Shehzada Movie Review: Kartik Aaryan and Kriti Sanon’s Remake of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo is a Joyless Facsimile (LatestLY Exclusive)
Shehzada Movie Review: Shehzada‘s OG, the mouthful-sounding Telugu blockbuster Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo is not a path-breaking film. It has a premise that has been battered to paste, is misogynistic and problematic, and repels logic by miles. And yet, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo works mightily is because of Allu Arjun’s inimitable swagger and Trivikram Srinivas’ packaging of the mass scenes. Kartik Aaryan’s Shehzada, despite borrowing the whole premise (including even character names, which IMO is pretty lazy) and even doing some cosmetic changes here and there, couldn’t replicate the same equation here, because of those two very reasons. Shehzada: Kartik Aaryan Visits Siddhivinayak Temple to Pray For His Film’s Success.
So if you haven’t watched the original film, let me brief you about the premise of Shehzada, directed by Rohit Dhawan (Desi Boyz and Dishoom). Years back, Valmiki (Paresh Rawal), who works for a rich industrialist family Jindal, switches his newborn son with the kid of his employers Randeep (Ronit Roy) and Yasu (Manisha Koirala), who was also born in the same hospital, out of jealousy. While his son Raj (Ankur Rathee) grows up like a Prince in that oblivious but rich household, the real shehzada Bantu (Kartik Aaryan) grows up at Valmiki’s, getting second-hand treatment from him despite his brilliance and is ignorant of his origins.
But not for long, though. Thanks to the trailers, you might have already figured out that Bantu stumbles upon the truth of his birth, but instead of clearing things up with his family about his identity, he instead tries to solve their problems and bind them tighter as a unit, helped by his grandfather Aditya (Sachin Khedekar), and also protecting them from an external foe in Sarang (Sunny Hinduja).
Watch the Trailer of Shehzada:
Even though I was very much familiar with the premise of Ala Vaikunthapurramulo, I felt that Shehzada started off good. The whole switcheroo at birth, and Valmiki trying to undermine Bantu right from the time he gets named to bullying him when he is an adult, were engaging enough. The trouble comes when the movie pushes itself into the Jindal family and has Bantu’s path cross with theirs, and suddenly, here’s where the clear dissonance of remaking a Telugu potboiler within Bollywood sensibilities begins to expose itself.
And it’s here also where the flaws of the original begin to get even more amplified (like the dismal importance given to pedigree than upbringing), or simple continuity issues (after a scene involving 7 or 8 yo Bantu, there is time-jump card that proclaims ’25 Years Later’, only for an adult Bantu to claim he is 25 years old). All because, there is no Allu Arjun to distract us from them, even though poor Kartik Aaryan tries really hard to duplicate that swagger, especially in the action scenes.
The comedy scenes become cringer – there is an entire sequence with Rajpal Yadav in a cameo that is neither funny nor needed in the film. Most of the supporting characters don’t get fleshed out well, and their problems are superficial at best, that Bantu solves either through a fight or with a mere talk-down.
Shehzada also makes changes to certain characters from the original that left me nonplussed. Like, for example, the Raj character was shown lacking confidence in himself and being meek, but here he is turned into a bumbling, man-child just to inject even more forced comedy in the remake. It is just because Ankur Rathee is a decent actor is why I took him somewhat seriously in the outburst scene against his family. Shehzada: Kartik Aaryan Interacts With Fans and Gets Candid About His Life During Kolkata Promotion (View Pics).
Another prime example of such a change is what Shehzada does with Kriti Sanon’s character. No, I hadn’t forgotten her earlier, but just showing how (in)consequential she is to the movie. Which was also the case with Pooja Hegde’s character in Ala Vaikunthapurramulo. Rohit has tried to ’empower’ the heroine’s character here by making her the head of a paralegal firm instead of owning a travel agency firm. The objectification is tamed down, even though, in her first scene itself, the hero is shown being besotted with her legs. But apart from that, Kriti’s character Samara has no agency of her own – she needs Bantu to rescue her from a bad meeting, and even can’t say no to a marriage she has no interest in. What’s even worse is that the love track feels vapid and rushed, and not even Pritam’s soundtrack, lacking the charm of a “Butta Bomma“, could salvage it.
Are there positives? Yes. Even though Kartik Aaryan invites himself to pale significantly when trying to replicate Allu Arjun’s swagger, the actor does pretty well in the light-hearted and the emotional scenes. In fact, the dramatic moments in the film, like when Bantu brings out Randeep and Yasu’s problem out in the open, works because of him. Even the scenes between him and Paresh Rawal work for this very reason.
As for the rest of the cast, most of them are okay. The talented Sunny Hinduja does his best to be menacing in a role that offers him very little scope and absolutely no hope.
Final Thoughts
I wish I could say that Shehzada might work for those who haven’t seen the original. The setup is interesting and Kartik Aaryan does his best here, but they aren’t enough to deflect from a tedious middle act, superficial writing and humourless comic scenes. Shehzada simply turns out to be a remake that fails to replicate what worked for the original and instead because a rough board that reflects all its flaws.
(The above story first appeared on Today News 24 on Feb 17, 2023 02:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website todaynews24.top).
