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Vishal Bhardwaj’s O’Romeo Debuts, Pairing Gangland Romance With a Music-Driven Edge

The adaptation draws on Hussain Zaidi’s reporting with liberties that have prompted family objections.

Overview

  • The film opened in theaters on February 13, 2026, reuniting Bhardwaj with Shahid Kapoor opposite Triptii Dimri.
  • Reviewers highlight Bhardwaj’s signature blend of stylized violence, dark humor, and an evocative score with prominent songs.
  • Shahid Kapoor plays Ustara, a covert enforcer in 1990s Mumbai, who is drawn into a widow Afshan’s revenge quest led by Triptii Dimri.
  • Coverage links the story to Hussain Zaidi’s Mafia Queens of Mumbai and to figures such as Hussain Ustara and Sapna Didi, with the makers emphasizing it is only loosely based.
  • Reports note legal complaints from relatives of the real-life Ustara, alongside attention to elaborate set-pieces including a Liberty Cinema sequence, a Ganpati visarjan, and a Spanish masked carnival.