Christmas Karma: Movie Review

Cast: Kunal Nayyar, Danny Dyer, Boy George, Eva Longoria, Billy Porter, Pixie Lott
Director: Gurinder Chadha

The Big Bang Theory's Kunal Nayyar headlines this intriguing, but not quite there, Bollywood take on A Christmas Carol.

He plays Mr Eshaan Sood, the grouchy owner of a business who's continually rankled by those enjoying Christmas and trying to shove it in his throat. A refugee to Britain, he despises the seasonal cheer and anyone espousing it.

On Christmas Eve, incensed by his workers insisting on turning up the heater, singing and dancing and disrespecting him, he fires all of them. Later, he turns down his nephew who wants to celebrate, before heading home angrily dismissing the local choir raising money for charity.

As he settles in for the night, he's visited by the ghost of his old colleague Marley, who warns him three ghosts will visit, insisting he needs to change his ways before it's too late.

In terms of the story of A Christmas Carol, Christmas Karma doesn't veer too far away from the original idea. But as it blasts an incohesive mix of song genres out, leaving the audience confused as to which genre they're actually watching.

From breakdancing Santas to cockney cabbies throwing a tune, to Bollywood dance numbers and some soulful guitar-led music, it's a mess of tunes, some of which are admittedly catchy - even to the most Bah Humbug amongst us.

Yet the Bend It Like Beckham director has a fascinating take on Scrooge, making him a refugee from Uganda, torn from family and friends by the rule of Idi Amin. Confronted on the UK streets by skinheads and racism and with a desire to secure a wife via status, rather than love, Chadha mirrors a Britain currently seized by far-right rhetoric and which feels depressingly contemporary within its story confines.

It's a shame because the emotional edges are there for the taking, but are drowned by trite moments and mawkiwsh sentimentality - and despite the depth of the lived-in experience from the director, Christmas Karma is stuck in its need to adhere strongly to the Dickens' classic.

There are some moments that melt the hardest of hearts, but with an execution like this, it takes the hottest of heats to melt the film's exterior and give in. Especially with Billy Porter and Boy George as the Ghosts of Christmas present and future. (Some of the worst parts of the film.)

More a fascinatingly flawed experience than the abject failure some reviews would have you believe it is, Christmas Karma's strength comes from its ability to try something new. But its failure comes from not capitalising on it and transcending the confines of the classic.