Story Content

O'Romeo (or O Romeo) is the most recent directorial effort by Vishal Bhardwaj, a gritty romantic action thriller set over the weekend of February 13, 2026 on the eponymous occasion of Valentine's Day, starring Shahid Kapoor as a brooding underworld figure (influenced loosely after a real-life Mumbai contract killer of the same name named Hussain Ustara) and Triptii Dimri as the mysterious woman he falls in love with. The film was produced by Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment, Sajid Nadiadwala, and it shares the Shakespearean tragedy feel with the world of crime in Mumbai, with a lot of action, blood, and one-sided love against the backdrops of revenge and deceit. Nana Patekar, Disha Patani and Farida Jalal are the supporting cast.

Reviews & Reception

The critics had mixed reactions on O'Romeo. Widely acclaimed as a triumph of passionate, career-best Shahid Kapoor, with his wild energy, his raw emotion and his dominating screen presence, not to mention gorgeous cinematography, slick action sequences, and Bhardwaj trademark poetry in violence and romance. Some rated it 3.5/5 as a combination of romance and revenge and a masterpiece, but Anupama Chopra described it as a heartwarming heartfelt story of unrequited love entrenched in flourishes, and called the film a moving, tender film. Its reviews in IMDb and on Reddit have suggested it as a violent poem that has well-done technicals and moments that are gripping.

But there was a large amount of criticism regarding the discontinuous plot, poor script, emotional void, and excessive gore that was either too much or too much. According to Hindustan Times it is all sizzle, not enough sting, which fails to locate its heart amid the glittery scenes. Generally it has been regarded as a good one time watch, entertaining in moments but hardly ever truly touching on any kind of level other than as a darker Bhardwaj type of movie (i.e. Kaminey or Haider), than a sparky valentine date.

Budget & Box Office

Produced on a purported budget of 125-150 crore (including promotions; some sources estimate the film costing 90-130 crore), O'Romeo is a high-budgeted movie that requires good figures to achieve success. It began reasonably with a ₹8.5-9.01 crore nett opening on Day 1 (the highest opening of Shahid after the pandemic). It soared to 3.75-4.55 crore on Day 2 (45-61% increase), after Valentine Day, yet dropped to approximately 9 crore on Day 3, and the opening weekend ended with 30.15 crore nett in India (33-45 crore gross in the whole world and including foreign countries).

By the first Week 1 (February 16, 2026) collections succumb to ₹34 to 45 crore across the globe. Analysts estimate that it requires an established presence and weekday expansion to achieve ₹100+ crore to be considered a hit- at this point it is performing averagely to below expectations in its scale with ambivalent word of mouth influencing its duration.

To the point, O'Romeo is a style, star power, and bloody romance, but it does not hold water, at least not with pure romantics, but with action-thrillers.