Raghu Romeo

This lucid mixture of popular and independent Indian cinema is a funny yet serious satire on the devotion to moving images, film stars and television. Raghu is a poor young man who lives in a slum with his mother. He works as a waiter in a dancing bar cum nightclub where one of the girls, Sweety, fancies him. Nevertheless, his real passion lies not in real life but in virtual reality. He is addicted to the Indian soap opera Dard. He doesn’t miss a single episode and falls secretly in love with the soap’s heroine Neetaji, with whom he keeps having imaginary but satisfying conversations. Raghu’s ultimate desire is not to get rich but to meet his heroine in real life. Through a hitman from the bar, who has a crush on Sweety, he not only meets the TV heroine but also has to save her life. For the director, Rajat Kapoor, Raghu is a kind of Don Quichote in contemporary India. He suggests that it is not difficult to lose track of reality in a world that is bombarded with images. Raghu is a simple, innocent man who lacks cynicism and believes strongly in right and wrong, but sometimes chooses the wrong methods to help people. (RS)