Sivakarthikeyan's Prince to drop on Disney+ Hotstar on Friday; what to expect from the partly engaging film?

There were huge expectations when Sivakarthikeyan teamed up with Telugu filmmaker Anudeep of Jathi Ratnalu fame. The latter garnered appreciation from several quarters for the quirky, entertaining comedy he came up with in his Tollywood debut. Movie lovers were curious to know how Anudeep would handle Siva, who has a knack of pulling off comedy.

Though many seemed to be excited, there were those who expressed apprehension on the outcome of the project, as a Telugu filmmaker was set to direct a comedy with a Tamil hero. The movie was later titled Prince, and was announced as a bilingual film to be released in both the languages.  

However, those who expected another Jathi Ratnalu were disappointed when the film hit the screens on October 21 as a Deepavali release. The lack of intriguing conflicts, weak characterizations and lukewarm emotional sequences failed to meet the expectations of cinephiles from both Tamil and Telugu.

Sivakarthikeyan's flawless performance as a care-free school teacher, who falls in love with a British lady, was one of the few positive aspects of Prince which had a decent portrayal of a caring father by Sathyaraj as well. Ukrainian actress Maria Riaboshapka, too, made her presence felt in the movie.

Its story revolves around how a happy-go-lucky guy tries to convince his father about his relationship with his colleague, who actually hails from the UK. While some of the light-hearted scenes in the first half that are meant to be silly managed to evoke laughter, those in the latter half failed to engage the viewers.    

Prince is set to stream on Disney+ Hotstar from tomorrow in Tamil and Telugu. Premgi Amaren, Subbu Panchu and Anandraj among others played notable characters in the film which has music composed by Thaman.