'Prince' hit the screens today (Oct 21). In this section, we are going to review the latest box office release.

Story:

The story is set somewhere in the Krishna district. Anand (Sivakarthikeyan) is a dumb school teacher who is known for being too silly and at times buffoonish. Sathyaraj plays his comically reformist father who is after higher ideals rather than wealth and narrow identities.

Jessica (Maria Riaboshapka), a Britisher, is the hero's colleague. They both hit it off quite well and soon fall in love. But things take a comically awry turn when they decide to get married. Meanwhile, a land-grabber named Bhupathy (Premgi Amaren) is after a piece of land owned by Jessica's father in the town. Can the duo get married against all odds?

Analysis:

In an interview, Sivakarthikeyan said that 'Prince' is about a village populated by naive people. Even the male lead and his father are childlike. Director Anudeep KV constructs a story around this premise.

Since this is a comedy entertainer, most of the jokes should have fallen into place while demanding as much popcorn as possible from the cine-goer. But even the scenes that are expected to be top-billed suffer from weak humour. What is so funny about the male lead saying that he lets only those students who don't know the answer resort to malpractices in an exam? This would have worked well as spontaneous, character-driven humour in a 'Jathi Ratnalu', which is Anudeep KV's previous film and first blockbuster. But here, everything is sub-par.

The small-town backdrop of the film hasn't been tastefully translated on the big screen. The film looks too short on the scale.

Jessica says that she feels excited in Anand's presence, giving a hint that the love track is mired in cliches. Even lines like "You are very kind-hearted. I won't leave you" have been delivered with a degree of pretense.

The absurd comedy draws laughs to an extent in the first half. However, in the second half, the comedy wears thin. The climax segment is where 'Prince' again finds its feet. But, by then, the audience's patience goes dry.

The comedy built around Sathyaraj's character doesn't go beyond one or two ideas. Premgi Amaren's character is incredulous.

Sivakarthikeyan would work if you see 'Prince' as a Tamil original dubbed into Telugu. The actor is cheery and all, but he should have brought out his character traits better. The heroine, Maria, is a good find. Sathyaraj is the only enjoyable one among the non-lead artists.

Thaman's music assumes significance during the songs. It's content with the tonal quality and scale of 'Prince'. Cinematographer Manoj Paramahamsa would have delivered a far more useful work had the setting of the film been upscale. Editing has been handled by Praveen KL. The running time was cut short by 12 minutes after the Censor works were done. The duration of 131 minutes shows that things have been wrapped up in a contrived way in the pre-climax and climax stages.

Verdict:

'Prince' goes haywire after the first hour. The comedy is dry and the jokes are bland for the most part.