Vikram (Carlucci Weyant) and his bride Anna (Alma Saraci) are residing in New York for the past thirty years. Vikram is estranged and separated from his father Ranvir (Vijayendra Ghatge). On Anna’s insistence, Vikram decides to visit his father in Ooty with his bride Anna and thus they land from New York to Ooty in South India. Karma movie review…
The couple is comfortable in Ooty, but only for a day or two, since the moment Anna alights from the train that brings them to the small town, she unwittingly becomes the medium of events including visions of a murder that took place in the woods surrounding Vikram’s father’s home thirty years ago.
With little love by Vik for his father, it is Anna, who is an orphan and wants to rebuild the frayed family relationships. The dad and daughter-in-law bond instantly hits off. The palatial mansion suddenly perks up with the new arrivals, even as Anna alongwith her father-in-law strives to change Vik’s mind about staying longer and taking over his father’s business, while Vic is still sceptical of his father.
Suddenly, Anna ‘s being troubled with her visions which see her remembering people and places she’s never seen before. Anna sees the ghost of Linda (Claudia Siesla), an Austrian woman who died in strange circumstances in the near-by forest, almost twenty years ago.
The hauntings now become more frequent and intense, making Anna sick to the point that her mental health is being questioned. Even though Anna had never set foot in Ooty, leave alone India before, she seems very familiar with the surroundings and even some people. Anna begins to question some people who then see her as a threat.
The nightmares occur more frequently and with more specificity. At first Vik accuses Anna of having some ingrained psychological problems, which hurts Anna deeply.
It is only until Vik digs up old newspaper clippings from the internet which talk about the mysterious disappearance of an Austrian tourist in Ooty. And then when strange inexplicable events happen to Vir himself, he apologizes to Anna. Vik resolves to help Anna and when it is discovered that a murder had indeed taken place thirty years ago, together they try to solve the mystery.
The spirit of Linda, raped and murdered thirty years ago reincarnated as Anna, leads Anna and Vik to the discovery of the identity of the murderer.
The story of Karma is a bit old fashioned, but the film carries you along with its thriller pacewith its tight editing and the background score adds to the mesmerizing mood of the moments as the film progresses. Performances in Karma too are fine and there is visual delight all throughout as cinematographer Lucio Cremonese craftily excels in capturing the eerie happenings with twists in the tale and then there is the visual splendour of splendid hill station Ooty and its picturesque hills and the lush green tea plantations.
Cast of Karma:
Anna – Alma Saraci
Vik – Carlucci Weyant
Linda – Claudia Ciesla
Ranvir – Vijayendra Ghatge
Khushroo – DJ Perry
Elizabeth – Shanda Renee
Reshma Bai – Smita Hai
Rocky – Sehban Azim
Tikku – Farzil Pardiwalla
Shankar – Raja Kapssey
Shankar Jr – Nirav Soni
Credits & Crew of Karma:
Producers – Vivek Singhania, Sanjiv Potnis, Dhiraj Kotkar
Director – M.R. Shahjahan
Writers – Amit Mehra, Vivek Singhania
Director of Photography – Lucio Cremonese
Film Editor – Alexandra Wedenig
Executive Producers – Marcy Levitas Hamilton, Strathford Hamilton, Ami Artzi
Production Design – Priten Patil
Background Score – Sunna Wehrmeijer
Sound Design – Dara Singh, Ramesh Birajdar
Costumes – Naida Tarakcija
Assistant Directors – Stephen Mathias, Kiran Magham
Make up and Hair Styling – Elizabegh Chare Hart, Melissa Cunningham
Location Sound Recordist – Julia Thompson
Film Mix Engineer – Anup Dev
Boom Operator – Paul Edmund Williams
Karma, movie review