Rating : 4 Stars out of 5Director: Jugal Hansraj & Voices of: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Javed Jaffrey, Sanjay Mishra
Roadside Romeo doesn’t have pedestrian portrayal of animation. For Gods sake the genre has finally overcome mythological boundaries and the animation has upgraded over the Amar Chitra Katha variety. In fact this animation is at par with any modern-day Hollywood flick and the spirit is true-blue Bollywood to the core. That’s how this dog delivers the best of both worlds.
The story is fashionably filmi. Romeo (Saif Ali Khan) was once a pet dog with all the luxuries of life but is now abandoned by his master. Loitering across the mean city streets, he is bullied by a pack of strays. Soon he befriends them with his charm and together they start a salon.
In trademark Bollywood style, its love at first sight for Romeo as he comes across ladylove Laila (Kareena Kapoor). The only stumbling block in his path is the dreaded don of the dogs, Charlie Anna (Javed Jaffrey) who also has a huge crush on Laila. Romeo has to win Laila and simultaneously save himself from the wrath of Charlie Anna.
The storytelling is simple and swift and it’s delightful to see the dogs groove to our desi dance numbers. The film scores big-time for its imaginative animation and wacky characterizations. The dogs are hilariously humanized to Bollywood effect. Like there’s a madcap movie buff (Suresh Menon) who imitates everyone from SRK, Sunny Deol to Sachin Tendulkar and another (Kiku Sharda) who translates every English line to Hindi in literal sense to utmost comical consequence. There’s a cute cat (Tanaaz Currim) who is hell-bent to gain recognition as a wannabe dog and a crude and uncouth stray (Sanjay Mishra) who’s an assistant to Anna.
Jugal Hansraj has very wittily worked on the dialogues to correlate with the dialect of the dogs. An understated notable example is the salon signboard that reads ‘today bone tomorrow loan’. Hansraj has also worked very sensibly on the screenplay incorporating subtle satires at several suitable situations. What would have otherwise appeared as clichéd elements in a regular film have been smartly spoofed through animation to amazing outcome. There are takeoffs on films like Sholay, Karan Arjun, Amar Akbar Anthony, DDLJ and a lot more. You indeed have to be a perceptive movie buff to catch the finer nuances of the spoofs.
Amongst the most inspired spin-off in the film is the one on Anna’s escorts of South Indian origin and aptly titled as Charlie’s Angels. They even indulge in Matrix style Arial martial arts. But the most side-splitting spoof of the film is Charlie Anna’s romantic encounter with Laila on backdrop of an SP Balasubramanium song number.
The animation is superlative and consistently three-dimensional throughout. The radiant colour schemes and the frame rotations give the film a very real-life feel. Each dog is innovatively designed and wins a distinct identity. The format and content compliment each other marvelously, thereby allowing maximum exploitation of the animation genre
The dubbing of the film is done with extreme precision, as each voiceover captures the exact emotion and expression for their respective characters. Saif Ali Khan takes up to the title character very naturally and Romeo is never overshadowed by Saif – the star. Kareena alternates between being sweet and seductive as Laila. However the scene-stealer is Javed Jaffrey who not just dubs but as good as enacts Charlie Anna with a South Indian accent. Sanjay Mishra gets the best of one-liners, has flawless comic timing and is impressive in his Bhojpuri parlance. Suresh Menon and Kiku Sharda perform most of the mimicry but seem to be underused. Tanaaz Currim is cute as the cat and Vrajesh Hirjee is fairly good.
There is practically nothing to ‘bitch’ about this dog flick. Roadside Romeo is the most ‘faithful’ entertainer of the season. Absolutely ‘howl’arious!