Sumith Prasad
Directed by Shashant Shah, Netflix’s Indian film ‘Operation Romeo’ revolves around Aditya Sharma and Neha Kasliwal, a couple who celebrate the latter’s birthday by going for a long night drive. As they share an intimate moment, a policeman named Mangesh Jhadhav confronts them, threatening to arrest them for their immoral actions. Starring Sidhant Gupta as Aditya and Vedika Pinto as Neha, the romantic thriller film progresses through the consequences of Mangesh’s confrontation, which affects not only the couple’s life but also the policeman’s. Since the film ends ambiguously, raising questions regarding the fate of Aditya and Neha’s relationship, we have decoded the ending for you. Let us share our thoughts! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Operation Romeo Plot Synopsis
‘Operation Romeo’ begins with Aditya meeting Neha to celebrate the latter’s birthday. Neha informs her boyfriend that she can spend time with him until the next day morning, before returning to her hostel. Amid a long drive, Aditya asks Neha for a kiss. She dismisses him by saying that they cannot kiss in the middle of the road. He drives to a hospital, parks the car in a parking area, and the two of them move to the rear seats. While they are about to kiss, a man named Mangesh Jhadhav records them using his phone and confronts them.
Mangesh, along with an acquaintance named Patil, demands ₹35,000 from Aditya to not arrest them. To not let Neha’s parents know about them, Aditya agrees to pay the money. Mangesh gets into the car and sits near Neha while Patil sits near Aditya, who drives the car to a nearby ATM. Aditya asks Mangesh to accompany him to the ATM since he doesn’t want the cop to be with Neha. Mangesh lets him know that he will stay outside the car so that he doesn’t have to worry. However, when Aditya withdraws the money, Mangesh gets into the car and locks it.
Aditya rushes to the car, only to see a terrified Neha. He enquires Mangesh and Neha about what happened in the car but they do not answer. The cop asks them to leave after getting the money from Aditya. The boyfriend leaves Neha at her hostel the next day morning and asks her what really happened before she gets in. She remains silent, infuriating Aditya. He gets obsessed about knowing what Mangesh did to his girlfriend and ends up following him. Soon, he realizes that Mangesh is just an ambulance driver and not a policeman. He swears vengeance against Mangesh and leaves for the latter’s house.
Operation Romeo Ending: What Did Mangesh Do to Neha in the Car?
Even though Aditya and Neha manage to escape from Mangesh and Patil, the incident leaves a scar on Aditya’s mind. He finds it hard to move on with his life when he fails to find out what really happened to Neha in the car while he was away. Since it is traumatic for Neha to reveal what it is, he realizes that Mangesh is the only person who can reveal the same. Aditya knows that to force Mangesh to reveal it, the latter needs to be vulnerable. And the only way to make him vulnerable is to hurt his family. Thus, Aditya goes to Mangesh’s house and meets Chhaya Jhadhav, Mangesh’s wife.
When Mangesh returns home, Aditya fights him. He uses a sewing machine to hurt Mangesh, who gets forced to sit down, unable to fight Aditya. He takes advantage of the moment to force Mangesh to reveal what he wants to know by threatening to kill his daughter Riya. He inappropriately touches Chhaya to further provoke the ambulance driver. Without any other option, Mangesh reveals that he tried to molest Neha by trying to kiss her, only to get slapped by her. Aditya realizes that Mangesh couldn’t do anything to Neha, which makes him satisfactorily leave the driver’s house.
When Mangesh got into the car and locked it with Neha inside, Aditya starts to fear the worst. He may have feared whether Mangesh had sexually assaulted her. The very fear emasculates Aditya. He finds it necessary to know that he didn’t fail to protect his girlfriend from Mangesh to save his manhood. Harassing Chhaya to force Mangesh to reveal the incident is also part of his attempts to display his manhood, which gets threatened by Mangesh. When he realizes that Neha prevented anything worse from happening, he perceives that Mangesh hadn’t proved to be a better man than him.
Do Aditya and Neha End Up Together or Break Up? Why Does Neha Show Aditya Her Middle Finger?
After knowing about the incident in the car, Aditya feels relieved. His traumatic days are over. He is finally able to move past the incident that happened between him, Neha, and Mangesh. After leaving Mangesh’s house, he goes to see Neha. After a short drive, he lets Neha know that he had found out what really happened in the car and expresses his satisfaction that nothing happened to her. He shows Neha the ring he had bought to propose to her on her birthday and does the same, only for Neha to show her middle finger instead of her ring finger.
When Aditya reveals to Neha that he had found out what Mangesh did to her, she finds it problematic. She asks him whether he would have proposed to her if Mangesh had done something to her. Aditya fails to give her an answer, which makes it evident that he is still her boyfriend only because Mangesh has not harmed Neha’s “purity” or “chastity.” If Mangesh had done something to Neha, Aditya may haven’t overcome the same. He may have failed to be with his girlfriend irrespective of what Mangesh did to her. Aditya ignores Neha’s calls and texts for days and feels comfortable being with her only after ensuring her “purity.”
Neha’s middle finger is her reaction to Aditya’s “conditional” love. She wants a boyfriend who will stand by and love her irrespective of what happens to her. Neha doesn’t want a boyfriend whose love is limited to her purity, which makes her show the middle finger to him, indicating the relationship’s end as well. As far as Neha is concerned, Aditya’s actions are no different from Mangesh’s. Aditya has hurt and traumatized Chhaya only to protect his manhood. Neha rejects Aditya because she doesn’t want a man who could willingly hurt a woman only to display his manhood, the same thing Mangesh does to her.
Aditya and Neha’s life together comes to an end when the former prioritizes assuring the latter’s purity over being with her during a vulnerable period. By choosing to find out what happened in the car over helping Neha to get over the traumatic incident, Aditya loses his girlfriend.
Read More: Is Operation Romeo Based on a True Story?
