Shehzada Review: A Prince-Sized Disappointment!

After the blockbuster success of Bhool Bhulaiya 2, Kartik Aaryan ventured into the action-drama side of things for the first time with Rohit Dhawan’s Shehzada, an official remake of the 2020 blockbuster Tollywood film, Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, which was carried by Allu Arjun’s swag, Trivikram’s directorial excellence and Thaman’s fantastic music. But, this film couldn’t replicate the magic of the original, because of the overall bland presentation.

Related: All Kriti Sanon Movies Ranked from Worst to Best

First off, Shehzada is a below-average cut, copy and paste of its original, which itself was not an incredible film. The family drama cliches it shows have been around since the 90s and no longer intrigue the audience if not presented uniquely. This Kartik Aaryan recounts the mediocrities without improving them and even trims some segments that appeal to the general masses. For example, AVPL focuses more on the legs of Pooja Hegde than her performance, but here, Kriti Sanon’s character fails to use either of those elements well.

Furthermore, the roundtable conference scene in AVPL, where Allu Arjun dances to superhit songs of multiple superstars, is trimmed in Shehzada. It would’ve been fun to watch Kartik dance to chartbuster songs of Shah Rukh Khan or Salman Khan in a hysterical segment. Alas, this is where it all goes wrong for this film, it snipped all the entertaining scenes from its original, and the dull romance angle between the lead couple is depicted poorly, all because of the scattered screenplay written by Rohit Dhawan.

Moving on, in a commercial outing like Shehzada, where moments of full swag, comedy, and emotions matter more than the performances, Kartik Aaryan managed to look decent in a few scenes while being irritating for the most part. Even though he displayed his acting caliber in movies like Freddy and Dhamaka to some extent, he felt miscast in this role. On the other hand, Kriti Sanon, his co-star, in another flowerpot role, raised the glamor quotient of the film, and that’s about it.

Moreover, with Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, Thaman S composed top-notch dance numbers like “Butta Bomma” and “Ramuloo Ramulaa,” which, even after three years, manage to find a spot in the Trending Songs charts on music platforms. So, did Pritam, the composer of Shehzada, at least try to be even half as good? No! Multi-genre films rely incredibly on music to succeed, but this movie fails miserably. Also, a humble request to T-Series to stop remaking the golden-age songs for the sake of humanity and your own “standards.” It is getting ridiculous.

Overall, Shehzada feels like an incomplete movie, and the inconsistent screen writing, below-par music, comedy, and the lack of entertainment makes it difficult to stay invested or enjoy for the most part. “A Prince-Sized Disappointment Carried by an Underwhelming Kartik Aaryan!”

Review by @samthebestest_
Edited by Surya Komal