Of late, Kannada film fans are made to wonder why there are so many remakes in Kannada these days.
Fortunately, the producers are honest enough to purchase the rights from the makers of originals. And they are honest enough to admit that the films are remakes.
The same honesty is seen in copying scene by scene from the original. The end result is a film that does not have anything to do with the target audience.
Thandege Thakka Maga, which boasts of stars Upendra and Ambareesh in the lead, is the remake of the Tamil film Thevar Magan, starring Kamal Haasan and Sivaji Ganesan.
But this remake is watchable, mainly because the film revolves around the conflict in a village as opposed to the caste dynamics of the original film.
And thankfully, director S Mahendar has taken only the good elements from Thevar Magan.
Ambareesh is good as a village chieftain; Upendra has really tried hard to deliver a powerful performance.
The director has retained the orginal movie's three best songs. Only two songs are composed afresh, but they are no match for Ilayaraja's originals.
S A Raj Kumar has also not helped the film with his background score. The recording effect in the film will jam your ears than soothe them.
The ambience of the film is very natural to the Kannada film audience. Art director Mani Murthi has done a good job.
In Thevar Magan, Haasan as the story writer had given equal importance to the female characters. Both Revathi and Gowthami were excellent in their roles and Revathi bagged a National Award for her performance.
Though Laila -- who features in Thandege Thakka Maga -- is very talented, she looks pale in comparison to Revathi. Sakshi Shivanand also cannot do justice to Gowthami's role in the original.
Still, Thandege Thakka Maga will please those who have not seen the original Tamil film.
Rediff Rating: 
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