Roadside Romeo

In a world where Pixar sets the gold standard in animated films, Yash Raj Film's Roadside Romeo (incidentally Dinsey's foray into Bollywood as well) will find it hard to even pass the QC test. Both the animation and the story leave a lot to be desired and the only positive outlook for the movie is that being the only major release this Diwali and potentially a hit with the kids, it should barely manage to trudge along. The story of a dog, Romeo (voiced by Saif Ali Khan) who was living the lavish life and suddenly finds himself on the mean streets of the city is clichéd to a fault. Romeo falls for Laila (Kareena Kapoor) who also happens to be the crush of bad dog Charlie Anna (Javed Jaffrey) and predictable mayhem follows. Jugal Hansraj's direction relies too much on borrowing from Bollywood lore (Yash Raj film scenes and dialogs are copied galore) and too little on character study. It is an earnest effort perhaps but if anyone thought animation didn't need a story, they should ask the studio that made the animation movie event of the year, Wall•E. The film hardly has any genuinely funny moments, and the background sets, though well detailed, lack punch. The redeemer is eventually Javed Jaffrey, who is the only one who seems to know how to voice an animation character. He brings out the quirks of Charlie Anna superbly to life and provides the few laughs there are in the film. The tepid songs and a basic background score do nothing to add to the appeal. Ultimately, the gag reel during the end credits turns out to be funnier than the movie itself. And that's saying a lot.

I guess the number of dogs in Disney's repertoire isn't enough, and this year they're looking to grow the kernel which houses the likes of the 101 Dalmations, Goofy, Pluto, Lady and the Tramp with Bolt, Beverly Hills Chihuahua and of course, Roadside Romeo and his pooch friends hailing from India.

Touted as the first Indian full length CG-animated film, the end credits reveal just how much Disney's participation here likely amounted to, being primarily consultants to what was mostly work done by Tata Exlsi Visual Computing Lab. And it's a pretty fine job those guys there are doing, because if you were to strip away the Hindi language and end credit roll so as not to cue in on production details, you're more than likely to think that this was made by Disney themselves. So it's absolutely not a bad effort at all, for a first film.

Animation aside, this is as Bollywood a movie as it can get, with distinct song and dance sequences rooted in Bollywood spirit. Storywise, it's kept really simple with one main plot running and no sub plots trying to complicate matters. The characters too seem to leap out of a typical Bollywood film with over the top villains and their slimy incompetent henchmen, err, dogs, coupled with the propensity to switch to English with constant plurality and grammatic errors in efforts to impress everyone.

Saif Ali Khan voices the titular character of Romeo, once a dog living the life of luxury, before given the boot onto the streets when his owners take off to settle overseas. Left to fend for himself, he relies on his street smarts, suave ways, quick wit and smooth talking to garner himself a posse of abandoned dogs and one cat, putting into use his fashionable skills with the scissors to open a salon for the neighbourhood hounds.

Adversary comes in the form of a Don Corleone Godfather type bulldog named Charlie Anna (Javed Jaffrey), who has three "angels" for protection (and to fuel plenty of tired Charlie Angels jokes and references) and to dish out torture, running a protection racket which Romeo and gang run afoul of given their new enterprise, and on a personal level, the rivalry for the affections of Laila (Kareena Kapoor), which becomes the centerpiece in the second half of the film. The first half did seem a bit of a drag though, especially with the expanded introduction of Charlie Anna and subsequent scenes just to demonstrate what he's capable of, together with some repetitive threats of torture that definitely tested patience.

Otherwise, once the seeds of romantic rivalry has been sown, with Laila being marked as Charlie Anna's romantic target, it led to a number of hilarious playful cross-exchanges between Charlie, Romeo and his gang Guru (Vrajesh Hirjee), Interval (Suresh Menon), Hero English (Kiku Sharda), and cat Mini (Tanaz Irani), which the victim given its focus on these characters was Laila, being reduced to an unfortunate supporting presence.

For some strange reason, Roadside Romeo needed some getting used to as the dogs prance around on two hind legs most of the time, which brought back some memories of The Barnyard. But once you come to terms with it (just like how the Barnyard's bulls all have udders), it's quite an enjoyable and light piece of animation that should do well with its intended demographic, though to an international audience, some nuances because of one pooch's frequent impersonation of Bollywood legends might be woefully lost in translation.

This is a mediocre attempt at an Indian CGI animated film. It's the same old hackneyed storyline of a typical Bollywood romance with the characters all dogs. There is little evidence of any further imagination on display. The constant references to Yashraj films annoy. The voice work is unremarkable and both Kareena and Saif seem to be essentially reprising their well known off-screen personae. Only Javed Jaffrey leaves an impression as the villain Charlie Anna. One plus point- the animation quality. While not even close to international standards, it's leagues ahead of anything previously made in India.

Overall 4/10

I ended up watching this yesterday while a few of us had 2hrs to kill before dinner. Seems, it is the only excuse you can really have to watch this movie. It really is not worth the effort to take time out, drive to the cinemas and dedicate a part of your evening for Roadside Romeo - it will be too much of a disappointment.

The bad: - Animation might be a big step for audiences used to only Bollywood movies, but it's not really much for international audiences, even when compared to a decade older Pixar. - Too many songs!! What in the world was the director after, we have no idea. Possibly nothing else to fill in the gaping holes of the narrative. - The painfully overused and redone masala story that now every Indian is born with the knowledge of. - Bad (or mediocre) voice work by most of the cast incl. Saif & Kareena.

The good: - Javed Jaffery. Actually, he can do a lot better than he has done here, but it still is very good. The guy is hilarious as the Madrasi-accented top-dog "Charlie Anna", accompanied by three bitches he calls Yangels - "Charlie's Yangels" - and he names them.... Silk Sunitha, Nylon Nandai & Polyester Padmini!! - Sanjay Mishra as Chhainu, Charlie Anna's sidekick. This is a gifted comedian, and possibly the strongest character in the movie. Even in his relatively smaller role, he does such a great job with his Tapori-ishtyle quips. - Kiku Sharda as Hero English. Again, a small character, but with such great humor in him. He has a tendency to repeat everything he says in a literal word-by-word English translation. For example, he announces "Charlie Anna aa gaya!! Charlie Anna come go!!" or the hilarious "Wo tumko Jaan se maar dega! He will hit you with life!"

Apart from this, there is one good idea of the dog-world in the movie, that explains why dogs love to howl so much in the middle of the night (it's a game they play!)

All-in-all, an easy one to forego. But equally easy to sit through if you have to wait for 93 minutes.

My rating --> 2 of 5.

In every sense one is glad Indian animation has come such a long way. It would be wrong to say that so far we have been doing an inferior job in comparison to our Hollywood counterparts. However the quality hasn't been at par. With Roadside Romeo, Indian animation films have taken a giant leap forward and kudos to Yash Raj Films and Walt Disney Studios for being the one to raise the bar up by many notches.

Bottom line is the fact that Roadside Romeo is ultimately a movie that has stemmed from the land of masala films, so expecting anything different is sheer blasphemy. The film has lovers, a villain and great humor - the ultimate essentials for a Bollywood caper. But then being animated and convincing is what whisks this film away from clutches of the inane Bollywood film monster.

Romeo (Saif Ali Khan) the quintessential lover dog is thrown onto the streets, where he meets newly found best mutts. Soon enough he bumps into the love of his life, Laila (Kareena) who happens to be a nightclub performer. Besides falling in love, the biggest mistake Romeo commits is having rubbed Charlie Anna (Javed Jaffrey) the wrong way. With a villain to combat and love to win over, the film is all Romeo and tons of heart.

One can't stop gushing over the fact that Yash Raj Films and Disney have brought to India what can be called India's first world class animation film. It's not perfect, but nonetheless still great. Had the movie been made into a live Acton one, perhaps it would not have worked. Even story-wise the film is extremely light. But it is exactly these aspects that make Roadside Romeo lovable. The film is entertaining, funny and light. There is little that your mind needs to work on and it's escapism at its best.