Forget about jyaada but this Shehzada doesn’t even deliver aadhaa. Shehzada is a film which is strictly meant for that section of audience who loves no-brainer masala films. Shehzada is that old-school film which we have seen enough in the 90s. The plot seems to be too repetitive and is damn predictable. Fans of Kartik Aaryan & Kriti Sanon and those who haven’t watched the original film and the ones who can digest no-brainer and non-sense masala films should only watch this, others please stay away. The narrative is too mediocre and follows the same basic old formulas which we have been watching for years. Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo was all about Allu Arjun’s swag and here in Shehzada Kartik tries too hard but doesn’t match the swag of Allu Arjun.
Bantu (Kartik Aaryan) is hated and neglected by his father Valmiki (Paresh Rawal) ever since he was a toddler. After growing up suffering neglect and criticism from his father, Bantu’s world is turned upside down when he learns that he was switched at birth with a millionaire’s son. Samara (Kriti Sanon), his boss, is the first person to show him love and affection until he discovers that the wealthy Jindals (Ronit Bose Roy, Sachin Khedekar and Manisha Koirala) are his biological parents and not Valmiki. Bantu then decides to seek the Jindal family’s love and protect them from the threats they are facing without revealing his true identity.
Shehzada is a film which is not meant for acting. We have seen Kartik in comic roles and he came out of his comfort zone in 2 OTT releases Dhamaka and Freddy, where we got to see Kartik Aaryan the actor. Freddy had his career best performance followed by Dhamaka. Here in Shehzada he goes over many times and in some scenes he is decent. His smile is very irritating. Kriti Sanon doesn’t get much to explore as we have seen her playing such a type of character in many movies. Kriti looks beautiful and glamorous on-screen and that’s the only best part about her in this film. We have already witnessed the chemistry between Kartik and Kriti in Lukka Chuppi and here in Shehzada also you will love their chemistry. But the love story remains incomplete and is left in between. A script like Shehzada doesn’t give justice to talents like Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala, Ronit Bose Roy, Sachin Khedekar and Rajpal Yadav. Paresh Rawal does overacting in many scenes and this will remind you of the character played by him in Coolie No. 1. Manisha Koirala is unnoticeable and her screen presence is not felt at all. Ronit Bose Roy and Sachin Khedekar are somewhat watchable. Sunny Hinduja as villain doesn’t get enough to showcase his talent. Rajpal Yadav hardly appears for 5-7 mins and is hilarious. We wished we could have seen more of him in the film.
The round table conference scene which was the highlight of the film Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo where Allu Arjun dances to some superhit songs is removed here. Would have loved to see Kartik’s performance on some hit Bollywood songs. Some minor changes are made, but that doesn’t add much to the narrative. The film ends suddenly and you will be like that’s it, how come it ended without giving a proper conclusion. The ending is left incomplete and there are many things which remain unanswered like what happens to that villain, Kartik’s and Kriti’s love story, etc.
Rohit Dhawan has directed 2 films till now. Desi Boyz and Dishoom and both were strictly average and did not emerge as clean hits at box office. Shehzada will also have the same fate at Box Office. Rohit Dhawan didn’t have much to do in direction as he had a ready-made script in his hand. He didn’t try to do something new or creative and did simple frame to frame copy paste. Even the slow motion action scenes in Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo are frame to frame copied in Shehzada. There are too many flaws in the film that even a small child could point them out. This film would have worked in the 90s or if it would have been a TV serial.
Music of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo was a chartbuster and was very popular. Music of Shehzada is somewhat decent but doesn’t come close to that of the original one. And I don’t understand why the hell do they have to remake the songs unnecessarily and ruin them. T-Series is master in remaking good old songs and ruining them like a boss.
One thing I liked about Shehzada is the background music, but it was very loud sometimes. After watching the trailer you have the idea of how this film is going to be so keep your expectations within the limit and watch it at your own risk. If you are trying to find logic and something new then please stay away from this. B-grade and C-grade mass centers can go gaga over this flick. Allu Arjun has a mass image and a film like Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo suits his caliber and can please the audience of South, but Bollywood audience is different and those same old clichés and over the top action like Satyameva Jayate 2 won’t work here. So plan your weekend watch accordingly.
Rating – 2/5*
Watcht the trailer below:
