The daughter of Hussain Ustara has criticised the makers of the upcoming Shahid Kapoor film O’Romeo, saying the portrayal of her father in the narrative is incorrect and unfair to his legacy
Sanober Shaikh, Ustara’s daughter, has taken legal steps by issuing a notice to the filmmakers, claiming they have distorted facts in a way that paints her father in a negative light. O’Romeo, directed by Vishal Bhardwaj, stars Shahid Kapoor and Triptii Dimri and is scheduled to be released on February 13, 2026.
Shaikh has been vocal about her concerns, insisting that the film’s teaser and promotional material appear to depict elements of her father’s life that she says are inaccurate or misleading.
“They are claiming and showing wrong things about my father,” she said, explaining that the family’s objection centres on how Ustara is being characterised. Shaikh added that her father was not a gangster, but instead took on crime figures in ways that she believes have been misrepresented. She added, “O Romeo is based on baba. The teaser states that the film is based on a true story. I want to ask them, who’s the person the film is based on. My father wasn’t a gangster. Hussain Ustara helped a lot of people. He wanted to cleanse the city and remove gangsters. He wasn’t a criminal. You won’t find any criminal record. The problem is how is image is portrayed in the film
She pointed out that the film appears to show a romantic angle between her father’s character and a woman depicted on screen. a relationship she says did not exist in real life. “My father had trained Sapna didi. She was like a sister to him … but as per the film, they are showing a romantic angle, which is absolutely wrong,” Shaikh said, emphasising that the pair’s real-life bond was one of mentorship and closeness, not romance.
She also claimed, “Sapna didi had no one. She was alone when her husband was killed. She has no children. She went everywhere asking for help, to cleanse the city off crime, but it was only my baba who helped her. Both of them worked against criminals. Unka tareeka galat tha but this also happened 28 years ago. As his family, our concern is ki unki image kharab ho rahi hai. This isn’t a matter of money. In my first notice, there’s no mention of it at all.”
