Prince Review

Prince - A pretty decent light-hearted rom-com drama.

Sivakarthikeyan has grown into an enormous star in Tamil cinema and his success is undeniable. He is celebrated by fans and family audiences as the 'Prince' of Kollywood. Now, the star actor has presented 'Prince' as his first-ever Diwali release to the audience. Notably, this bilingual film also marks SK's Telugu debut. Anudeep KV (who gained fame with Jathi Ratnalu) has directed Prince, produced by Shanthi Talkies, Suresh Productions and Sree Venkateswara Cinemas. Let's see if the film is a worthy Diwali treat to the fans.

The story of 'Prince' is very simple and has already been stated by the movie team several times. Anbu (Sivakarthikeyan) is a carefree, cool-headed social science teacher in a small town near the Cuddalore-Pondicherry border. Anbu's father Ulaganathan (Sathyaraj) is the grandson of a freedom fighter and a patriotic, revolutionary and progressive man who wants his son to have an inter caste or inter-religion marriage. Anbu falls in love with his new colleague Jessica (Maria), an English teacher and a British woman. While  Anbu faces a problem when he finds out Maria's father doesn't like Indian people, he also faces opposition from his townspeople as they don't approve of an Indian marrying a British due to their patriotism. Did Anbu and Maria succeed in their love surpassing all these hurdles is what Prince is all about.

What works best in Prince is the cute and fresh little moments all over the film. The humour in the movie is so light-hearted and not exaggerated. SK's trademark one-liners are a treat to watch and the actor slays with his dance steps as well. The comic chemistry between Sivakarthikeyan and Sathyaraj was a treat. The spoof scenes and climax sequence worked well in the whole film.

Sivakarthikeyan fits well with the Anbu character with his charm and charisma. One can very well say that he is one of the best dancers in Kollywood now. Sathyaraj scores with his humour big time while Premgi Amaren delivered a neat performance. Ukrainian actress Maria as Jessica is cute but she got no big part in acting in this script. Prankster Rahul, Finally Bharath and the other secondary characters didn't make an impact.

On the downside, it felt like Prince didn't have the necessary elements for a comedy film to work well. Amid the simple story and execution, many of the scenes felt boring while the parts that worked saved the film. The major concern is that the characters were penned poorly. If the film had better character writing and if the audience could have been able to connect with the craziness of the characters, then Prince would have been a memorable comedy film.

Manoj Paramahamsa's visuals help us enjoy the rom-com more with its vibrance. Thaman has done terrific work with his songs and background scores. Praveen KL could have contributed more in the editing aspect. Prince struggles to be a good comedy film though it has a quirky plot. Anudeep KV has missed a few ingredients in his formula and it results in a lackluster movie with some enjoyable moments.

Verdict: Hop on to this comedy entertainer to have a few good laughs at the harmless comedies presented by Sivakarthikeyan and Anudeep this Diwali.