‘Christmas Karma- Gurinder Chadha’s beautiful, festive love letter to Christmas, Britain and East Africa… (review)
To get into the that Yuletide spirit…
INSPIRED by Charles Dicken’s ‘A Christmas Carol’, this is a thoroughly enjoyable film with much to commend it and comes from a sincere place, we believe.
It is writer-director Gurinder Chadha’s take on an old English Christmas classic and she has said in interviews that she asked herself, if Dickens were around now what sort of story would he write and would he be happy with her version of his story?
We believe he would – he too wore his heart on his sleeve and if any English writer (perhaps with the later 20th century exception, perhaps, of George Orwell?), he comes to represent a very finely tuned social conscience – this does get political when you study and analyse it, but essentially, Chadha tugs at your heartstrings as a filmmaker who wants to have an emotional impact, above all.
It’s a good watch: entertaining, funny, sweet.
It also has a resonant power which some people may miss, misconstrue or simply ignore. To a point that doesn’t matter – sit and watch this film on your own terms.
It’s a Gurinder Chadha film – has friends and stars in it, and she makes the most of everything.
The plot is much as you would expect: a Scrooge character played by Kunal Nayyar (of ‘Big Big Theory’) fame) – a Mr Sood is well-off businessman who treats his staff abominably, is a miser and decides in the run-up to Christmas to get rid of everyone including his loyal manager – Bob Cratchit (as he is in Dicken’s original and played by Leo Suter).
His wife Mary (Pixie Lott) is appalled and the both wonder what will become of their critically ill son, Tiny Tim. His other older siblings are bereft too. In the run-up to Christmas, there is no cheer in this household, except the love that binds and holds them together – is that enough to celebrate possibly Tiny Tim’s last Christmas…?
Just as Sood is going around, saying: “Not Our Christmas” and snarling at most people and urging them to tighten their belts, figuratively, Sood is visited by old his deceased business partner, Marley (Hugh Bonneville) in ghost form, who says that death will be around the corner, unless he listens to three ghosts of Christmas past…
Marley might be Jewish and the better, kinder half of this one time partnership but this isn’t very well sketched and in the larger scheme of things isn’t vital.
Enter the three ghosts – Christmas Past (Eva Longoria). There is a whole sexy comedy horror film in her but we have to contend with her (just!) playing a South American Day of the Dead spirit and she fires the first warning to Sood.
The story then goes back to Uganda and Sood’s days there as a child (Chadha’s own family are from Kenya) and her Dad (as she pointed in our interview – see below) pined for the place of his birth.
For many East African Asians, this will be a touching and powerful storyline – it might be slightly idealised here – the young Sood’s best friend is a black Ugandan but again it doesn’t matter.
You begin to feel Sood’s scars and understands his torment as someone torn away from a place of safety, security and joy and thrust into another land of unsmiling, grisly and growly faces. These reminiscence scenes are extremely well done and almost from another film…
Just as now, there were protests outside refugee hostels and the political climate has returned us all to those very uneasy, uncomfortable days.
But this is 2025 not 1975 – good people are there and Sood begins to change his ways after both the ghost of Christmas Present (Billy Porter) and Ghost of Christmas Future (Boy George) all have their say.
The music is a big part of this film and mostly it works with Nitin Sawhney, Gary Barlow at the helm and support from Shaznay Lewis, Boy George, Anoushka Shankar and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.
Don’t leave before the final credits roll – there is fun behind the scenes shots of cast, Chadha, family and one time Bollywood, now Hollywood star, PC, as she is known colloquially.
Chadha has high ambitions for this film – it is also inspired by the great American post war Frank Capra classic, ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ and how this film is shown every Christmas (in the West) and each time wins a new generation of fans…
We think ‘Christmas Karma’ may well be a sleeper type of hit – critics may carp and slice up as a flaky cadaver – but best to watch this on its own terms and respond with your senses – with some understanding of the place it comes from – from the heart and with love for all things – that make Chadha the incredible force that she is in filmmaking.
Who else could assemble such a cast?
(Sailesh Ram)
‘Christmas Karma’ is out from tomorrow (November 14) in the UK and US
Picture: Sood (Kunal Nayyar) in Christmas Karma
NB: More pictures will be added
ACV rating: ***** (five out of five)
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