The ‘soul’ of Bollywood is returning to Hindi films, and it seems that what Hindi audiences have desperately been missing for at least the past two decades is now being served back to them. Be it music, explosive action, or unbelievable villains standing tall, far away from the real world. After several recent films, ‘O Romeo’ also proves this point.

But when it comes to the music, one question always arises. If old songs cannot be avoided, then why not create new ones in the same spirit? That way, our playlists would also get some fresh additions. The same old songs have been playing for too long.

Read in Hindi: ओ रोमियो! एक्शन और आशिकी के बीच एक उलझी हुई कहानी…

In ‘Dhurandhar ‘, old songs were only used in the background. Here, they directly played “Dhak-Dhak Karne Laga…” in the theatre. It was great. Songs from ‘Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin’ and ‘Aashiqui’ also pop up here and there. Since the need is being felt, slowly, such songs will start being composed again and used in similar scenes. Then, these 'modern' films will begin to look ‘outdated’. Still, with Vishal Bhardwaj as composer and Gulzar as lyricist, at least two songs are bound to have a long life. Even in his nineties, Gulzar’s flavour shines through in lines like “Neeche paan ki dukaan” and “Aashikon ki colony mein ghar le liya.” Arijit Singh’s “O Romeo” also sounds wonderful.

The film is set in 1995 and runs for about a year, but so many events happen that it’s hard to believe all of it could occur in just one year. Yet the intense action and song-dance sequences make the audience forget chronology.

Characters in the film shower abuses freely. One wonders what the compulsion was. If profanity must be used, it isn’t necessary to put it in every character’s mouth. Hearing Nana Patekar or Farida Jalal curse doesn’t feel right. Perhaps, when expressions or dialogues fall short, Bhardwaj uses abuses to fill the gap.

Whenever Nana Patekar and Shahid Kapoor share the screen, it lights up. Tamannaah Bhatia, Vikrant Massey, and Disha Patani appear in special appearances, but their absence wouldn’t have made much difference. Such roles could easily be given to newcomers. Vikrant Massey is a fine actor, but he should resist the temptation of taking ‘any’ role in big filmmakers’ projects. Disha Patani too needs a break—rather than ‘repeating’ herself in every film, waiting for something truly good would be wiser.

The main villain is Avinash Tiwary, living in Spain. And, since he lives in Spain, of course, he’s a matador! Bollywood seems compelled to remember only ‘matadors’ and ‘La Tomatina’ when Spain is mentioned. Rahul Deshpande, if given more chances, will shine.

Dialogues like “Mohabbat ek baddua hai, jo dono ko lagti hai…,” “Burke mein sindoor, yeh hai mera India…,” and “Sur ka itna pakka hai tu! Kaash imaan ka bhi hota…” are excellent. Written by Vishal Bhardwaj, most of them, as expected, go to Nana Patekar.

One problem lies in Hussain Zaidi’s story and Vishal Bhardwaj’s screenplay with Rohan Narula. It seems there was confusion about whether to keep the film in the action genre or romance. The title has the word ‘Romeo,’ but the hero begins with heavy action. Later, when the story demands more action, the hero sinks into romance instead. This may explain why the film feels heavy in the middle. For about an hour, half an hour before and after the interval, the film seems stagnant. Editor Arif Sheikh could have trimmed it better.

Strangely, after so many words, the heroine’s name hasn’t come up yet, Triptii Dimri. She is the heroine, so the large share of screen time. Yet whenever it feels like a scene belongs solely to her, someone else steals the applause. In the end, however, Shahid Kapoor leaves the villain half-dead and gives her another chance—and here, she doesn’t waste it. She finishes the villain completely.

Finally, one question remains. In the 1990s, did people really get tattoos all over their bodies? Or even on their heads? I never saw that back then. If it existed, I wasn’t aware.