| Roadside Romeo | |
|---|---|
Promotional poster |
|
| Directed by | Jugal Hansraj |
| Produced by | Aditya Chopra Yash Chopra |
| Written by | Jugal Hansraj |
| Starring | Saif Ali Khan Kareena Kapoor Jaaved Jaffrey |
| Music by | Score: Salim-Sulaiman Lyrics: Jaideep Sahni |
| Studio | Walt Disney International |
| Distributed by | Yash Raj Films Walt Disney Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 23 October 2008 (Kuwait[1]) 24 October 2008 (India) |
| Running time | 93 minutes[2] |
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
| Budget | US$7 million (Rs. 34.77 crore)[3] |
Roadside Romeo is a 2008 computer animated musical comedy film written and directed by Jugal Hansraj and co-produced by Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra of Yash Raj Films[4] and Walt Disney Pictures.[5] It was released on 24 October 2008 in the United States and India.
This was the second Bollywood movie to receive a North American release by an Hollywood studio,[6] following Sony Pictures' Saawariya (2007).
The title character is a dog living in Mumbai, as voiced by Saif Ali Khan; his girlfriend, Laila, is voiced by Kareena Kapoor. This was the first voiceover in an animated production for both actors.[7]
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Romeo is a dog who once lived in luxurious surroundings. One day his owners decide to migrate to London and he is left at the mercy of the servant of the house, who dumps him on the street. Left to fend for himself, he is soon cornered by the local gang — Guru, Interval, Hero English and a dog-wannabe-cat, Mini, who tell him that this is their domain. Romeo does not know the street lingo and is at a loss for words at first, but he manages to win the gang over with the idea of setting up a business.
Together, they set up a successful dog-grooming business until Chhainu (voiced by Sanjai Mishra), the right-hand of gangster-dog Charlie Anna (Javed Jaffrey), arrives to collect "hafta" (weekly protection money) in the form of bones. Romeo throws Chhainu out, and the others, terrified, go to Charlie to plead their case. Charlie threatens them with his trio of ninja dogs, whom he calls his Angels, but Romeo tricks Charlie into allowing his friends to leave unhurt.
Romeo then meets Laila, who is singing from a rooftop, and falls in love. To win her over, Laila tells Romeo he must dance with her in front of everyone at the "Moonlight Club" where she performs. Romeo says yes, unaware that Charlie has long wanted her, and anyone who dares go near her is punished. However, Romeo braves the odds and dances with Laila to win her heart. As love blossoms between the two, Charlie, in a fit of rage, captures and terrorizes Romeo. Romeo then promises that he would make Laila fall in love with Charlie.
Romeo does not intend to lose Laila, but plans to deflate Charlie's ego by having a disguised Mini pretend to be Laila and make it clear she's not interested. This only ends up exacerbating Charlie's ire, forcing Romeo to promise him a second meeting with Laila. The night of the appointment, however, Chhainu catches Romeo kissing Laila, who then learns of Romeo's deal with Charlie and angrily says she never wants to see him again. Charlie's Angels are then wooed by Guru, Interval and Hero English, and Charlie is chased and caught by the city dog catchers. In the end, Romeo's selflessness saves Charlie from the dog catcher; the two become friends, and Charlie himself brings Laila to Romeo in a train boxcar scene reminiscent of a similar, famous scene in the film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, causing Charlie Anna to remark, "Where have I seen this before?"
As a fan of animation, Jugal Hansraj teamed up with Aditya Chopra to write their first cartoon. Nothing came of the collaboration, the writer/director recalls, "till this one day, I was waiting at the traffic signal and saw these dogs playing in the dirt...uncared for, scruffy looking gang, totally mast in a garbage pile, and I instantly knew the characters of my story."[8]
The alliance by producer Yash Chopra and Disney Chairman Dick Cook is a first in the field of animation.[5] This also is the first mainstream CGI feature film to come out of India.
Visual Computing Labs (VCL), a division of Tata Elxsi Ltd. was involved with everything from visual conceptualisation, character design to animation and final output. Production commenced in January 2007, continuing for two and a half years and involved 150 crew members; twenty-one months were spent on the animation.[8][9] It also benefited from the use of Tata Elxsi's EKA, one of the world's fastest supercomputers.[3]
Though the company did not publicly release the film's budget,[10] Britain's Guardian reported it to be about US$7 million.[3]
The first trailer, shown on 12 October 2007 with the release of the film Laaga Chunari Mein Daag,[11] shows the film's crew holding an audition for Romeo; another trailer was later shown with Laila's audition . Though the release was originally scheduled for the summer of 2008, the release was put off to Diwali.[12]
The costumes for the lead characters were made at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida for the film's Indian promotion.[13] Yash Raj Films worked with Hot Muggs for producing licensed merchandise for the film. Hot Muggs integrated an inaugural concept of incorporating one-liners from the movie like "Tension Not," "Stay Cool" and "I'm Good Na" on coffee mugs.[14]
Though many Bollywood actors promoted the film, the two main stars of Romeo, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor did not do much promotion. Kapoor told the producers she would be busy promoting her other Diwali release, Golmaal Returns. Khan simply made himself inaccessible.[15]
Yash Raj Films, for the first time ever, held a pre-release screening for film exhibitors on 18 October 2008.[16] It was then released exclusively across local multiplexes on 24 October 2008.[17]
During the weekend of its release, the film faced competition from Heroes, hence it opened to a poor response of 20-25%,[18] which improved two days later to 30-40%.[19] Its first-week gross of Rs. 4.5 crore (US$912,316)[20] made it an Indian record for a Disney production.[21]
In the United States and Canada, the film debuted in as many as 40 theatres on the same day.[22][23] On the first weekend, it made US$41,770 (Rs. 20.8 lakh) and placed 49th.[24] The following week, its gross income came to US$55,202.
The film opened with similar results in 23 British theatres, grossing £31,576 (Rs. 24.7 lakh).[25] The movie fared poorly in Australia with an income of only US$13,233 (Rs. 6.52 lakh) from 9 venues;[26] and in New Zealand it brought in US$604 (Rs. 29,792) from 2 venues.[27]
In Kuwait, the film opened on 23 October 2008 and grossed US$14,549 in the first week.[1]
Taran Adarsh gave the film three stars out of five, citing its borrowing from the masala films of 1980s and a predictable story. Another factor he said went against the film was its lack of good music. Though the title track and "Chhoo Le Na" were publicised, they lacked impact. Though the film was targeted at children, he said Charlie Anna's south Indian accent was hard to decipher and comprehend even for adults. Despite the drawbacks, he cited the animation's good quality which could even be compared to international standards.[28]
The New York Times criticized the movie saying, "The animated dogs in Romeo aren’t particularly appealing. They mostly walk on two legs and, unlike Disney characters, don’t wear anything beyond neck gear. They look oddly naked and move awkwardly, which flattens the dance sequences and keeps the film earthbound."[29]
| Roadside Romeo | |
|---|---|
| Soundtrack album by Salim-Sulaiman | |
| Released | 1 October 2008 |
| Genre | Film soundtrack |
| Label | YRF Music |
| Producer | Aditya Chopra & Yash Chopra |
The film's soundtrack was released on 1 October 2008 by director Jugal Hansraj and actor Jaaved Jaffrey at The Club in Andheri, Mumbai.[30] The music was composed by Salim-Sulaiman, and lyrics have been penned by Jaideep Sahni.
Joginder Tuteja from indiaFM gave the film's soundtrack 2 out of 5 stars and noted, "The songs in themselves are no great shakes and, except for a track or two, the remaining just passes muster. [The] Delayed release of the album would take a further toll on the sales of Roadside Romeo. Overall, Roadside Romeo is a barely an okay album where one's hope only rests on the state of art animation (as promised by the makers)."[31]
| No. | Title | Singer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Main Hoon Romeo" | Kunal Ganjawala | 4:05 |
| 2. | "Chhoo Le Na" | Sunidhi Chauhan, KK & Sudesh Bhonsle | 5:12 |
| 3. | "Cool Cool" | Saif Ali Khan, Jaaved Jaffrey, Marianne D’Cruz & Naresh Kamath | 3:11 |
| 4. | "So Right" | Kunal Ganjawala & Gayatri Iyer | 4:28 |
| 5. | "Apni Dumm Bhi Oonchi Ho" | Anushka Manchanda, Earl Edgar, Jugal Hansraj, Kunal Ganjawala & Salim Merchant | 4:25 |
| 6. | "Rooftop Romance" | 1:39 | |
| 7. | "Main Hoon Romeo" (Roadside Remix) | Kunal Ganjawala | 3:28 |
| 8. | "Chhoo Le Na" (Moonlight Club Mix) | Sunidhi Chauhan, KK & Sudesh Bhonsle | 4:18 |
Roadside Romeo has been nominated for Outstanding Animation in an Animated Motion Picture at the 2009 Visual Effects Society Awards.
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