Roadside Romeo is the story of Romeo (voice of Saif Ali Khan) the small cute looking lover dog – pet of a super rich human family. 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 and a smooth dancer.
Until one day, the family where he was the favourite pet, decided to move and left him back, abandoned on the mean streets of Mumbai. Fate lands him in a slum, after his initial disappointment, he manages his way out of trouble. He encounters four strays, who scare the daylights out of him. But soon, he smooth talks his way into their hearts and he makes friends.
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 nothing of lying just to get what he wants.
Then, Romeo finds love! He encounters the beautiful, ravishing Laila (Kareena Kapoor’s voice), the most beautiful girl he has ever seen… and he loses his heart to her at first sight! Laila happens to be a nightclub performer. All the males throng every week at the club when she performs. There isn’t a male guy alive in the slums 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. 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. 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.
Charlie Anna (voice of Jaaved Jaaferi) 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 dirty, fat and ugly, with a big bouncy belly. 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.
Besides falling in love, the biggest mistake Romeo commits is having rubbed Charlie Anna (Javed Jaffrey) the wrong way. So finally, he encounters a villain!
One of the four of Romeo’s Roadside Gang has Hero English (Kiku Sharda) looks ferocious but he is a harmless chap. He is always trying to speak in English, to a very comical effect. Guru (Vrajesh Hirjee) is the oldest and wisest among the four goons. The other three are always looking to him like an elder brother for advice. Interval (Suresh N Menon) is the third and Mini (Tannaz Irani) 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.
There are three hot looking girls as Charlie’s Angels who are his bodyguards, his hit-girls whom he calls “Charlie’s Yangels” – Silk Sunitha, Nylon Nandai & Polyester Padmini. They do all the beating up for Charlie. Sanjai Mishra as Chhainu as Charlie Anna’s official spy. A slimy character, he reports the goings on of the slum to Charlie.
With a villain to combat and love to win over, the film is all Romeo and tons of heart.
Javed Jaffery has given the best vocal performance of the comic villain Charlie Anna who is a bulldog. Sanjay Mishra as Chhainu, Charlie Anna’s sidekick is very impressive.
Roadside Romeo is not perfect, but nonetheless is an entertaining, funny and India’s first world class animation film.
Cast of Roadside Romeo:
Saif Ali Khan as Romeo
Kareena Kapoor as Laila
Jaaved Jaaferi as Charlie Anna
Vrajesh Hirjee as Guru
Tannaz Irani as Mini
Suresh N Menon as Interval
Kiku Sharda as Hero English
Sanjai Mishra as Chhainu
CREDITS of Roadside Romeo:
Story, Screenplay, Dialogues and Director: Jugal Hansraj
Producer: Aditya Chopra
Music: Salim – Sulaiman
Lyrics: Jaideep Sahni
Editor: Arif Ahmed
Sound Design: Ali Merchant (YRF Studios)
Associate Director: Samar Shaikh
Chief Assistant Director: Vicky Vijay
Choreography: Goswami Rajeev, Mini Johny, Deepak Singh
D.O.P: Anshul Chobey
Executive Producer: Swaratmika Mishra
Animation by: Tata Elxsi-VCL
Creative Director : Pankaj Khandpur
Lighting Supervisor: Sherry Bharda
Animation Directors: Shrirang Sathaye, Suhail Merchant
Music On: YRF Music
Playback Singers:
Kunal Ganjawalla, Sunidhi Chauhan, KK, Sudesh Bhonsle, Saif Ali Khan, Jaaved Jaaferi, Marianne D’Cruz, Naresh Kamath, Gayatri Iyer, Earl Edgar, Jugal Hansraj, Salim Merchant, Anushka Manchanda
Roadside Romeo, movie review