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Raghu Romeo Movie Review
Raghu Romeo (Vijay Raaz), a waiter
in a sleazy dance bar, is in absolute awe and in love
with the ideal woman Neeta on screen Reshma in real
(Maria Goretti). Raghu has lost distinction between
fantasy and reality and is head over heels in love with
the character in a long running soap opera, "Dard
ka Rishta". The film of course has a love triangle.
Sweety (Saadiya Siddiqui) a beer bar dancer secretly
loves Raghu while a gangster and frequent visitor at
the bar, Mario (Saurabh Shukla) is all eyes for Sweety.
The plot thickens when Raghu learns that someone is
trying to kill Neetaji. The hero gets scent of the plan
and here begins Raghu's journey to save his love and
screen idol. But Reshma, is far removed from the character
she portrays in the popular serial. What happens when
reality collides with fantasy? A must-watch madcap adventure.
The film stands as a
resounding reminder that our young nation is surrounded
like never before by the media where it is easy to lose
ones grip on reality. And if it is sad, it is also funny.
Actor, model, theatre person turned filmmaker Rajat
Kapoor audaciously leaps on both sides of the fantasy-reality
line. And despite the fantasy element, the film has
an underlying realism, which is tackled in a humorous
fashion.
The most enjoyable aspect
of Rajat Kapoor's unpredictable satire is its portrayal
of the effect melodrama on television has on the common
man. No other Hindi film has used pop-melodrama in a
satirical fashion to deride the culture of sentimentality
in the visual arts. But the film knows its mind and
keeps considerations of the heart out of satirical scheme
of things.
The actors carry the
film with their freshness and vim. Vijay Raaz is superb
as the naive Raghu and comes across as vulnerable and
likeable. Maria Goretti as the soap queen Neetaji spouting
self-sacrificing dialogues in the serial seems miscast
in the beginning. But as the film moves on you realize
that Maria is effective as a woman of contrasts. Both
Saadiya and Saurabh Shukla offer competent performances
and do justice to their characters.
The film moves at a
swift pace with loads of humour. The editing is crisp
and Saurabh Shukla has done a wonderful job with the
dialogues. RAGHU ROMEO is also a well-directed film.
Rajat Kapoor has to be applauded for capturing Mumbai's
gritty life with accuracy. A talented actor of repute
himself, director Rajat Kapoor is equally brilliant.
RAGHU ROMEO has done
the festival circuit - touring 15 film festivals from
Locarno to Dhaka where it has received a great response
and also won awards.
Critics all over the
world are now touting RAGHU ROMEO as a must-see-film,
but will Indian film audiences like a film that is so
different from the usual Bollywood flicks? Like Rajat
Kapoor put it… "Watch the film because it
is fun". It is a rare film that has the potential
to bridge distances between mainstream and alternative
cinema ... a film to watch out for. |
