Operation Romeo review: This film will make you scared for the couple found canoodling by the cops

Sidhant Gupta and Vedika Pinto in 'Operation Romeo', directed by Shashant Shah. The film released in theatres on April 22, 2022. (Image: Screen grab)

Are policemen allowed to police the morals of the general public? Is it okay to find quiet moments of love in the concrete jungle where everyone is minding your business? The trailer of Operation Romeo practically gives away the story, but there are parts of the film that will make you scared for the couple caught canoodling by the cops.

This film is helmed by Neeraj Pandey of A Wednesday, Baby and Special Ops fame. So there’s that expectation. The story is different. Although it’s a revenge drama, it is understated, and it is done differently.

Think Mahabharata. The mega war was triggered because a woman’s modesty was outraged. Draupadi vowed that she would not tie her hair till one of her husbands brought her the blood of the man who dragged her to the palace by her hair. Imagine a modern-day wife or girlfriend asking the same of you today...

‘You call yourself a man?!’ The young woman scoffs at her boyfriend when he drops her off after both of them have spent the night being tortured by two policemen. She has seen him beg, bribe and get pushed around by two policemen who threaten to put them away because the two lovebirds found a deserted parking spot and were about to kiss. All the ‘girlfriend’ has to do is clutch at her handbag and cry buckets because she was frightened.

Aditya (played by Sidhant Gupta, a model who has previously appeared in Tashan E Ishq, Inside Edge 3 and Jhalak Dikhla Ja) is a quiet IT guy and his girlfriend Neha (Vedika Pinto; this is her debut role) is from Jaipur but studies at the university, living in the hostel. Aditya lives with his mum and sister, and is generally a good guy (driving them when they go jewellery shopping). We know this because his sister ribs him about his text messaging and bossing him about his poor car reversing skills.

It’s his girl’s birthday, and she has permission from the warden to stay out…

The two policemen who show up at the parking lot to scare the two ask a very ordinary question: do your parents know where you are? It’s very believable that the cops (played by Sharad Kelkar and Kishor Kadam) show up and scare the two young people who think that a personal vehicle is a spot for a little privacy. It scared even this cynical reviewer, but you know that there are no spaces where there’s a little freedom. Local parks are infested with moral policing by people, at restaurants people ogle at you (and yes even whip out their cell phones and take pictures and videos), and you just cannot fight the logic of ‘We are Indians and this is not our culture’.

Bhumika Chawla as the wife of Sharad Kelkar does a splendid job. She hasn’t aged at all, and looks lovely. When she is mad, you can feel it through the big screen. A small role, but she comes across as vulnerable and yet strong, making us forget everyone else in the movie.

The dialogue writing is very good. The way the policemen handle the situation is spot on. It’s a mixture of authority and menace. So much so that I too felt a prickle of fear down my spine. What is awful is the assertion of patriarchy that we see in the movie and one final feeble attempt to be 'different’ in the end.

When you watch the movie, you do feel bad for the two young people. Netflix is the streaming partner so it will be streamed eventually. I hope more young women (and men) will fight the crooked people instead of crying as they clutch their handbag to their virginal chest.