her three friends who keep trying to drill some sense into her that she is no dog, but just an ordinary alley cat.
Maxabout.comEditor Review
Predictable story, unlikely to rule the hearts of the kids.. .
Friday, October 24, 2008Animation movies like THE LION KING and SHREK have appealed to every strata of movie-going audience the world over. Although 'Made in India' animation films are making their way into our plexes, the results, most of the times, are amateurish
The premier production house (Yash Raj Films) teams up with one of the biggest studios of West (Walt Disney Pictures) for an animation film. You expect this collaboration to yield incredible results. ROADSIDE ROMEO pulls it off. In terms of animation (Tata Elxsi/VCL), it's a step forward as compared to the other animation films.
But there's a hitch: Hackneyed script, penned by debutante director Jugal Hansraj. Films like LION KING or SHREK, even FINDING NEMO, worked because they were innovative concepts. They had interesting stories to tell. Plus, most importantly, they were rich in emotions. You'd laugh when they laughed, you'd cry when they cried, the writing was so effectual.
ROADSIDE ROMEO borrows from the masala films of 1980s. There's a hero, a heroine, the mandatory villain, plus love, problems, misunderstandings and conflict, but all's well that ends well. The story is predictable and worse, you don't feel for any of those characters you watch on screen.
Another factor that goes against the film is the fact that it lacks good music. Though the title track and also 'Chule Na' have been publicized, the impact is missing. Ideally, the makers should've gone ahead and incorporated the evergreen songs from their rich repertoire in this animation film. The kids would've loved it!
Assuming that ROADSIDE ROMEO is mainly targeted at the kids, the dialogues by Charlie Anna, the villain who speaks in a South Indian accent, are difficult to decipher and comprehend (at times) even for adults. Imagine, how difficult it would be for the kids to grasp those lines.
Despite the shortcomings, ROADSIDE ROMEO works because the second hour keeps you fairly engrossed. A few portions like the cat pretending to be the pretty Laila on a date with Charlie Anna is amazing. Also, the culmination, a straight lift from the by-now-famous train ending from D.D.L.J., is equally enjoyable.
The voice-overs are perfect. Saif (Romeo) and Kareena (Laila) were the right choices for the lead players. Tanaaz Currim (cat) and Sanjay Mishra (the villain's sidekick) stand out as well.
On the whole, it's thumbs up for animation, but thumbs down for scripting in ROADSIDE ROMEO. It might glimmer during the festive week, but this Romeo is unlikely to rule the hearts of kids or kids at heart.