#NewsBytesRecommends: 'Operation Romeo' on Netflix—deeply nuanced, penetrating thriller drama
Operation Romeo tells the story of a young couple whose life is upended when their date turns into a nightmare. They are caught by two policemen who chide them for "making out in front of a hospital," and turn their romance night into a horror showreel. Deeply layered and loaded with subtext, this Shashant Shah directorial on Netflix reinstates one's faith in powerful storytelling.
Film is about couple's night out gone wrong
The fast-paced thriller revolves around two young people: Aditya (Sidhant Gupta) and Neha (Vedika Pinto). Neha belongs to an orthodox Rajasthani family that lives in Jaipur. However, she stays in Mumbai for her studies. On her birthday, they plan a long drive, but the rug is pulled from under their feet when two police officers conduct unabashed moral policing and extort money from them.
'OR' makes some excellent points about moral policing
While William Shakespeare's Romeo might have been a tragic lover, the word is used in the Indian context insultingly. Love is a territory that people should not venture into, not even when they are minding their business. Operation Romeo demonstrates this perfectly; the fear of being "caught" is reflected in the way the couple begins to physically shiver and fumble while seeing the cops.
Is moral policing restricted to small cities?
OR goes on to make a point about how moral policing is never restricted to small towns but permeates through the Indian social fabric. Aditya has Neha's consent for intimacy, but it's the cops who become a barrier and inspire terror the moment they appear on the scene. It's unfortunately a prevalent situation and moral policing is a worm that has corroded society significantly.
How are orthodox families problematic vis-a-vis love?
While Neha has a brief part, we often see her anxiety brimming to the surface each time the cops threaten to call her father. If her father realizes that she is romancing a boy, all hell will understandably break loose. And since women's honor has been attached to their "purity," it will forever be a blot on not just her, but her entire family.
'OR' rips apart concept of manhood, fragile male ego
Spoiler ahead. Operation Romeo's biggest strength, apart from exposing the terror of moral policing, lies in the way it exposes the hypocrisy of fragile male ego and "manhood." After the fateful night, Aditya is preoccupied with her "chastity," the number one question on his mind being: did one of the two police officers touch her? If yes, she would be rendered "impure" for him.
Sharad Kelkar is true star of show!
Sharad Kelkar plays Mangesh, the primary cop, and he is the manifestation of all evil. He submits himself to the role in a way that my stomach was in knots during many dramatic sequences, and if an actor can make you loathe them, they have done their job. Gupta is also convincing in his role as a man who's a direct result of patriarchy.
Watch this thriller on Netflix
Operation Romeo falters sometimes and becomes too dramatic for its own good, even though its primary track is so solid that it doesn't warrant any diversions. The editing is also patchy in the aforementioned sequences. Having said that, OR remains an important film and a penetrating gaze at the Indian society that would rather allow people to maul each other publicly than embrace them.
