Romantic

Romantic is a 2021 Telugu romantic crime drama directed by Anil Paduri and written by Puri Jagannadh, who co-produced it with Charmme Kaur under Puri Connects. Akash Puri plays a Goa gangster, with Ketika Sharma in her debut and Ramya Krishna as the police officer on his trail. Sunil Kashyap composed the music. After several pandemic delays it was released in cinemas on 29 October 2021.

What the story is about

Vasco da Gama, the son of a police officer, saw his parents die as a boy and grew up a street-smart ruffian in Goa, determined to make a fortune and fulfil his grandmother Mary’s dream. With his childhood friend Annie he joins the gang of Rodrigues, Goa’s most notorious drug lord, and rises fast through the underworld. Along the way he falls hard for Monica, a young musician, and their affair turns passionate.

When a deal goes wrong, Vasco seizes control of the Goa drug trade, and in the process a sub-inspector is killed. That brings ACP Ramya Gowarikar, a dutiful and ruthless officer, from Mumbai to Goa to bring him down, while a rival, Samsun, is also out to get him. The film plays out as a three-way cat-and-mouse game wrapped around a doomed love story.

Cast and crew

• Akash Puri as Vasco da Gama
• Ketika Sharma as Monica (voice dubbed by Chinmayi Sripada)
• Ramya Krishna as ACP Ramya Gowarikar
• Rama Prabha as Mary, Vasco’s grandmother
• Makarand Deshpande as Samsun
• Deviyani Sharma as Annie
• Uttej as John, Monica’s brother, and Sunaina as his wife Catherine
• Puri Jagannadh and Ram Pothineni in cameos in the song “Peene Ke Baad”

Director: Anil Paduri. Writer: Puri Jagannadh. Producers: Puri Jagannadh and Charmme Kaur (Puri Connects). Music: Sunil Kashyap.

Release and reviews

Romantic was first set for 29 May 2020 and was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic; a new date of 18 June 2021 was announced on 1 March 2021, then 4 November 2021, before it finally arrived on 29 October 2021.

Reviews were divided. Neeshita Nyayapati of the Times of India gave it 3 out of 5 and called it “Puri’s gangster version of Romeo & Juliet”. Y. Sunita Chowdhary of The Hindu found it a “voyeuristic drama at best”, and Murali Krishna CH of The New Indian Express criticised the writing, calling the film “an assault on our senses”. We have not found box-office figures from a named outlet.

Where to watch Romantic

Romantic streams on Aha, where our record of the platform listing shows it from 26 November 2021. Availability can vary by region.

Sources: the Wikipedia article on Romantic and the reviews it cites, linked above; Aha’s listing; our own cast and crew records.