Vishal Bhardwaj breaks silence on the Hussain Ustara controversy in O’Romeo
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Vishal Bhardwaj breaks silence on the Hussain Ustara controversy in O’Romeo")
Shahid Kapoor in O'Romeo
Shahid Kapoor starrer O' Romeo has run into controversy weeks ahead of the film's release. On Wednesday, at the film's trailer launch event, Bhardwaj broke his silence on the matter and revealed why he did not seek permission from Hussain Ustara's family.
Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj has reacted to the ongoing controversy around his film O’ Romeo. The maker opened up about why he did not take permission from Hussain Ustara’s family while making the film. The film stars Shahid Kapoor, Triptii Dimri, and Avinash Tiwary in the lead and is inspired by Hussain Ustara’s life. The slain gangster’s daughter has demanded a ban on the release of the film, stating that the makers did not take permission from the family.
On Wednesday, during the film's trailer launch event, director Vishal Bhardwaj said the film's story is based on a book whose rights he already owns.
Vishal Bhardwaj on not taking permission from Hussain Ustara's family for O Romeo
The film, which stars Shahid Kapoor in the role of Ustara, is based on Hussain Zaidi's book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, about Hussain Ustara. "This film is from the book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, by Hussain Zaidi, and I’ve taken the rights of this story. I didn’t think (of the permission). The germ of the idea and the characters are the same, but we’ve added a lot of fictional elements, which permission Hussain Zaidi sahab has taken or should’ve taken. I don’t think it was needed for me to take permission because it is based on a book,” he said.
Also read: Rs 2 crore ransom demand? Shahid Kapoor’s O’ Romeo trailer launch cancelled over security concerns
Ustara’s daughter, Sanober Shaikh, also objected to the romantic angle shown between Shahid and Triptii Dimri’s character. Triptii plays the role of gangster Sapna Didi in the film.
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Vishal Bhardwaj’s earlier plans of making a film on Sapna Didi with Deepika Padukone
Years back, Vishal Bhardwaj had planned to make a film on Sapna Didi with Deepika Padukone and the late Irrfan Khan. While Deepika would play underworld queen Rahima Khan aka Sapna Didi, Irrfan was set to play Hussain Ustara. However, following Irrfan Khan’s death and reported creative differences with director Honey Trehan, the film got shelved.
When Bhardwaj was asked if O Romeo was the same film with a different cast, he disagreed and revealed that the films were different.
“That script and the cast was different; this is a different film. This film’s titled O Romeo, and when I first started working on the film, I never thought we would have this title. But the story evolved, it (draft) underwent many changes. This film has nothing to do with the earlier film,” the director added.
About O Romeo
O Romeo stars Shahid Kapoor, Triptii Dimri, Nana Patekar, Avinash Tiwary, Tamannaah Bhatia, Farida Jalal, Disha Patani, with Vikrant Massey in a special appearance. The film has been produced by Sajid Nadiadwala and helmed by Vishal Bhardwaj. This is Shahid and Vishal’s fourth collaboration. O’ Romeo is slated for a theatrical release on February 13, 2026.
