In the late 1900s, Mehmood Khan, an associate of Dawood Ibrahim, decided that he wanted to quit the underworld and live a quiet life with his wife, Ashraf Khan. With a hopeful heart, he travelled to Dubai to express his wish to Dawood himself. It is said that Dawood had allowed him to leave his syndicate. However, upon his return, Mehmood was killed in a police encounter at the Mumbai Airport.
Ashraf was unconvinced. She felt that Dawood had asked his connections in the police to murder Mehmood. She even went to court against the inspector who killed her husband. She believed that if the inspector could be proven guilty, Dawood himself could be brought to India and get his due punishment. When justice was denied, Ashraf approached Dawood’s enemy, Hussain Ustara, and both plotted to kill Ibrahim.
In 2026, in Vishal Bhardwaj’s O’Romeo (set in the late 1990s), Triptii Dimri’s Afshan approaches Shahid Kapoor’s Ustara with the same proposal- to kill Jalal, the gangster behind her husband’s murder. O’Romeo is inspired by a chapter of Hussain Zaidi’s book, Mafia Queens of Mumbai, which details the life of Ashraf Khan or Sapna Didi. However, the film’s disclaimer tells you that it is entirely fictional. While the film is loosely based on some reality, largely, it tells a different story- one guided by love and not just bloodlust.
Ustara and Jalal used to work together in Spain, remotely ruling the Mumbai underworld. Ustara decides to part ways with Jalal, and in the fallout, Jalal’s brother is killed. Jalal attempts to avenge his brother, Mohsin, but Ustara is saved by Indian Intelligence Officer Ismail Khan, on the condition that he becomes an informant. All of this unfolds off-screen.
Years later, Afshan approaches Ustara with a supari — to kill Jalal and other men who wronged her husband, Mehboob. Ustara tests Afshan but refuses her offer, deeming her to be naive. Through a flashback, we learn that Afshan and Mehboob were childhood sweethearts. To earn enough to marry her, Mehboob took an accountant’s job under Jalal.
When Mehboob got beaten up by enemies, Afshan learnt the truth about his employment and asked him to quit. Jalal, incensed from his base in Spain, ordered Mehboob’s murder. In court, Mehboob was framed as a sharpshooter — not just an accountant. Afshan’s grief then guides her on a path of revenge. This path leads her directly to Ustara and his gang.
Impressed by Afshan’s immovable spirit and resolve, Ustara finally decides to accept her supari. He also falls for her along the way. What follows is a journey of blood and revenge guided by love. At its core, O’Romeo is a love story: Afshan’s love for Mehboob, Ustara’s love for Afshan and Jalal’s love for his brother.
