Shehzada
Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Paresh Rawal, Manisha Koirala, Ronit Roy, Sachin Khedekar
Director: Rohit Dhawan
Where to watch: Theatres
Rating: 2.5 stars
The term mass entertainer has entered Bollywood’s lexicon relatively recently. It’s another way to describe the masala films that dominated our single screens in the 80s and 90s. Buoyed by the success of such films in Tamil and Telugu industries, Hindi cinema has worked to revive this massy trend as well. In some cases, it has quite literally copied the formula by remaking South hits. Rohit Dhawan’s Shehzada is the latest instalment of that trend. And while some Hindi films have succeeded in recreating the magic, Shehzada falls short, quite disappointingly.
Shehzada is the story of Bantu (Kartik Aaryan), who was switched at birth with Raj (Ankur Rathee). So while Raj grew up in the palace of rich industrialist Aditya Jindal (Sacgin Khedekar) as his grandson, Bantu was reluctantly raised by the Jindals’ clerk Valmiki (Paresh Rawal), who despises him. How Bantu comes to know of his real lineage and what he does about it forms the crux of the story. In between, he also finds time to romance Samara (Kriti Sanon) his senior in a law firm.
On paper, Shehzada has all the right ingredients – drama, action, emotion, romance, big sets, flashy dance numbers, and decent actors. It rests the plot on the shoulders of an up and coming star, who only last year was hailed as thesaviour of Bollywood (remember Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2). And yet, we all know that the right ingredients do not make anything delicious unless prepared well by a competent chef. There, Rohit Dhawan falters. Shehzada is bland, unfunny, flat, and at times, really boring. There are scenes that have been insterted in the film with no purpose other than to generate some laughs and whistles. And sadly, the film fails there too.
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The parameter for judging a masala entertainer is never the craft and the technicalities. Such a film is judged by its ability to entertain people. The fact that the film managed just three-and-half chuckles, one clap, and not a single whistle in the theatre where I watched it (first day first show no less) says all there is to say about the film’s appeal. The Telugu original Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo had the same wafer-thin plot and average screenplay. But the film worked (Rs 250+ crore is proof) because of its smart packaging and the charm of its lead star – Allu Arjun.
Here, the packaging is dull itself. Shehzada seems like a bleached out version of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, created by someone who saw the film’s jazz but not its soul. The sad part is that its lead star tries, and tries his best. Kartik Aaryan is electric in some parts, particularly in the second half. His performance is measured and earnest, his comedy is good, and his action is convincing, to say the least. He has charm and screen presence, but just not enough to carry off such a bland film. The film does an even greater disservice to its other star – Kriti Sanon, who has been reduced to what I can only describe as an extended cameo. And it’s not even an interesting role at that. It is the stereotypical unidimensional heroine role that fans of south films have for years, unkindly described as ‘flowerpot’. An actress as talented as her deserves better.
Ronit Roy (as Bantu’s real father) and Sachin Khedekar as his grandfather justify their acting credentials, particularly in the dramatic and emotional scenes. But Manisha Koirala (as his mother) feels wasted here. Sunny Hinduja as the antagonist Sarang has his moments but he is not as menacing and threatening as we’d want a villain in a masala film to be. But no complaints against Sunny’s portrayal or performance here.
Shehzada is a wasted opportunity. It does injustice to its star – an actor who is liked by the masses and has shown that he has what it takes to deliver hits even in this climate. It is also unjust towards the audience, who have time and again told makers that they want to be entertained with quality content and newer things, neither of which Shehzada gives them. The only saving graces in Shehzada are the background score, some of the action sequences, and yet another Kartik Aaryan monologue. They managed to make me smile, which is the most exercise my face got during the 145-minute run of the film.
