Kannada film review: 'Mr Duplicate' is a remake after all

Film: Mr Duplicate (Kannada)
Director: Kodlu Ramakrishna
Cast: Prajwal Devaraj, Diganth, Sheetal, Injudhan Khan
Rating: **1/2

There were many denials from the team that Mr Duplicate…? is not a remake of Minnale or Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein, whereas some of the cast did accept that it was ‘inspired’ in bits.

But, after seeing the film, you’ll know that this film is a remake of the Hindi version, with an adaptation to the Kannada nativity, of course.

Mumbai and Delhi become Bangalore and Mangalore, but the story remains the same. Vicky (Diganth) and Nandu (Prajwal Devaraj) are college rivals. Chance makes them both pursue the same girl many years after college.

While Vicky, now a suave businessman called Vikram, is the one to meet her, Nandu, who’s a wastrel, falls in love with her. Circumstances lead Nandu to act as Vikram.

While the story goes alright till this point, the second half of the film turns out to be a tad too dragging. Also, the director seems to have inserted the songs in the wrong places too. Nonetheless, it ends up being quite a decent entertainer and eventually falls in the ‘clean, family entertainer’ genre.

Prajwal and Devaraj play reel life father and son in this film. While this has translated well on screen and they’ve excelled in the emotional scenes, Prajwal doesn’t seem to hold his own in his scenes with Diganth.

Diganth seems to overpower him in the rivalry scenes, albeit he has a role that’s almost a special appearance. Newcomer Sheetal shows promise and has a certain yesteryear heroine charm to her face.

Mano Murthy’s music is melodious and reminds you of the retro Kannada songs of the 70s and 80s and the dialogues and cinematography are quite impressive.

You only wish the film’s claim to showcase Angkor Wat, the Cambodian temple, for the first time on Sandalwood screen was justified with better usage of the picturesque location.