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Review - Roadside Romeo: Sleaze in kids' movie, why?
Roadside Romeo
![[Poster for Roadside Romeo]](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2682/4116451491_aa70c87110_m.jpg)
Just because a movie is animated and set in a fantasy land doesn't mean it is for kids. But, when you advertise it on kids' TV channels, implies you are targeting them. Then it absolutely peeves me off, the instant you have a central male lead bragging about scoring with 'chicks' in the opening song. It is a sheer letdown that the YRF banner, which usually has decent-sized, significant roles for women, have the two she-characters as mere sidekicks. And the sole function of one is to be wooed by men for her sexiness physical beauty.
Nevertheless, the graphic design is certainly one giant leap for Hindi movies. If only the story were too. Even if we forget that dogs are on two-legs, own salons, and dance to sensuous moves at pubs, the basic story is snore-worthy. Not to mention we have seen humans do it countless times. Anyway, one step at a time, I guess.
It is sort-of funny when a movie where Aditya Chopra is involved in the writing has references to his earlier movies. Not so when it features in EVERY Yash Raj film. So is this the contract the writer signs at gunpoint?
- A Yash Raj film has to be mentioned a minimum of 8 times.
- There shouldn't be a lapse of more than 5 minutes and 45 seconds between references.
- Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayengehas to come up at least twice.
- What does the audience know about movies!? Anil Kapoor's character, Lakhan was underestimated in Tashan. He needs more exposure. The villain in your movie has to have his mannerisms.
- You are not allowed to let the audience forget the real life relationship between the lead pair.
So, yeah if you are likely to enjoy another movie full of digs at their own films, this is one you might completely enjoy. Once you have accepted that, the imaginative and smart dialogues keep that smile glued to your face throughout.
It was especially hilarious to see the audience hoot when they hear Kareena Kapoor on screen. She sure has a faithful fan following, even if she's playing a bitch! Saif Ali Khan and Jaaved Jaaferi aren't doing anything especially new with their voices. They all just sound a little gruffy, as if the same digitized special effect was layered over their usual voices.
I wouldn't want my kids to watch something that implies so much disrespect towards women and is more-or-less story-less. But, they will. And they are most likely going to enjoy it too.
Yeah-yeah-yeah, lighten up, diwali hai (it's the festive season)...oh well...
- meetu, a part of the audience
Parental Guidance:
- Violence: A little bit of fighting around, but all animated.
- Sexual content: A kiss between the dog and the bitch.
- Concept: A dog has to help a goon in wooing the she-dog he likes.
- General Look and Feel: It is peppy and made with kids in mind. Unfortunately not the story.
Roadside Romeo - Movie Details
- Official Sites: Website
- Producer: Aditya Chopra
- Director: Jugal Hansraj
![[Has twitter account]](/site_media/images/icons/twitter_small.png)
- Lead Cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Jaaved Jaaferi
- Supporting Cast: Vrajesh Hirjee, Tanaaz Irani
- Story: Jugal Hansraj
- Screenplay: Jugal Hansraj
- Dialogues: Jugal Hansraj
- Cinematography: Anshul Chobey
- Editor: Arif Ahmed
- Choreography: Rajeev Goswami, Mini Johnny, Deepak Singh
- Music Director: Sulaiman Merchant, Salim Merchant
- Lyrics: Jaideep Sahni
- Running time: 90 minutes
- Reviewer: meetu
- Categories: Hindi Movies
- Genres: Animation
Roadside Romeo - Trailer
Roadside Romeo - All reviews summary
External Reviews
25 reviewers have given Roadside Romeo an average rating of 3.3/5.0. 13 yays, 5 nays, 7 so-so. See all external reviews »
Comments (25)
kareena gets to play a bitch so soon after tashan? at this rate she ll get typecasted as a bitch pretty soon..looks like ill be catching heroes this weekend..seems to be the lesser of the two devils
You r correct meetu..shame on movies like roadside romeo..wat they are trying to make out of small kids,i dont understand,.
when we were kids our parents used to tell stories of SHRAVAN KUMAR, LORD RAM, All which were so influencial.Now we are creating stories like Roadside Romeo.for kids,so that they could learn "how to woo a gal/guy"....GR8 GOING isnt it?
i cant understand how irresponsible people r making such movies for "kids".
Character building of a child is 90% environment and 10% genes.and we all are participating some how in polluting this environment.
hoPe we clear some pollution by criticising this romeo
Prashant, no offends but i guess what reviewer meant was that... if it's a movie targeted at children then... do it faithfully(for the lack of better word).
and kids movie is not always mythological(I've no problem with mythological if they are well made), they can deal plausibly with the relevant issues like elephant(based on columbine high school massacre).
and let the children form their views please don't taboo sex(learning to woo a gal/guy is not such a bad thing either, stop demonizing it.), even they can be in kids movie, needless to say that it has to be dealt sensitively.(This is personal suggestion... cause prashant's statement that movies other than mythological are polluting child's mind is alarming...)
Hey Sudhir, you still around? I thought you had stopped visiting wogma :)
Prashant and Dattaprasad, mythological or 'woo a gal' - it has to be well-made. It is done with so much crass (and unfortunately no different from other such Hindi movies) that i wouldn't want my kids to watch it, just like i don't like the violence in power rangers but that in tom and jerry is alright.
Exactly that's the point, Any Movie which is well made is always welcome.
Roadside Romeo wasn't well made, I also felt animation was awkward and didn't really do a good job of combining human and dog traits.I appreciate the visuals though.(visuals not to be confused with animation)
Dattaprasad, it'll be nice if you can explain what you mean by visuals versus animation.
Before I begin to explain, Let me get these facts straight:
1.I haven't seen Roadside Romeo movie, I've seen all of their trailers though.
2.All of my comments are based solely on trailers .(Believe it or not, their approach to animation of the character in first teaser itself reveals that it would be a shabbily made movie.No, it's not a fluke.)
3.I must confess that I said visuals for the lack of better word(whatever is the word for when movie looks good but just doesn't suit or contribute to the style in which movie was made, refer previous yashraj films).So I'm prone to few blunders.
Now that I've got these things off my chest, let me continue to explain visuals v/s animation.
Animation deals more with the movement(of anything, let's restrict ourselves to characters for present discussion) and visuals deal more with look of the movie.
movement is influenced(and influences) by many things design of characters, design of environment, voice actors, quirks of species, narrative, anatomy etc.,
To be Continued....(I'm finding myself short of words and examples, as soon as I find more convincing way to put what i feel across, I'll resume)
It seems that I've found the example rather quickly , my apologies in advance for I'm going to recommend a movie which is really pathetic...
There's a movie called "Meet the Spartans", now there's a sequence when leonidas starts to behave like a video game character.
Now his movement corresponds to animation of a videogame character.
and look of the movie corresponds to 300.
I guess this would distinguish animation v/s visual satisfactorily...
Well it's clearly a mismatch of visuals and animation(intentionally for humour), so is roadside romeo (unfortunately it was done unintentionally)
I recommend "Horton hears a Who" to learn how it's done by masters of the game...
hmmm, thanks Dattaprasad. Will certainly add to my experience in watching animated movies henceforth.
kareena gets to play a bitch so soon after tashan? at this rate she ll get typecasted as a bitch pretty soon..looks like ill be catching heroes this weekend..seems to be the lesser of the two devils
You r correct meetu..shame on movies like roadside romeo..wat they are trying to make out of small kids,i dont understand,. when we were kids our parents used to tell stories of SHRAVAN KUMAR, LORD RAM, All which were so influencial.Now we are creating stories like Roadside Romeo.for kids,so that they could learn “how to woo a gal/guy”….GR8 GOING isnt it? i cant understand how irresponsible people r making such movies for “kids”. Character building of a child is 90% environment and 10% genes.and we all are participating some how in polluting this environment. hoPe we clear some pollution by criticising this romeo
Prashant, no offends but i guess what reviewer meant was that… if it’s a movie targeted at children then… do it faithfully(for the lack of better word). and kids movie is not always mythological(I’ve no problem with mythological if they are well made), they can deal plausibly with the relevant issues like elephant(based on columbine high school massacre). and let the children form their views please don’t taboo sex(learning to woo a gal/guy is not such a bad thing either, stop demonizing it.), even they can be in kids movie, needless to say that it has to be dealt sensitively.(This is personal suggestion… cause prashant’s statement that movies other than mythological are polluting child’s mind is alarming…)
Hey Sudhir, you still around? I thought you had stopped visiting wogma :) Prashant and Dattaprasad, mythological or ‘woo a gal’ - it has to be well-made. It is done with so much crass (and unfortunately no different from other such Hindi movies) that i wouldn’t want my kids to watch it, just like i don’t like the violence in power rangers but that in tom and jerry is alright.
Exactly that’s the point, Any Movie which is well made is always welcome.
Roadside Romeo wasn’t well made, I also felt animation was awkward and didn’t really do a good job of combining human and dog traits.I appreciate the visuals though.(visuals not to be confused with animation)
Dattaprasad, it’ll be nice if you can explain what you mean by visuals versus animation.
Before I begin to explain, Let me get these facts straight: 1.I haven’t seen Roadside Romeo movie, I’ve seen all of their trailers though. 2.All of my comments are based solely on trailers .(Believe it or not, their approach to animation of the character in first teaser itself reveals that it would be a shabbily made movie.No, it’s not a fluke.) 3.I must confess that I said visuals for the lack of better word(whatever is the word for when movie looks good but just doesn’t suit or contribute to the style in which movie was made, refer previous yashraj films).So I’m prone to few blunders. Now that I’ve got these things off my chest, let me continue to explain visuals v/s animation.
Animation deals more with the movement(of anything, let’s restrict ourselves to characters for present discussion) and visuals deal more with look of the movie. movement is influenced(and influences) by many things design of characters, design of environment, voice actors, quirks of species, narrative, anatomy etc., To be Continued….(I’m finding myself short of words and examples, as soon as I find more convincing way to put what i feel across, I’ll resume)
It seems that I’ve found the example rather quickly , my apologies in advance for I’m going to recommend a movie which is really pathetic… There’s a movie called “Meet the Spartans”, now there’s a sequence when leonidas starts to behave like a video game character. Now his movement corresponds to animation of a videogame character. and look of the movie corresponds to 300. I guess this would distinguish animation v/s visual satisfactorily… Well it’s clearly a mismatch of visuals and animation(intentionally for humour), so is roadside romeo (unfortunately it was done unintentionally)
I recommend “Horton hears a Who” to learn how it’s done by masters of the game…
hmmm, thanks Dattaprasad. Will certainly add to my experience in watching animated movies henceforth.
[...] A REVIEW - Just wondering if this one is really for the kids unlike some other films floating around in the name of kids [...]
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