Romeo (2024 film)

Romeo is a 2024 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy drama film written and directed by Vinayak Vaithianathan in his directorial debut and produced by Meera Vijay Antony. The film stars Vijay Antony and Mirnalini Ravi in lead roles. The soundtrack and background score were composed by debutants Barath Dhanasekar and Ravi Royster, while the cinematography and editing was handled by Farook J. Basha and Vijay Antony himself. The film extensively shot in Malaysia, Bangkok, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Tenkasi, Chennai and Mahabalipuram.

Romeo was theatrically released on 11 April 2024, coinciding Ramzan, to mixed-to-positive reviews from critics.

Plot
Arivazhagan "Arivu" is a Malaysia return, who falls in love with Leelavathi "Leela", hailing from the same village as him. Much to the displeasure of Leela who is a struggling actor and hiding the fact from her oppressing family, Arivu’s proposal to marry Leela is accepted by the latter’s family. But given, marriage is the only option for her to move back to the city and pursue her passion, Leela is forced to agree. She and her friends decide to take advantage of Arivu's innocence and tells him that she will agree to the marriage only if he agrees to shift to Chennai. Blindly in love with her, he agrees to the condition. On reaching Chennai, Arivu is interrupted by her friends trying to keep Arivu away from Leela.But, Arivu soon wins her friends' hearts over with his kindness and care. Fearing Arivu might use them to get close to her, she asks them to leave and lets Arivu know that she is planning to file for a divorce. He is heartbroken by this and goes to a bar with his uncle where he meets it's manager with whose help he calls Leela from a fake number under the name 'Vikram'. Leela soon develops a friendship with 'Vikram'.Vikram aka Arivu reveals to Leela that he is afraid of fire. Leela later gets a chance to debut in a film with her friend as the director. But during the meeting with the producer he misbehaves with her and on knowing this 'Vikram' thrashes the producer. He then decides to help Leela and her friends by offering to produce their film on the condition that he gets to act as the hero. Leela, initially refusing, later accepts the offer after the pleas of her friends. Her knowing the truth and how it affects their relationship forms the rest of the story.

Production
On 16 August 2023, it was announced that Vijay Antony launched his new production house Good Devil Productions.The film was titled as Romeo and it is the first romantic film of Vijay Antony and the first look poster of the film also was released on the same day. The director, Vinayak Vaithianathan, was an assistant director of Shree Karthick and was working with him in the film Kanam (2022). Vaithianathan also directed the web series Kadhal Distancing.

Music
The songs and background score for the film were composed by debutants Barath Dhanasekar and Ravi Royster. The audio rights were acquired by Think Music. The first single "Chellakili" was released on 21 February 2024. The second single "Vethala" was released on 13 March 2024. The last single "Thaniya Naan" was released on 2 April 2024. The entire soundtrack album was released on 10 April 2024.

Theatrical
Romeo was theatrically released on 11 April in theatres along with a Telugu dubbed version under the title Love Guru.

Distribution
The distribution rights of the film in Tamil Nadu were acquired by Red Giant Movies. The overseas rights acquired by Ayngaran International and Arun Pandian's A & P Groups. The distribution rights were acquired by Mythri Movie Makers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The distribution rights in Karnataka acquired by Hombale Films.

Home Media
The streaming platforms Amazon Prime Video and Aha acquired the digital rights for the film while the satellite rights were sold to Vijay TV. The film had its digital premiere on the streaming platform from 10 May 2024.

Reception
Roopa Radhakrishnan of The Times of India gave 2/5 stars and wrote "All said and done, Romeo falters at being a romantic film with a lead pair to root for. It tries to be both Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and Kaavalan but imbibes the illogicality of those films rather than its conviction. Gopinath Rajendran of The Hindu wrote that "Nevertheless, Romeo is a much-needed deviation from Vijay Antony’s recent duds and makes for a decent watch with its fine share of emotionally gratifying moments". Jayabhuvaneshwari B of Cinema Express gave 3/5 stars and wrote "At the end of the day, Romeo has a happy ending that makes for a quality family watch on a long weekend. And hey, at least it's not as tragic as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

Kirubhakar Purushothaman of The Indian Express gave 2/5 stars and wrote "The film purports an idea of love that is unconditional and all-giving, a concept more dated than the film itself". Ram Venkat Srikar of Film Companion wrote that "The humor is clean, simple, and subtle and even though it feels overlong, it is a largely satisfying ride thanks to its neatly drawn-out emotional beats".

Manigandan KR of Times Now gave 3.5/5 stars and wrote "Vinayak Vaithianathan's story, despite having portions that remind one of the plot of Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, still emerges as a neat, engaging entertainer that works big time".

Anusha Sundar of OTTplay gave 2.5/5 stars and wrote "On the other hand, much more writing about these characters would have tapped into the potential this flippant love story has".

Ashwin Ram of Moviecrow gave 2.75/5 stars and wrote "Familiar storyline executed carefully by offering refreshing elements both in writing and treatment. Fun first half followed by a latter that feels as if it is losing track, but gets a brisk pickup after a point and ends beautifully".