Roadside Romeo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Roadside Romeo
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jugal Hansraj
Produced by	Aditya Chopra
Written by	Jugal Hansraj
Starring	Saif Ali Khan Kareena Kapoor Jaaved Jaaferi Vrajesh Hirjee Sanjai Mishra
Music by	Salim–Sulaiman
Cinematography	Anshul Chobey
Editing by	Arif Ahmed
Studio	Walt Disney Pictures India Yash Raj Films Disney World Cinema
Distributed by	Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Release date(s)	23 October 2008 (2008-10-23) (Kuwait) 24 October 2008 (2008-10-24) (India and United States)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	India United States
Language	Hindi English
Money made	$2 million

Roadside Romeo is a 2008 3D Indian-American computer animated romantic comedy film written and directed by Jugal Hansraj in his directorial debut., produced by Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra of Yash Raj Films and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures in United States, United Kingdom and India. The film follows a dog living in Mumbai, as voiced by Saif Ali Khan, and his girlfriend, Laila, voiced by Kareena Kapoor. This was the first voice-over in an animated production for both actors.

It was released on 24 October 2008 in the United States and India. An Arabic dub was released in Kuwait on a day earlier. This was the second Bollywood film to receive a North American release by a Hollywood studio, following Sony Pictures' Saawariya (2007). The film received generally negative reviews from critics, with most of the criticism focused on the film's script, predictable plot, Hansraj's direction and overuse of cliches.

Plot

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 streets of Mumbai. 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 giving them haircuts. They love their new looks and accept Romeo as part of their gang. Together, they set up a successful dog-grooming business until Chhainu, the right-hand of gangster-dog Charlie Anna, arrives to collect "weeklies" (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 female 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, they dance and he 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 Laila starts falling in love with him, 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, and Romeo promises him a second meeting with Leila.

The night of the appointment, however, Chhainu catches Romeo kissing Laila, who then shouts at Romeo telling Laila of Romeo's deal with Charlie and she angrily and violently slaps him and after she sees what Romeo had done says she never wants to see him again despite Romeo's pleas for forgiveness. In a pursuit, Charlie's Angels are wooed by Guru, Interval and Hero English, Chhainu is cornered by a mouse (and smashed with a "jumbo jet") and Charlie is chased and caught by the city dogcatchers. But just before Charlie is caught with a net, Romeo pushes him under the dog-catchers van to escape while Romeo goes, Charlie then convinces Guru, Hero English, Interval and Mini to create a distraction to get the guard away from the van, they all succeed and Charlie jumps on the van and says he will free Romeo using a pin in his chain to pick the lock, but the van begins to drive and he falls off, after which Charlie races after the van, losing the pin in the progress, but thankfully one of Charlie's ear hairs suffice.

They escape but Romeo feels there is no point staying as Laila said she never wanted to see him again, and Charlie badly wants her. The next morning, Romeo throws his sack onto an open train boxcar about to leave the station but Charlie arrives with Laila and the others. Charlie tells Romeo that he is a fool for leaving Laila when she still loves him, that he explained everything to her and says she is Romeo's and no one else's. He lets go of her hand and Laila begins to run after the train, while Romeo holds his hand out for her. Resembling a famous scene from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Charlie remarks "Where have I seen this before?". She reaches for his hand and grabs it but the handle Romeo was holding had lost its top screws, making him fall off with Laila, after which they raise their heads to each other and say "I love you" in sync. It then goes to the "Moonlight Club" where everyone is back singing a reprise of "Main Hoon Romeo" in party-remix.

Voice cast

• Saif Ali Khan as Romeo, a golden retriever mix the former dog of a rich family.
• Kareena Kapoor as Laila, a beautiful white female afghan hound and Romeo's love interest.
• Javed Jaffrey as Charlie Anna, an obese english bulldog the Don of the slum.
• Vrajesh Hirjee as Guru, a bull terrier the oldest and wisest among the four goons.
• Kiku Sharda as Hero English, a siberian husky the second member of the gang.
• Suresh Menon as Interval, a koolie the third member of the gang.
• Tannaz Irani as Mini, a tabby cat the final member of the gang, who is actually a girl.
• Sanjay Mishra as Chhainu, a jackal who is Charlie Anna's official spy.

Uncredited Additional Voices provided by Jack Angel, Bob Bergen, Amanda Bishop, Bob Bouchard, Rodger Bumpass, Jane Carr, Catherine Cavadini, Jim Cummings, Jennifer Darling, John DeMita, Debi Derryberry, Paul Eiding, Troy Evans, Bill Farmer, Eddie Frierson, Nicholas Guest, Jess Harnell, Jason Harris, Roger L. Jackson, Marc John Jefferies, Leslie Jordan, John Kassir, Linda Kerns, Susan Stevens Logan, Sherry Lynn, Danny Mann, Laura Marano, Vanessa Marano, Mona Marshall, Mickie McGowan, Rove McManus, Laraine Newman, Jordan Orr, Paul Pape, Patrick Pinney, Phil Proctor, Jan Rabson, Daryl Sabara, Evan Sabara, Susan Silo, Peter Siragusa, Matt Stone, Bill Striglos, Jim Ward, Joe Whyte, Bruce A. Young, and John Xintavelonis.

Music

Roadside Romeo
Soundtrack album by Salim–Sulaiman
Released	30 September 2008 (2008-09-30)
Genre	Film soundtrack
Label	YRF Music Walt Disney Records
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. 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)."

Awards