"Kataka" Kannada film review - Bad acting and graphics make this ridiculous...

Movie poster image source & credit: imdb.com

I have lately been having a feeling that movie-makers in this day and age pay up the media to give them good reviews. I had recently felt that with Thupparivaalan, and now with this one - Kataka. I picked this one following the buzz around this film.

A school teacher, Kumar, fed up of city-life (read Bengaluru), returns to his home-town with his wife and daughter, wanting to start his own school there. During the drive home, his daughter is affected by sorcery, via energy transfer when she breaks a fish-bowl at a pit-stop in Kollam (Kerala). But then, the actual story takes place somewhere in coastal Karnataka.

I was quite confused about the Kollam connection, as they highlighted the place (and that's it) at the beginning of the film, which doesn't come anywhere en route between Bangalore and that part of Karnataka where the story is centred!

Now, when you're watching a serious film based on black magic, you know that things are seriously awry when more than three-fourth of the audience, including me, is in splits and passing comments, lampooning at the effort (or the lack of it!) of the acting and the graphics.

While it is good to see the fire in director Ravi Basrur, originally a music composer (of Ugramm fame), pray, why would he have a fireball or a cloud over the house in every other scene... And the unacceptable CGI, err, on the girl's face! Even the seventies had better special effects! This is unacceptable, even more so when the iconic Rajkumar family has a hand in the production.

The film has a nice message about energy, sadism and friendship. The other pluses - the locations, the music, the last half hour.

Amongst the cast, Madhava Karkada was the pick of the lot, as Kumar's friend Appu. 
And the lead, Ashok Raj, ups his ante towards the latter part of the film. Maybe he took time to settle down, like a (cricket) batsman at the crease.

The theme is quite original, and could have been so eerie, if well-made... could have easily sent chills run down your spines.

The biggest drawbacks of the film - the acting is bad. Bad is an understatement! The sound dubbing is ludicrous. And the entire film is noisy. Too much sound in places for lack of expression and good effects.

My verdict: 1.5 out of 5. Half mark for the improvisation in the last 30 minutes. and for attempting a movie out of a story that isn't run-of-the-mill.