Roadside Romeo

Rating : 6/10
Running Time : 93 Minutes
Release Date : 24th Oct 2008
Director & Writer : Jugal Hansraj; Music : Salim - Sulaiman
Starring (Voices) : Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Javed Jaaferi
Its stereotypical, predictable and for someone born and brought up on wonderful world of Disney & Pixar, its very ordinary. But I’ll give some bonus brownie points just for trying and for the lovely end-credits (the bloopers section for me was the best section of the film).

Romeo is a happy-go-lucky street dog who falls in love with Laila, who’s beautifully turned out, well-manicured and almost poodle-like in her airs. However, Charlie Anna, the local don, is also a big fan and willing to kill anyone who so much as looks at her…

I think the assumption the makers of the film made was that just seeing something so well animated, with dogs mouthing funny accents etc will be a novelty for the audience. And perhaps that’s why they didn’t bother making the story more interesting or the dialogue funnier – if this same dialogue had been in a ‘human’ film, we would’ve yawned and that’s why, after the novelty wears out, our attention begins to falter. A further negative are the numerous songs, including several item numbers, which don’t really add to the film.

On the plus side, you have the best animation India has ever seen, some funny sequences involving the accents of popular filmstars or scenes from other Yashraj films (Dhoom2, Dilwale Dulhania etc) and even (in the initial stages) the music from popular sound tracks. They’ve added some nice touches as well – the bicycle chain around Anna’s neck, the ‘tussi na jao’ bit, And the blooper section is really funny.

Kids will love it. And the guilt of not taking the kids to this one will easily outweigh the negatives of the film, so might as well go with low expectations and you might even enjoy this one.