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O'Romeo backdrop

O'Romeo

13 February 2026HindiorigEnglishUrdu2h 58m

What critics are saying

O'Romeo showcases Vishal Bhardwaj's signature stylistic flair and draws strong performances from its cast, with several critics acknowledging it as a cut above ordinary genre fare.

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Vishal Bhardwaj DirectorRohan Narula ScreenplayVishal Bhardwaj ScreenplayHussain Zaidi Story

What fate awaits a stonehearted gangster and bloodthirsty womaniser when true love claims him, helpless and unguarded? A gang war that shakes the entire underworld and crime syndicate to their very roots. A forbidden love; the tale of an unrequited passion.

Critic Consensus

O'Romeo showcases Vishal Bhardwaj's signature stylistic flair and draws strong performances from its cast, with several critics acknowledging it as a cut above ordinary genre fare. However, the film is widely seen as falling short of Bhardwaj's celebrated earlier work like Maqbool and Kaminey, with a majority of reviewers pointing to an uneven screenplay and emotional payoffs that fail to land. The gangster-romance hybrid is praised for its visual ambition and musical highlights, but criticized for self-indulgence and tonal inconsistency. Overall, it lands as a flawed yet intermittently compelling entry in Bhardwaj's filmography.

11 reviews · 7 positive · 2 mixed

Praised: Bhardwaj's visual and stylistic craftCriticised: Uneven screenplay and emotional payoff

AI-generated summary of 11 critic reviews · may contain errors

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Critic Reviews (10)

Updated
Saibal ChatterjeeTop Critic· NDTV
7.0
"O'Romeo employs and mixes genre principles in ways that elevate even a standard vengeance saga to a level that is well above the ordinary."
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Shubhra GuptaTop Critic· Indian Express
5.0
"The thing with building your scaffold on style and swag is that you end up skating on thin substance, and this reunion of Bharadwaj with Shahid Kapoor...is left swinging between highs and lows. Yes, it's more sure-footed than Bharadwaj's recent slate — Kuttey, Fursat, Charlie Chopra — but I want the Bharadwaj who gave us the marvellous Maqbool and the kinetic Kaminey, back."
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Devesh Sharma· Filmfare
7.0
"O'Romeo is a gangster drama and also a love story with credible performances all around. Yet, for all its performances and musical highs, O'Romeo is perhaps Bhardwaj's most self-indulgent work. In an era where filmmakers often sand down edges to appease markets and algorithms, he chooses operatic ambition over caution."
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Dhaval Roy· Times Of India
7.0
"Vishal Bhardwaj has repeatedly proven his grip on the Indian noir genre with Maqbool, Omkara, Haider"
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Trisha Gaur· KoiMoi
7.0
"What ultimately works for O Romeo is the film's refusal to play safe. It succeeds because it treats all the lead characters, including the antagonist Avinash Tiwari, in a very calculated script that builds enough tension. If you expect Haider or Kaminey level Cinema, you might be disappointed, but put away that burden, and this is absolutely good Cinema!"
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Mayank Shekhar· Mid-Day
6.0
"Shahid-Vishal's fourth collab, fully bloated, isn't quite Kaminey; but, in parts, cult enough! For the most part, O'Romeo feels like two separate films."
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Deepa Gahlot· Rediff
6.0
"It's an ordinary plot about a man's obsession, but Vishal Bhardwaj lays it out like a lavish spread, with stylish and very violent action set pieces, effectively used music, and a romance that has moments that are tender as well as bitter. If there is poetry in the emotions, unfortunately, there is also gratuitous violence, that actually takes away from the enjoyment of the action scenes."
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Rishabh Suri· Hindustan Times
6.0
"When an emotional, high-voltage scene on screen makes you titter instead of tearing up, you know something is not right. Somewhere between the filmmaker's intent and the audience's reception, the emotion gets lost in translation. That is the central tragedy of Vishal Bhardwaj's most massy film yet, O'Romeo."
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Sana Farzeen· India Today
5.0
"In O' Romeo, Vishal Bhardwaj crafts a visually stunning gangster-romance led by Shahid Kapoor. However, despite poetic frames and intense performances, the film struggles with an uneven screenplay and an underwhelming emotional pay-off."
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Lachmi Deb Roy· Firstpost
Not rated
"'O'Romeo'—starring Shahid Kapoor & Triptii Dimri in the lead—is an absolute must-watch."
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Cast & Crew

Cast

Details

Release Date
13 February 2026
Runtime
2h 58m
Languages
Hindiorig, English, Urdu

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