Love Story: poor copy of a classic

When a film which released more than three decades ago is remade in Kannada, it holds little surprise. Though the Kannada film industry claims it is churning out major hits and good quality films, there is an increasing trend of making films based on non-Kannada hits. There is an example of  Raktha Kanneeru which was a remake of  the Tamil film with the same name made about five decades ago.  

Little wonder, therefore, that Love Story's maker Madan Patel is inspired by a big hit Maro Charithra in Telugu featuring Kamal Hassan and Sarita. Maro Charitha directed by K Balachandar remains a classic till date. It was made in Hindi as Ek Duje Ki Liye by  the legendary L VPrasad, which also turned out to be a bigger hit than the original. A Kannada remake of such a big hit made after 30 years has ended as a damp squib. Except for the film's music tunes of which have been lifted, the film has fallen way below expectations.  

It is surprising that in these days of  e-mails and SMS, the script of the film has remained the same and the director has chosen to remain faithful to the original script of Balachandar.

The story is too well known. Mayur Patel, a youngster born and brought up in Delhi, comes to Karnataka and falls in love with a Kannada speaking girl.  He picks up Kannada very fast so much so that he can even

sing a song in that language.  As usual, the parents' consent for this alliance is hard to come by and an agreement is drawn wherein the lovers have to prove their passion for each other by remaining elusive to each other for a year.  

Being a faithful adaptation, some sequences of the film are well-narrated.

But if outstanding performances were one of the main features of the original, except for a few artists like Mayur Patel, Komal and Pramila Joshai, the others fail to deliver in this remake. 

It seems impossible for Mayur to carry the film on his shoulders alone. Bengali actress Tanu Rai, now turned
an item dancer, is simply intolerable. In most dramatic sequences, she fails miserably.

Komal and Pramila Joshai have played their roles adequately, but most of the Tamil artists (the film is dubbed into Tamil and that accounts for a number of Tamil artists in the film) fail to impress.  

The outdoor locations have been well shot by cameraman Mathew Rajan.  K Kalyan banks on orginal tunes for the film's music and a couple of songs written by Kalyan and Nagendra Prasad seem impressive.

Love Story may please you if you have not seen Maro Charithra or Ek Duje Ke Liye.  But if you are yet to get over the magic cast by these two original films, just avoid going to the theatre to see this poor remake.