Roadside Romeo

About the film

Roadside Romeo is a 2008 Indian animation musical romantic comedy film written and directed by Jugal Hansraj in his directorial debut, and produced by Aditya Chopra and Yash Chopra under the Yash Raj Films banner. The film features the voice talents of Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor, marking their first voice-over performances in an animated production. The narrative follows Romeo, a pampered dog left to fend for himself on the streets of Mumbai, who falls in love with Laila, a glamorous canine performer, while facing opposition from the local dog mafia.

The film marked Yash Raj Films' first foray into animation and was co-produced in association with Walt Disney Pictures. It was the second Bollywood film to be released in North America by a major Hollywood studio, following Sony Pictures' Saawariya (2007). Visual effects and animation were provided by Tata Elxsi, with a team of over 150 artists contributing to the production.

Plot

Romeo is a dog who once lived in luxurious surroundings. One day his owners decide to immigrate 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 by 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 will 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 dogcatcher's 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 suffices.

Voice cast

Saif Ali Khan as Romeo, a golden retriever who is the former dog of a rich family.

Kareena Kapoor as Laila, a beautiful white Afghan hound and Romeo's love interest.

Javed Jaffrey as Charlie Anna, an obese bulldog who is the Don of the slum, and is obsessed with Laila.

Production

Roadside Romeo originated from Jugal Hansraj's long-standing interest in animation. He co-wrote the story with Aditya Chopra for Yash Raj Films, but the concept remained undeveloped until Hansraj was inspired by a group of stray dogs he saw playing in the dirt while waiting at a traffic signal in Mumbai. According to Hansraj, the image of a scruffy, carefree pack of street dogs helped him visualize the characters and tone of the film.

The project marked a significant collaboration between Yash Raj Films and The Walt Disney Studios. It was promoted as the first major co-production between an Indian studio and Disney in the field of animation.

Visual Computing Labs (VCL), a division of Tata Elxsi based in Bangalore, was responsible for the film's visual conceptualization, character design, animation, and final rendering. Production began in January 2007 and spanned over two and a half years, with approximately 21 months dedicated to animation work. A crew of 150 artists and technicians contributed to the film. The animation was produced using Autodesk Maya, with final rendering done on Autodesk Flame through a digital pipeline supported by EKA, Tata Elxsi's supercomputer, which was among the fastest in the world at the time. Color grading was completed by Prime Focus Technologies using Lustre software.

Key details