In Karmma Calling, Raveena Tandon emotes well and manages to anchor the wobbling storyline

Nonika Singh

What goes around comes around… we all have grown up with the doctrine of karma. But the rich, ahem uber rich, clearly do not abide by it. How the rich use those lesser placed as pawns in their upward climb is a story that needs little repetition. Yet, Guilty director Ruchi Narain states the obvious in a dramatic thriller of sorts. She creates revenge drama Karmma Calling, adapted from the American show Revenge, and takes us into what lies beneath the surface gloss.

Series: Karmma Calling

Director: Ruchi Narain

Cast: Cast: Raveena Tandon, Namrata Sheth, Varun Sood, Vikramjeet Virk, Viraf Patel,

Rohit Roy and Amy Aela

Stars: **

Thus we get a sneak-peek into the fissures, the cracks and the jet-setting life of crazily rich Kotharis. Why, they not only have an in-house event manager, they even use a chopper to search for that karwa-chauth moon! What fun… only if their lives were as perfect as we imagine them to be!

The first scene itself is a click-bait. A murder has been committed on the evening of an engagement party. All fingers point at the dead man’s fiancée. The 90s’ Bollywood actress Raveena Tandon playing the redoubtable Indrani Kothari whispers threateningly in her ear, ‘Mera beta kahan hai.’ Time for flashback and we are led (waylaid) back in time. A beautiful young damsel wants her pound of flesh. How God forgives but Karmma does not, is constantly hammered in. Karmma incidentally is the name of the heroine. Or, is it really? Anyway, she is the pivot around which we are meant to invest our time and emotions. Only we fail to root for her and are equally unmoved by her tragic past.

Some obvious flashbacks are in store; a father who has been wronged by who else but richie rich Kotharis and their gang. Any wonder she lives and breathes revenge and justice. Yet, the revenge game seems far too simplistic, there is no sting in the tale. Her powerful enemies keep falling to her maneuverings like nine pins. The ease with which she goes about planting hidden cameras in the private spaces of the rich and famous seems less sleuth like and more farcical. Of course, she has a loyal ally in this customary gay character Zane Khan (Viraf Patel), a tech expert who is on the list of richest men in Asia. His reasons for going out of the way to help her are as unpalatable as her means to trap her adversaries. If her actions seem incredulous, her acting doesn’t help either. Namrata Sheth as Karmma looks pretty, dresses sassily enough but her emotion-scape leaves a lot to be desired. Add to it the flat tone dialogue delivery.

However, if you can sit through the first three episodes, the series does take a turn. Can’t say for the better really, but it does have your attention. So does ravishing Raveena. The actress who made her digital debut with Aranyak grabs eyeballs with her ultra-glam part of Indrani Kothari and nails the part of this billionaire socialite with aplomb. Apart from looking drop-dead gorgeous, despite little help from writing, she emotes well and somewhat manages to anchor the wobbling storyline. Some characters like the Kothari heirs do grow on you. Clearly not all rich kids are spoilt brats. Varun Sood as Ahaan Kothari, who finds his surname a big baggage, is earnest. And it’s not just Karmma, you too warm up to him. Devangshi Sen as the younger sister is screechy to begin with but soon you begin to see her humane side. Of course, her falling for an average middle class boy, owner of a small-time café, is more perfunctory than romantic. Expecting it to be an insight into class divide would be asking for the moon. Here everything is surface gloss. Only if the makers had paid as much attention to sharpening their writing as they did to costume fits.

The seven-episode series meanders through the predictable flaws of the rich like adultery, financial scams and image-building to arrive at a cliffhanger. Yet, another click-bait which is likely to tempt viewers to watch the second season. Season I (streaming on Disney+Hotstar) has few redeeming features. The pace and short length of the episodes might make it a quick and easy watch. But should you watch it? Only if you forget and forgive easily. Indrani professes, ‘Kuch nahi badlega, na mere opinions na mere kapde.’ The show’s ensuing seasons, however, could do with a makeover that is not just cosmetic.

#Raveena Tandon