Karki Nanu BA, LLB Movie Review : Karki Nanu BA LLB review: A thought-provoking film on caste-based discrimination

Plot: College student Muthuraj (JP Reddy) gets caught in a society plagued by caste-based discrimination. He only has his courage and resilience to navigate the challenges he faces.

Review: The pan-India release and dubbing trend have almost ended the remake culture in all the industries. Or, that’s what we thought. But films like Telugu’s Mr Bachchan (remake of Bollywood film Raid) and our very own Karki (a faithful adaptation of Tamil movie Pariyerum Perumal) show that some filmmakers are still eager to adapt films from other languages, making slight alterations to resonate with local audiences.

Muthathi Muthuraj aka Muthu (JP Reddy) comes from an oppressed class and dreams of becoming a lawyer like his favourite idol Dr BR Ambedkar. Just like Ambedkar, he, too, wants to be the voice of the marginalised community. His journey takes a significant step when he secures a seat in a Law college in the city. In college, he befriends Jyothilakshmi aka Jo (Meenakshi), who comes from an upper-caste and privileged class. Jo helps Muthu learn English, and this ticks off a lot of people in the college, including Jo’s father. Muthu now has to fight on his own. Can he stand up to the mighty all by himself?

Karki is a faithful adaptation of the Tamil hit film Pariyerum Perumal, which was lauded by audiences across the globe. The movie paints a powerful picture of the inequality that exists in our society in the name of caste and shows the complexities of societal pressure. Karki stays true to the original story to a great extent.

Tamil filmmaker Pavithran, in his Kannada debut, has skilfully adapted the Tamil version to suit the needs of the Kannada audience, while retaining the essence of the original film. Reddy portrays an extremely powerful role with utmost dignity as a helpless law student. Meenakshi, Sadhu Kokila, Raja Belwadi have done the jobs assigned to them. Since most scenes were shot akin to the original, there wasn’t much creativity to unleash by both technicians and actors. Kargi’s (Muthu’s dog) death scene is extremely tragic and tugs the heartstrings. Arjun Janya’s music is about average.

The movie is a powerful, level-headed drama about a youth from an oppressed class making way for himself in a casteist society. If you haven’t seen the original, do not miss this film that skilfully mirrors the harsh realities of the society we live in.