Shortcut Romeo

wogma rating: Add to that never-watched 'To Watch' list ^(?)

quick review:

How far can your love for money and/or love for love take you? What? Did I hear 'whatever'? Pretty much.

Director: Susi Ganesh

Cast: Amisha Patel, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Rajesh Shringarpore, Puja Gupta

Running time: 145 minutes

Genres: Crime, Romance, Thriller

More Movie Info

Full Review
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Bored housewife. Extra-marital affair. Blackmail. And then a match between the wife and the blackmailer. A match of whose a worse person. Like they say, the match could go either way. It could be a really interesting game of wits and whose worse between bad and evil. Or it could just go the Race way.

Also, the cast isn't very inspiring. Both Neil Nitin Mukesh and Ameesha Patel have hardly done anything worth watching that they've pulled off on their own, in a long while now. That still doesn't mean they can't do well, or the film won't be decent. Just that the entire package brings out a very 'average' anticipation. The music too doesn't seem to have caught up too well either.

Music Reviews:
Bollyspice - "3/5" Bollywood Hungama - "2.5/5" Milliblog - "steadfastly holds on to his unbearable form"

- meeta, a part of the audience

Shortcut Romeo is desperate to be stylish, desperate to have a story, desperate to fill in all the elements considered to constitute a Hindi thriller - love, drama, action, betrayal. Only thing missing seems to comedy, thank goodness for some mercies. Yet, you have to give them some leeway for trying, even if they tried way too hard.

You have a blackmailer (Neil Nitin Mukesh) taking advantage of having caught a rich woman (Ameesha Patel) red-handed. But this lady ain't going to take it lying down and gives him a good fight at being nasty. Interestingly, both supposedly have shades of good in them too.

The schemes and counter-schemes they design are too elaborate and lie too obviously at the mercy of coincidences, which actually happen. Not to mention, they are a tad predictable too. The characters are either nasty or uninteresting for you to invest in them. That leaves the dialogue in the writing department to pull you in. Shortcut Romeo doesn't manage to take you in with any good lines either.

The performances too are as dull as one would expect from Ameesha Patel or Neil Nitin Mukesh. However, the latter does try hard to infuse life into his lines and to bring out the mean streak in his character. Puja Gupta too tries her best to be sensuous and simple, but that ultimately amounts to a one-expression deal. The rest of the supporting cast is outright bad with their dialogue delivery and body language.

Even so, it does feel like the makers give Shortcut Romeo its best shot. It doesn't feel like they take the audience for granted. Its just that the ability of the writer/director to engage us is limited.

- meeta, a part of the audience

19 reviewers^(?) - 2 yays 3 so-so 14 nays

Warning: clicking on "full review" will take you to an external website that could contain spoilers.

Thumbs up, by Taran Adarsh, Bollywood Hungama : ...a well-made, stylish crime story with high-voltage drama as its highpoint.... full review

Thumbs up, by Subhash K Jha (IANS), FirstPost : ...Predictable but coolly crafted... full review

So-So, by Smita, Desi Martini : ...Neil plays a dark character and he does bad well. ... full review

So-So, by Jaidev Hemmady, Movie Talkies : ...Though the film has its share of twists and turns, it doesn't join the ranks of other classy and slick thrillers. ... full review

So-So, by Madhureeta Mukherjee, Times of India : ...Neil performs well as always, he looks good (he needs to tone down his physicality for such roles) and proves that actors like him need better scripts to justify their true potential. ... full review

Thumbs down, by Anna Vetticad, annavetticadgoes2themovies : ...If you consider just the kernel of Shortcut Romeo’s story, you’d see that it has potential. ... full review

Thumbs down, by Baradwaj Rangan, Blogical Conclusion, The New Sunday Express : ...That sounded like bliss compared to the complaints of my own backside, at having to endure these shenanigans all over again.... full review

Thumbs down, by Tushar Joshi, DNA : ...The film is filled with over the top loud grating scenes and sounds that remind you of a badly written telly soap.... full review

Thumbs down, by Devesh Sharma, Filmfare : ...A shortcut thriller that should have taken the long road home... full review

Thumbs down, Free Press Journal : ...The stunning locales and picturesquely captured lush cinematography by N K Ekambaram more than makes-up for a lax story.... full review

Thumbs down, by Moumita Bhattachajee, In.com : ...It takes a lot of talent to mess up a seemingly good story. Shortcut Romeo will set the benchmark here.... full review

Thumbs down, by Shubhra Gupta, indian express : ...You can understand Ameesha Patel saying yes to something like this because clearly she isn't flooded with offers. But why is Mukesh so desperate? ... full review

Thumbs down, Indicine : ...The film can be better classified as Ameesha Patel’s portfolio. Only this one costs something in excess of 20 crores. The actress is there throughout the film and emotes and gets by the proceedings without any major hiccups.... full review

Thumbs down, by Mohar Basu, koimoi : ...A stale and overdramatic treatment of an ordinary story.... full review

Thumbs down, by Shakti Shetty, MiD DAY : ...Except for few moments, in fact very few, this purported thriller is way off the target... full review

Thumbs down, by Divya Solgama, MoviezADDA : ...It's completely a trashy film with horrible performances, tacky special effects and has a script like a stuck record which keeps playing again and again.... full review

Thumbs down, by Karan Anshuman, Mumbai Mirror : ...Shortcut Romeo has it all - racism, classism, and every other ism you can think of. The Maasai tribal people are made to sound and look like hyena-howling kung fu fighters as they're bashed up single-handedly by Sooraj for no fault of their own. ... full review

Thumbs down, by Mansha Rastogi, Now Running.com : ...highly shoddy script executed extremely poorly and the weakest offering this week. ... full review

Thumbs down, by Anuj Kumar, The Hindu : ...In an effort to make it look cool, it is not just the performances, even the cinematography and action look put on and jerky.... full review

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This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Parental Guidance:

Violence: Lots of fist fights.
Language: A few abusive words. A lot of talk about sleeping around and sex.
Nudity & Sexual content: A makeout scene that is oft-repeated. A liplock.
Concept: Greed for money, true love, extra-marital affairs, blackmail and so on.
General Look and Feel: Regular attempt at stylish presentation.