Shortcut Romeo

<p>Suraj ( ) is a good-for-nothing youth who throws his weight around his house with his violent attitude. One day, in a fit of rage, he injures his younger brother, following which he is sent off from to to his uncle’s house. Suraj chances upon Monica. She is the wife of a rich man and comes to learn golf, but her coach becomes interested on her and they make love in a golf park. He records this act on a video camera. He then finds out that it is an extramarital affair and that the lovers, Monica ( ) and Ashish, are rich. Despite Monica offering large sums of money for the tape, Suraj refuses to part with it. His demand is much greater. He wants an assurance from her that she will provide him with a luxurious life. Monica has no choice; she succumbs to Suraj’s blackmail and Suraj foots his holiday in Kenya along with his friends. Monica tries to outsmart Suraj at every stage. Suraj meets Sherry ( ) a rich but lonely girl and falls in love with her. That’s when he begins to realize that there are things more important than money in life. The cat and mouse game between Monica and Suraj, and the way one alternately checkmates the other in every round goes on till Rahul, Monica’s husband, hires a private detective. Sherry gets caught in this cross-fire. The later part of the story ends with an interesting twist and turns. Post (2009), announced plans to make his debut in by remaking his own film (2006). It was rumoured that was approached to play the title role, while and were contenders to play a negative role. However, Ganeshan put a rest to these rumours stating that none of the rumoured actors have been considered for his film. In September 2011, it was announced that and were the finalized as the protagonist and antagonist. The film went on floors in November, with playing Mukesh’s love interest. However, after differences with the director, she dropped out and the role was offered to . Once Puja was on board, the film’s shooting progressed swiftly. A special song was also shot on the lead pair to music by Himesh Reshammiya. started in November 2011. The major portion of the first schedule was filmed mainly in and a few other places in India. The second schedule began in January and was filmed in Kenya. The schedule lasted for more than 20 days covering the and a few neighbouring places. The soundtrack of the film was composed by and the music is sold to . Lyrics are penned by , Shabbir Ahmed, Manoj Yadav and Sanjay Masoom. got a minuscule release by its producer and hence opened to a low 5 million response on opening day and ended its 1st week with a nett domestic collections of just 22.7 million. A critic from wrote that “Well shot, with laudable performances from Neil Nitin Mukesh and Ameesha Patel, Shortcut Romeo makes up for loose ends and bizarre twists in the plot by means of sheer masala power”. of rated the film three out of five stars and wrote that “On the whole, is a well-made, stylish crime story with high-voltage drama as its highpoint. It may not boast of A-listers in its cast, but it has ample entertainment and edge-of-the-seat moments to offer. I suggest, give this one a chance!” A critic from wrote that “Susi Ganesh has attempted to ‘Bollywoodize’ his first Hindi film (remake of Tamil film ). Desperately throwing in Munnis, Sheilas & Jalebi bais – of Kenyan origin. There are twists and (blind) turns, over-dramatized scenes with little shock value that’s mostly predictable”.</p>