Romeo

Romeo Movie Synopsis: Arivu and Leela get married to each other, even though the latter is strongly against the marriage. Will the two stay together or go their separate ways?

Romeo Movie Review: In Romeo, Arivu and Leela get married to each other. The latter wants to solely focus on her passion of being an actress but is forced to marry Arivu because of family pressure, as her father vehemently opposes her desire to pursue acting.

There have been several films prior to Romeo that are about a married couple who have to reluctantly agree to marry each other but then eventually fall in love. Romeo is the latest among those films. So, what's different about Romeo? Nothing much. Maybe one difference is that the story is told through the eyes of a couple living in 2024. But that has got to do more with the time that the film has been made and set than the film in itself.

With that said, it is also important to note that Romeo not being unique or different isn't necessarily a bad attribute, as the film isn't aiming for that. But what Romeo is aiming for is to be an entertaining romcom with an emotional core. Does the film succeed in achieving that? Mostly no.

What any romcom or any film that wants the audience to root for its lead couple should have is two actors who share good chemistry with each other. Sadly, that's not the case with Vijay Antony and Mirnalini Ravi. Both actors fail to register as standalone characters or as a unit. It's true that they are meant to be awkward around each other for most of the film. But their lack of chemistry makes it very hard for us to root for them to be together, especially during the final portions.

Other than romance and comedy, what Romeo also has in abundance is self-referentiality. Vijay Antony and the film merge the line between fact and fiction, similar to the way the line between acting and reality blurs for Arivu and Leela in the film. Their situation leads to them being paired opposite each other for a film, with Arivu also producing that film. The metaness of it all indeed works, as Vijay Antony is also the producer of Romeo. Therefore, there are several dialogues in the film alluding to this particular fact, and largely, they are harmless and a fun watch.

There's a scene in the film in which Arivu questions the film's director about a scene in which a man is slapping a woman. This is meant to make us and Leela admire him for his feminist thoughts. But, rather than making us applaud the character, this particular scene gives off a convoluted feel. So, what is meant to be a subtle hero elevation scene falls flat.

All said and done, Romeo falters at being a romantic film with a lead pair to root for. It tries to be both Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Kaavalan but imbibes the illogicality of those films rather than its conviction.