Shehzada Movie Analysis: Another Messy Remake of South Film

A mess of a south remake thanks to average script, while Kriti Sanon goes missing for majority of the 2^nd half.

Directed by : Rohit Dhawan 

Imdb link -> Shehzada (2023) - IMDb

"Hum gareebo ke paas ek hi cheez thi - dukh. Woh bhi tum ameero ne le liya."

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Spoilers ahead...

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South Film Remake Starring Kartik Aaryan

Bantu has been living the life of a servant's son for 25 years until, by accident, he finds out that his father Valmiki (Paresh Rawal) actually isn't his real father. Instead, he belongs to a millionaire rich family for whom Valmiki works, the Jindals: Randeep (Ronit Roy), his wife Yashoda (Manisha Koirala), their son Raj (Ankur Rathee), and father-in-law Aditya (Sachin Khedekar). Will Bantu reveal Valmiki's lie to the Jindals, or will he keep quiet and continue living the life he has?

Shehzada's Weak Story: Similar to 80’s & 90’s Era Movies

Not having seen the original, the story of Shehzada evokes a sense of nostalgia from the 80s era (the part where, at birth, kids are replaced intentionally or not) and partially from 90s movies like Govinda's "Hero No. 1" (where he tries to sort out all the issues the family members are facing). The former part is not utilized much in the narrative, and the latter happens too easily for my liking.

Ronit Roy, Manisha Koirala, Sachin Khedekar wasted

There's just no emotional connect to any character in the Jindal family, which is sad because the trio of excellent veteran actors - Ronit Roy, Manisha Koirala, and Sachin Khedekar - are underutilised.

Is Kartik Aaryan’s Performance Likeable ?

I think I prefer Kartik Aaryan in low-budget movies (Pyaar Ka Punchnama, Akaash Vani) over this Kartik Aaryan (Shehzada, Bhool Bhulaiyaa). He may provide some laughs in these movies, but they are very few and far between. In straight words, I would say it's too early for him to take on such lead roles that demand him to shine over an average script. The action scenes felt okay; I would rather prefer him to do more such roles before dismissing him as an action hero. In the comedy scenes, he actually reminded me of Varun Dhawan.

Expected More from Paresh Rawal

Rajpal Yadav is fun to watch in the only scene he gets in the movie. Paresh Rawal is okay; you expect more from him, but it's just a non-likable character. In fact, if the tone of the movie wasn't comical, there was a case for him to go more grey in this role, which would have worked better. I would have liked him to team up with Raj, who otherwise felt too childish in behavior.

Gorgeous Kriti Sanon: Missing in the 2^nd Half.

The only part that I enjoyed was the one involving Kriti Sanon, who looks gorgeous as always with a great screen presence. I feel Kriti and Kartik share very good chemistry (despite a very silly way to get them in love), which is a pity because the screenplay has Kriti missing for most of the second half.

Shehzada's Songs: Badly Placed but Provide Some Relief

The songs, while not at chartbuster level and their placement is questionable (but would you complain if the movie isn't working?), were pleasant to the ears, especially "Munda Sona Hoon Main." The reason to compose "Character Dheela 2.0" is a huge mystery to me. Neither the story has Bantu playing a playboy nor does Kartik have such a personality in real life. It just shows the lack of originality these days when a remake film requires another film's song to be remade.

Final Verdict on Shehzada

Overall, Shehzada is just another mess of a remake from the South that, even with another actor cast in the lead role, wouldn't have made any difference.

Rating: 3.5/10

Also, Check Out Movie Analysis of Uunchai

Uunchai Movie Analysis: A Lovely but Flawed Tale of Friends

Enjoyable Sooraj Barjatya movie that explores ideas out of his comfort zone, 2^nd half is a major let-down.

Directed by : Sooraj R. Barjatya 

Imdb link -> Uunchai (2022) - IMDb

"Kehte hai ki everest pe har sawaal ka jawaab hai."

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Spoilers ahead...

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Plot of Uunchai: 4 Friends and a Tale of Overcoming Life Hurdles

Three close friends - Amit Shrivastava (Amitabh Bachchan), Javed Siddiqui (Boman Irani), and Om Sharma (Anupam Kher) who are all senior citizens decide to trek to the Everest Base Camp because the 4th member of their circle, Bhupen (Danny Denzongpa), has recently died, and he always wanted to go there. The rest of the story is all about the physical struggle, the adventure and the secrets each of them learn as they battle to climb the Everest of their day-to-day life.

Neena Gupta Can Make a Dull Scene Look Awesome

Had a smile on my face for the majority of the first half, especially during the entire car journey from Delhi to Agra to Kanpur to Gorakhpur with all the rest stops, mainly food breaks, and the conversations between Amit, Javed, Om, and Shabina Siddiqui (Neena Gupta), playing the wife of Javed. Neena Gupta is such a brilliant actor that even the dull-looking scenes feel so alive with her presence.

Parineeti Chopra Sub-plot Felt Forced

The entire trek training montage felt really useless because at the completion of 2 months, you could say that none of them were fit enough to still go on the trek. No, I don't belong to those stereotypical old-fashioned people who believe that 60+ people should stay at home; I prefer them to be active. The issue here is this training montage shows no improvement in their physical abilities, so it's a total waste of time. It would have worked better if the 2 months were skipped directly to the day they start the trip, with a small conversation hinting that they haven't done much but are hopeful to reach the Everest Base Camp. That would have been ideal.

The main issue, though, was the second half and the entire trek sequences. Firstly, Shraddha Gupta (Parineeti Chopra), the trek instructor/guide, felt like a forced inclusion in terms of the story, especially how they show Amit is indirectly linked to her and all her family issues. Rather, some other actor who was just there to help with the trek with no backstory would have gone nicely. I also didn't understand how they create a total mess at the bridge crossing rather than waiting for the rain to stop or at least slow down. Does it happen in real life, so carelessly? Bit too much in the name of cinematic liberties!

Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, and Anupam Kher With Stand-out Performances

There's one department where I have no complaints, and that's the acting (minus Parineeti, of course, as mentioned above). Amitabh Bachchan and Boman Irani, especially, give top-notch performances, while Anupam Kher provides humor to the narrative effectively as always. I loved the scene where they are sitting on the Ghat and playing the song "Yeh Jeevan Hai, Iss Jeevan Ka," a very well-directed emotional moment. Sarika Thakur was also a good addition, initially as a mystery woman, and later provides more to Bhupen's reason for the love towards the Himalayas or that poem he had written.

Bit sad to see Danny Denzongpa get a very small role; he is yet so lovable. Loved it when he in a friendly tone criticizes the work of Amit, telling him that his best book is yet to come.

2^nd Half Falters Despite Fewer Sooraj Barjatya Tropes

The message of standing tall to any difficulty or circumstance life poses at you is well and clear. A tighter second half and better writing would have made it more effective. It's a little disappointing because the usual tropes that we see in Sooraj Barjatya's family drama movies are at a backseat; rather, he uses them as small conflicts and moves ahead without consuming the whole narrative, whether it's Om's view regarding his brothers related to the handling of Haveli, or how Shabina's daughter reacts at her mom's surprise visit when she and her husband have a birthday party planned already, or how Amit feels guilty for the condition his wife (Nafisa Ali in a cameo) is in.

The songs, while not memorable, still feel fresh because we have Amit Trivedi doing music for Sooraj Barjatya for the first time. "Keti Ko," "Haan Kar De," and "Ladki Pahadi" are all decent tracks that work fine with the narrative.

Final Verdict on Uunchai

Overall, Uunchai is definitely a positive step for Sooraj Barjatya after that disastrous Prem Ratan Dhan Payo. Good to see him stay in his elements and yet try something different, even with flaws, the heart seems to be in the right place, making the movie a good watch.

Rating: 6/10

Also, Check out Movie Analysis of Jersey (Hindi)

Jersey Movie Analysis: Doesn't work like the original did

A decent watch but poses no competition to the brilliance of the original version with the lack of emotions.

Directed by: Gowtam Tinnanuri

Imdb link -> Jersey (2022) - IMDb

"Noor na rukhtey, saah vi na mukkdey.. ke agg bann gaya hai lahu mera.”

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Spoilers ahead...

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Plot Completely Resembles Original Jersey Version

The story is the same as the original version of Jersey (starring Nani). The only major difference here is that Arjun Talwar (Shahid Kapoor) lives in Chandigarh and plays for the Punjab team. Also, Arjun's son Karan 'Kittu' Talwar is played by Ronit Kamra, who was also in the same role in the original.

Another South Remake that fails to live up to the expectations

I had seen Mili without watching the original, and it worked really well for me. This begs the question: if I saw this version of Jersey first, would I have enjoyed it a lot more? Or maybe it's just a case of the original being too good that the remake feels less engaging. Remakes are something I enjoy very rarely, and when it’s a scene-to-scene, situation-to-situation, and at many places even dialogue-to-dialogue copy, you gotta ask, 'What's the point of such a movie?' What's even more frustrating is that the director didn’t care to at least work on the weak links of the original movie.

Shahid Kapoor couldn’t match Nani’s original performance

As much as I want to say Shahid Kapoor tries his best, two factors spoil his act. One is, of course, it was tough to match Nani's original performance, and the other is the shades of Kabir Singh you felt in his looks and nature at various places. The swag was missing, especially in the 1986 sequences. I did enjoy him in the father role a lot better. Also, the Punjabi dialogues coming from him didn’t feel natural at all.

Mrunal Thakur (Vidya Talwar), playing the wife of Arjun, is pretty good in a supporting role.

Enjoyable Performances by Ronit Kamra and Pankaj Kapur

Coming to the best parts of the movie, I loved Ronit Kamra. He is again excellent as Arjun’s son. The innocence, the proud smile when a friend tells him about his dad’s photo in the newspaper, the guilt he feels for the ongoing fight between his parents, or how without any thought he says he feels his dad looks like a hero when he bats.

Then, there's coach Baali Sir (Pankaj Kapur). This track works firstly because of how good Pankaj Kapur is and the fact that it's a real father-son duo of Pankaj-Shahid, giving a lot more chemistry to the narrative, especially that hug scene when Baali Sir says not to get hopes too high of getting selected. Why did they cut the scene where Arjun goes to Baali Sir's home to give the happy news of being selected?

Jersey's Music: Mehram and Jind Meriye standout tracks

Lastly, the music is really good. My personal favourite is 'Mehram,' which I would say is nicely used but could have been a lot better. I also loved 'Jind Meriye,' another great emotional track about unfulfilled dreams.

Final Verdict on Jersey

Overall, The Hindi remake of Jersey struggles to capture the emotional depth of the original. Still, it’s a decent watch and will most likely work a lot better if you haven’t seen the original.

Rating: 5.5/10

Also, Check Out Movie Analysis of Hit- The First Case