A pivotal sequence in Shehzada’s build-up to the intermission very well sums up what Rohit Dhawan’s new film is like. A lady who has been comatose for a quarter century comes to life, blurts out a long-suppressed truth, and quickly breathes her last, having placed the cat among pigeons.
The film, like the book, has fits and starts. Following a brief preamble set 25 years ago, it lapses into a dormant condition, regains some vigor on either side of its midway point, and then returns to what it was mostly in the first hour and a half – flaccid, uninteresting, and devoid of true comedy.
Whatever happens in Shehzada’s two-and-a-half-hour length, star actor Kartik Aaryan, who is also recognized as a producer, is in good shape. He utilizes the video as an extended demo reel to demonstrate his acting range. He regularly strikes the sweet spot by blending slow-motion flair, some developed effervescence, and flashes of passion.
Aaryan gives his all to the picture, whether it’s melodrama, humor, action, or romance. Parts of this swapped-baby dramedy are enjoyable only because of what Aaryan brings to the table – a pleasant figure whose machismo is tempered with a precise grasp of the line that separates the acceptable from the unacceptable.
The hero, Bantu (Aaryan), is a boy swapped at birth by a factotum of a wealthy tycoon and ends up in the home of the naukar when he should have been nurtured in the palace of the affluent maalik. With a degree from the Government College of Law in Amritsar, he gets engaged as an assistant by a lovely lawyer (Kriti Sanon).
As Shehzada progresses through the expected spiel about the affluent being exploitative and manipulative and the poor bearing the brunt, he spends a full half-hour figuring out who he is.
As he comes face to face with the truth of his birth, he does not rush to open the door. He accepts responsibility for righting the severe injustice done to him. He deploys strategies and ploys that individuals who have watched the original are familiar with. Those who haven’t seen the film may be enthralled by Bantu’s antics aimed at ensuring that the unctuous Valmiki (Paresh Rawal), the guy responsible for the young man’s misfortunes, gets his due.
Aaryan transforms from a lover to an action hero, a mamma’s boy, an enraged crusader against those who have mistreated him, and a staunch guardian of the family with which he has an embryonic tie. Shehzada focuses entirely on the actor. He does not let the opportunity pass him by.
The other cast members, including Paresh Rawal, are mostly there to assist the male protagonist in displaying his products. Kriti Sanon is a lawyer who never appears in court, the romantic interest, and the focus of a few musical set pieces. Sure, she does appear from time to time, but only to play second fiddle to her ‘helper’.
Manisha Koirala struggles to play a mother figure, while Ronit Roy plays a patriarch who is scarcely given a chance. Raj is the young man who benefits from the crib exchange at the beginning of the film (Ankur Rathee, an actor who clearly deserves to reap the fruits of his talent to a far greater extent than the Mumbai movie industry has permitted thus far).
Raj is a man-child incapable of confronting difficulties, making decisions, or even feeling rage when the lady he believes he will marry pulls the rug out from under him. He is the polar opposite of Bantu, the unfortunate youngster who has had to make do with hand-me-downs his whole life.
Bantu’s persistent reluctance to lie is both his strength and his vulnerability. When the deprived prince returns to his realm to press his claim to the silver spoon that is properly his, he does not become disoriented. He nibbles away methodically, and with the sole intention of assisting, he charms his way into the heart of the mansion’s owner, Aditya Jindal (Sachin Khedekar). It’s overused, yet it’s harmless.
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Shehzada, a remake of the 2020 Telugu superhit Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo, has an obvious throwback ring to it, but the translation by Rohit Dhawan, while utilizing all the clichés that come with the plot’s wacky techniques, wraps the concoction in a contemporary, millennial cloak. The film’s spirit, on the other hand, is tough to dismiss.
Allu Arjun, producer Allu Aravind’s son, led the Telugu film, and the actor infused the part with a degree of passion that Kartik Aaryan had to extend every limb to meet. He pulls it off with style and even takes a jab at the culture of nepotism that fuels the new-generation Bollywood star system.
Shehzada is fusty but entertaining. If Kartik Aaryan isn’t in it, there might not be much left. If nothing else, Shehzada demonstrates that the actor can now carry a complete film without relying on an extraordinarily talented Tabu, as he did in his last smash, Bhool Bhulaiya 2.
If Shehzada is a box-office success, it might be a watershed moment in Aaryan’s career. Given the time and effort he has put into this jumbled mess of a picture, that would be an entirely deserved result.
