Thayige Thakka Maga Review: A mediocre outing from Shashank

Thayige Thakka Maga Review: A mediocre outing from Shashank

The film does not have the signature of Shashank, with the fight sequences, dialogues and romantic scenes all turning out to be very repetitive
Rating:(2 / 5)

After films such as Krishnan Love Story and Krishna Leela, director Shashank and actor Ajay Rao’s latest outing is plain disappointing. In Thayige Thakka Maga, they seem to be satisfied with mediocrity. And this, in an industry which is swiftly moving towards new-age cinema, could prove to be treacherous.

Ajay's 25th film, which saw two directors opt out before Shashank took over, had more than one reason to work with the audience. For instance, the title bears the same name of the 1978 hit film starring Dr Rajkumar. Unfortunately, there seems to be no reason for viewers to rejoice given the cliche subject.

Cast: Ajay Rao, Sumalatha, Ashika Ranganath and Loki
Director: Shashank
 

Thayige Thakka Maga which means ‘Like mother, like son’ is about Mohandas and his mother Parvarthi. ‘Point’ Parvathi (Sumalatha) is a famous lawyer in the city and her son (Ajay Rao) is a karate instructor. The duo, known in the area as ‘Maga rebel, Amma eagle’, go to any extent to fight corruption.

There’s a twist when an accident takes place and Mohandas comes to the rescue of one of the victims. He traces the owner of the car, only to realise that he is Sharath Kale (Loki), the spoiled-brat son of a famous political leader, Prakash Kale (Hebbale Krishna). The story then delves into how the mother-son duo fight to bring justice to the survivor. While that’s one part of the story, Mohandas’s love track (interspersed with much anger despite him attending an anger management course) with Saraswathi (Ashika Ranganath) runs in parallel.

The link between the two tracks comes through a fight between Mohandas and Point Parvathi and some politicians, which puts Saraswathi’s family in deep trouble. While Mohandas and his mother help them come out of the situation, the question is whether Saraswathi will accept him again, and if he will be able to control his anger.

Overall, the film does not have the signature of Shashank. Although he has written the script and directed, it, his experiment of treading a new path falls flat. Fight sequences (mostly karate style), dialogues and romantic scenes are all repetitive, and the end too predictable. Even though the episodes are about today’s system and politics, Shashank fails to handle the subject with maturity.

Ajay, who wanted a change from the image of a romantic hero, fails to impress as a rebellious action hero. Sumalatha has followed the director’s vision and justifies the role of a lawyer and a rebel’s mother. It's refreshing to see that the heroine, Ashika, has an integral role in the film. But Sadhu Kokila is, to put it mildly, annoying, and the villain played by Loki does not come out as a strong character. 

The background music is too jarring. Except for one track, the rest of the songs by Judah Sandy lack appeal. Apart from good picturisation of the city market, cinematographer Shekar Chandra does not impress either. But, in the end, it's the story that is most to blame here.

The audience has to decide whether they’d like to watch an action-packed melodrama or stick to the duo’s good old films. My advice is to stick to the latter.

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