'Romeo' Review: Roman Romance Gone Wrong

Movie: Romeo
Rating: 1.5/5
Banner: Touch Stone Film Productio

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Cast: Sairam Shankar, Adonika, Ravi Teja, Subba Raju, Ali and Others
Music: Sunil Kashyap
Editor: Naveen Nooli
Story, Dialogues: Puri Jagganadh
Cinematography: P G Vinda
Producer: Dorai Swamy
Screenplay, Direction: Gopi Ganesh
Release Date: Oct 10th, 2014

Romeo, the very title suggests a love story and the tagline ‘Puri raasina prema katha’ adds to the intrigue element. Coming from a director who had scripted films such as Itlu Sravani Subramanyam and Idiot in the past, many expected that he would come up with a different love story for his brother’s film. But does he live up to the expectations or is it a damp squib? Let’s find out:

Story:
Samantha (Adonica) goes off for a Roman holiday all by herself. Here, she meets Kittu (Sairam Shanker) who stalks her ever since he sets eyes on her. Incidentally, Samantha happens to be a look-alike of a girl he loved in the past and he hopes to take her with him. But the twist is
that Samantha is already in love with another guy (Subba Raju). So, will Samantha understand Kittu’s love for her and stay back with him or go to the man she loved in the past?

Artistes’ Performances:
Sairam Shanker puts in natural performance without trying too hard to please. Though his efforts are sincere, the loopholes in characterization do not work in his favour.

As for the heroine, she gets to play the most important character in the film since the entire story revolves around her. So, the director should have opted for a cute, sweet girl. But Adonica who plays the lead is a huge minus point for the film.

Another interesting aspect is that all other characters in the film only talk on the phones with lead characters.

But the biggest highlight of the film is Ravi Teja and he totally mesmerizes the crowd with his trademark dialogue delivery.

Ali gets a good role with interesting dialogues.

Subba Raju and Pragati are good as ever.

Watch Romeo Preview Show Talk

Technical Excellence:
Puri Jagannadh surprises all as neither the story nor the dialogues show his trademark style. The film lacks a proper structure as it feels as though Puri had a vague thought and then decided to weave a story within hours.

Since the story lacks depth, the director failed to write a proper screenplay for the same.

Cinematography is okay. He manages to capture Rome in the best possible way given the limited resources he had.

Music is another disappointment. Director Gopi Ganesh does have the skill to make it as a director. But he fails in choosing the right script for his debut film. It would be unfair if one concludes on his style after watching Romeo.

Highlights:

    Scenes in Rome

Drawbacks:

    Script
    Heroine
    Music

Analysis:
Puri seems to have decided to spin a story set in Rome and Verona. Barring that, one does not get convinced with the actual storyline of the film. After watching the film, it is quite obvious that it was written in a couple of hours based on some vague thought.

During the initial scenes of the film, hero sees the heroine and says, ‘daanni choosa… daanni choosa…’ over the phone and you hope that there is an interesting plot waiting to be unraveled. But when you find out that he behaved like this when he sees someone who reminds him of his dead girlfriend, you are totally disappointed.

On the other hand, Puri seems to have wanted to show how the hero would react if he sees his dead heroine alive. But looks like the writer himself is not convinced about love, so the story turns out to be very tame instead of being a passionate love lore.

For some time, one feels that there will be a major twist to the plot. But once Jayasudha mouths lengthy emotional dialogues over the phone, you understand that the writer has no such plans.

In fact, the script is totally in keeping with the scripts of Puri’s previous films Nenu Naa Rakshasi and Devudu Chesina Manushulu.

Had Puri directed the film, he might have improvised it on spot and made it more interesting.

But debutant director Gopi Ganesh simply follows Puri’s story and by the time the first half ends you wonder what’s happening. By the time second half ends, you end up feeling if it is a love story in the first place.

However, the film is wonderful tour guide for Rome and Verona cities. Barring that, there is no interesting aspect to this Romeo. So, if you want to enjoy the vistas, then it is alright. But if you want to enjoy a good love story, then you are bound to be terribly disappointed.

Bottomline: Roman travelogue