Review: Shehzada is an inferior remake of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo
Last updated: 14 April 2023
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Film: Shehzada (Hindi), translates to “Prince”
Directed by: Rohit Dhawan
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala, Ankur Rathee, Rajpal Yadav, Ronit Roy, Sachin Khedekar and Sunny Hinduja
Highlights: Story (Trivikram Srinivas), songs (Pritam) and performance of Ankur Rathee
Lowlights: Kartik Aaryan’s overacting, ineffective direction (Rohit Dhawan), weak supporting performances, sloppy editing in fight scenes and poor background score
Cinemania rating: ★½☆☆☆
Plot: In Shehzada, a clerk Valmiki (Paresh Rawal) swaps his new-born child with his rich employer Randeep Jindal’s (Ronit Roy) new-born child. Valmiki names the child Bantu and keeps humiliating him while at the same time admiring the upbringing of his own child in the Jindal household.
An adult Bantu (Kartik Aaryan) gets a job and falls in love with his boss Samara (Kriti Sanon). Randeep’s son Raj (Ankur Rathee) – Valmiki’s true son – returns from USA after his higher studies. As the Jindal household faces internal and external problems, Bantu learns he is the Shehzada of the Jindal household.
Performances: Kartik Aaryan overacts and keeps smiling with his teeth wide open (even in serious scenes) for most of the film. It’s hard to believe this is the same actor who delivered a fantastic performance in Dhamaka and Freddy. The only scene Kartik Aaryan performs well is at a cafe, talking about nepotism. Kriti Sanon does justice to her role in the first half but she doesn’t get much screen-time in the second half. Ankur Rathee delivers an impressive performance as Raj and his monologue is praiseworthy.
Manisha Koirala appears to be miscast in her role and looks very dull. Ronit Roy lacks emotions. Sachin Khedekar sleepwalks in a role he’s already performed before (in Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo). Rajpal Yadav’s comedy scene is the only relief in the second half of the film.
Technical departments: Editing in fight scenes is sloppy. Background music screaming “Shehzada” is mediocre and doesn’t elevate the scenes. Rohit Dhawan’s direction is ineffective – most scenes (romance, family drama, fight scenes) don’t leave a lasting impact on the audience. Pritam’s songs are catchy and have been picturised well.
In summary, Shehzada is an inferior remake of Telugu blockbuster Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo. Most of the scenes are poorly-directed and don’t leave an impact. For example, in the original film, when Jindal’s family and Valmiki’s family step out of the hospital holding their new-borns and start their journey to their respective houses, the camera beautifully pans up and shows an auto-rickshaw and Mercedes car reach the end of a three-way junction and turn in opposite directions indicating the babies are going to have opposite ways of upbringing. And the view continues to zoom out and up past the clouds in the sky revealing the title of the Telugu film. This and many other iconic scenes from the original film have been ruined in the Hindi remake.
Shehzada is likely to end up as a box office disaster and will be a low point in Kartik Aaryan’s career.
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