Romeo Juliet (2015 film)

Romeo Juliet
Promotional poster
Directed by	Lakshman
Written by	Lakshman
Produced by	S. Nanthagopal
Starring	Jayam Ravi Hansika Motwani
Cinematography	Soundararajan
Edited by	Anthony
Music by	D. Imman
Production company	Madras Enterprises
Distributed by	Cosmo Village Antenna Entertainments (Malaysia)
Release date	12 June 2015 (2015-06-12)
Running time	150 minutes[1]
Country	India
Language	Tamil

Romeo Juliet is a 2015 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy film^[1] written and directed by Lakshman in his directorial debut. The film stars Jayam Ravi and Hansika Motwani, with music composed by D. Imman.^[2] The title alludes to William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet though the film not based on it. The film was released on 12 June 2015. The film was remade in Odia as Just Mohabatt in 2017.

Aishwarya (Hansika Motwani) is a flight attendant. Growing up in an orphanage, she believes that marrying into a rich family is the only way she can find happiness in life. After meeting Karthik (Jayam Ravi) on a flight, she assumes he is wealthy, and continues to dig for more information on where he lives and what he does for work. Karthik, on the other hand, falls in love with Aishwarya for her charm and beauty, but when she finds out that Karthik is only a gym trainer renting bachelor quarters, she breaks up with him. Although Karthik tries to convince Aishwarya that their relationship can work out even without riches, Aishwarya is insistent on money being the most important factor, and humiliates Karthik on a day out where he is meant to prove that he can look after her.

A few months later, Aishwarya has managed to get into a relationship with Arjun (Vamsi Krishna), a wealthy business mogul, and his family has agreed to their wedding. Karthik comes to her engagement party with a gift, and lets her know the next day that he’s extremely happy that she’s moved on, but her job now is to find him a suitable girl to move on with too, or he’ll let Arjun know of their past together. Aishwarya tries to get out of it, but eventually takes the task seriously. After many failed attempts, she connects him with Nisha (Poonam Bajwa). Karthik and Nisha hit it off right away, but Aishwarya finds that she’s enjoyed spending time with Karthik again, and they part amicably, promising to hang out again soon.

Meanwhile, Aishwarya’s wedding is quickly approaching, but she finds herself suffocated by the heavily restricted lifestyle this rich family is forcing on her. One day, she runs into Karthik at a temple, and he tells her that he’s on his way home to his village, and that he’s getting engaged to Nisha the night before Valentine’s Day. Aishwarya’s wedding is scheduled to happen in London around the same time, with the flight being the night before Valentine’s Day as well. Karthik decides to take Aishwarya to his village with him, and where she meets his family; when they go home, Aishwarya’s only found it harder to say goodbye.

On the night Aishwarya is supposed to leave, she finally realises that she doesn’t want to be with Arjun or his strict family, and tells him she wants to leave. Arjun tells her that from now on, she is free to live the way she chooses and that his family won’t try and control her anymore, but when Aishwarya still appears hesitant, Arjun firmly questions her to open up. Aishwarya admits she’s in love with Karthik still. Crying, she heads to Karthik and Nisha’s engagement party, where she confesses her feelings to him but gets rejected harshly. Karthik leaves the party early with Nisha, leaving a distraught Aishwarya behind, but the DJ starts playing another song to start a flash mob and reveal Karthik at the back, where he reveals that his relationship was orchestrated by him and Nisha to make Aishwarya realize her mistake and her love for him. Karthik and Aishwarya finally reunite.

Lakshman, who had previously ventured into films as producer of Kalvanin Kadhali (2006), announced that he would make his first venture as a director with a film titled Romeo Juliet featuring Jayam Ravi in the lead role.^[3][4] Despite its title, it is not based on the William Shakespeare play Romeo and Juliet.^[5] The director had initially finalised/convinced Nayantara to play the leading female role but did not want to repeat her pairing with Jayam Ravi, as the pair were working on another production, Raja's Thani Oruvan, at the time of casting. Subsequently, he chose to cast Hansika Motwani in a leading role instead.^[6] A photo shoot was then held and promotional stills featuring the lead pair were released to the media in late March 2014.^[7] Hansika revealed that she would play a girl with a "futuristic attitude", while Jayam Ravi's character would be more conservative in the romantic comedy.^[8]

The film's first official poster released on 14 April 2014 coinciding with Tamil New Years Day and indicated that filming had begun. The team held their first schedule in May 2014, with Poonam Bajwa joining the cast.^[9] The team shot a sequence where real life actors approach Jayam Ravi's character, a fitness trainer, to help them achieve six pack abs with Arya making a guest appearance.^[4]

The first look teaser was released on 29 December 2014 with only the lead cast appearing on it.^[10]

D. Imman composed the soundtrack album and score for the film. G. Rokesh, Madhan Karky and Thamarai wrote the lyrics.

The film was released worldwide 12 June 2015.The satellite rights of the film were sold to Sun TV.^[11]

Baradwaj Rangan wrote, "The film is a disaster...it's impossible to digest the overall preposterousness...Romeo Juliet just cannot make up its mind whether it wants to be a screwball comedy or a melodrama — the tone is all over the place. And the writing is painfully inconsistent".^[12] The Times of India gave the film 2/5 and wrote, "here is a film that could prove to be a worthy challenger to Valiyavan for the title of the Most Preposterous Movie of the Year.^[13] Rediff also gave it 2/5 and wrote, "Lakshman's Romeo Juliet is just a rehash of old clichés. He pitches love against money and there are no prizes for guessing which one wins".^[14] Sify wrote, "Lakshman has packaged the film in a glossy manner but it is unable to find any spark or chemistry between the lead pair. His direction is amateurish and so are the characters half-baked. The best thing about Romeo Juliet is Jayam Ravi and Hansika who does their best to rise above the flawed script".^[15] The New Indian Express wrote, "The film, an average entertainer, would have been more engaging if only the screenplay had been coherent and the episodes interesting".^[16]

• Official website
• Romeo Juliet at IMDb
• Romeo Juliet at AllMovie