Karma Cartel Malayalam Movie Review

Karma Cartel is a VVS movie on all counts. So now you must be wondering what I meant by VVS. VERY VERY SPECIAL in the way a new treatment has been given to Malayalam Cinema. All credits to Vinod Bharatan, the director of Karma Cartel and his whole team in trying the avant-garde style of film making where a realistic approach is adopted on an experimental basis. And they have come out with flying colours to put forth a socially relevant them quite convincingly.
The film begins from a reporter who is in search of a missing actor named Sidh portrayed by Vinay Fort. This search lead to some incidents and bring some other people into the picture who are directly or indirectly connected with the main plot. Shortcut to money without hardwork among the youth is a growing trend these days and the film try to put forward this in a realistic manner.
Karma Cartel is the third of the Karma series from the director, the previous two films being short films. The beauty of the film is definitely the treatment which cannot be expressed in a few words. It is to be enjoyed on screen which is a first of a kind in Indian Cinema if my information is correct.
So you can see for yourself how the camera moves and how the picture is captured which is totally different from the conventional style of Cinematography. Same is the case with editing and how the film is narrated.
If you are to talk about the performances, then it needs some writing. There is a long line up of actors appearing in small but pivotal roles and each of them have made it memorable. Also the way they performed made it look so easy on screen but there will be hardwork and efforts to come up with such fine performances.
Vinay Fort as the struggling actor Sidh was a perfect cast for that role. The guy who impressed me most was Jinu Jacob as an Indy (Independent) film maker. The uncut scene that runs close to five minutes culminating with the half way mark, guys this man was brilliant in this shot. Luttu and Plan B portrayed by Sabumon and Shani Shaki were natural and evoked good laughs. The character of Deejay Fixer, the girl dating Arjun, Roopesh KV as Dr Rupesh were all had small roles but looked perfect for those characters on screen.
Premam fame Davis Manjilla (father of Mary) as ex-gangster Franco is another notable actor who could make his presence felt even if it was too brief. All the tensions that are normally seen in people facing financial problems were there on the face of Dr.Roy acted out by Rony David Raj. I might have missed a few to mention since the line up is too long.
Now to the best part of the film where a spoof is made on the current trend of social media reviews of films and the ratings put by online reviewers. As per what is shown in the film, a rating of 2.5 and 3.5 is the normal practice and it is rare and a difficulty to get 4 and 4 plus. Being a small time reviewer myself, enjoyed this part very much.
But I am going to prove them a thing wrong. Four is a rarity, says Luttu to Plan B but I am going to give four out of five for Karma Cartel, a movie that you should experience yourself if you love an experimental film and that too a first of a kind for Malayalam audience.
I am a few who is lucky enough to watch the film released in India under the PVR Director's Rare. If you get a chance, don't miss it.
Rating - 4 / 5