'O Romeo' movie review: Vishal’s gangster film fails to deliver

Based on Hussain Zaidi’s ‘Mafia Queens of Mumbai’, ‘O Romeo’ is a tale of love and revenge between gangster Ustara (Shahid Kapoor) and Afshan (Tripti Dimri). Afshan wants revenge against her husband’s killers. She hires Ustara for the task. Does she get her revenge? Do they fall in love? That pretty much sums up the plot. 

Incidentally, the foreword to Zaidi’s book is written by director Vishal Bhardwaj. He writes that the lives of gangsters are much more fascinating to share than those of saints. 

If you look at Bhardwaj’s previous works, there is enough proof that he has the capacity to deliver stories of crime, passion and well-written female characters. But that is not the case with ‘O Romeo’. It fails for many reasons, particularly for trying too hard to build larger-than-life images for both Kapoor’s character (on the lines of his ‘Kabir Singh’)and the antagonist, Jalal. Elaborate sequences of Jalal, a matador fighting a bull hardly adds anything to the narrative. 

The resolve of the female character, which is supposed to be a major part of the story, does not get enough space on its own. Before the credits roll, there is a disclaimer about cinematic liberty. But loopholes in the plot cannot be deemed as cinematic liberty. An ensemble of such veteran actors as Nana Patekar, Farida Jalal and Aruna Irani are underutilised. 

There are some brilliant scenes, but for a cinematic nightmare of three hours, a few scenes are not worth the time. Some songs are likely to become chartbusters but mar the pace of the film! It looks like Bhardwaj was at crossroads while making directorial choices — to tell a story to appeal to the masses and in that process has failed to play to his strengths.