Review
Jaidev Sra's "Roohi" attempts to resurrect the romantic melodrama of early 2000s Hindi cinema, and while it occasionally captures that earnest, paint-splattered passion of its protagonist, the execution falls frustratingly short of its ambitions. The film's central conceit—a man so obsessed with a painted fantasy that he manifests her into reality—could have been darkly fascinating, a critique of masculine projection and the male gaze that defines so much of our romantic cinema. Instead, Sra plays it straight, treating Vijay's obsession as endearing rather than examining it, which undermines whatever psychological depth the premise might have offered. Riteish Deshmukh sleepwalks through the role with little nuance, while Janhvi Kapoor's Roohi remains largely a cipher—beautiful, compliant, existing primarily as the object of desire rather than a fully realized character with her own agency or interiority.
The love quadrangle—Vijay, Sajjo/Roohi, the volatile Sangha, and the duplicitous Prakash—should have created genuine dramatic tension, especially given how Bollywood's best romantic dramas (think *Dil Se* or *Rang De Basanti*) weaponize conflicting desires to explore deeper truths about identity and belonging. But "Roohi" treats these conflicts as plot mechanics rather than emotional stakes. The climactic showdown feels obligatory rather than earned, and the film never interrogates why Vijay deserves Roohi more than anyone else—it simply assumes masculine persistence equals
Storyline
Vijay's a loaded Delhi painter living the high life with his uncle, but he's haunted by a dream of his soulmate—so obsessed he actually paints her portrait and lugs it to his buddy Prakash's sprawling mansion in Himachal Pradesh. Once there, he spots Sajjo, a village girl who's literally the spitting image of his painted dream woman, and boom—instant love! He renames her Roohi and they're totally consumed with each other, lost in that magical honeymoon phase.
But here's where things get deliciously messy: Sajjo's got not one but two other obsessed suitors clawing at her affections. Sangha's a local hothead who'll stop at nothing to marry her, and then there's Prakash himself—Vijay's supposedly loyal best friend—who's conveniently nursing his own secret crush on Sajjo while pretending to be happily coupled up with Shalu. The tension absolutely crackles as Vijay remains clueless about this love triangle (okay, love quadrangle) brewing around him.
When everything inevitably explodes into conflict, Vijay has to fight for Roohi against these rivals with everything he's got—and that's when the real magic happens! The climax is this thrilling showdown where love, loyalty, and jealousy collide in the most satisfying way, proving that destiny and true connection can't be denied!