Aa Karala Ratri(That intense dark night), considered one of the best Kannada movies of 2018 is a superb slow-burn small budget thriller. It explores the destruction caused when individuals give way to base emotions of extreme greed and selfishness. Kannada is a language spoken in Karnataka, a state in Southern India.

The plot is set in the 80s. The locale for the plot is a quaint village in interior Karnataka, a southern state in India. A stream runs through scenic village, far from the hustle and bustle of big cities. However, if one were to take a closer look, the outer beauty of this village hides an ugliness. Extreme poverty, illiteracy and superstition run rampant in it.

The movie opens with disturbing visuals of a burning house,where the voice of the narrator tells the viewer that this fire is not the beginning, but the end of a cautionary tale. Next, a group of villagers are attending, what seems to be a musician imparting a sermon of sorts on the effects of greed and its various incarnations of jealousy, envy, selfishness, lust and apathy.

Among the villagers are a mother and daughter. The daughter is not a happy soul. After the performance, as the two women head back home, the daughter, Mallika scoffs at the message of the sermon. She is in a state of anger- anger about her situation in the village where there is no visible path to a happy prosperous future, where the struggle against poverty continues from day to day. The daughter’s father is a drunk, who does not work. The mother is an overworked midwife who takes it upon herself to make ends meet. The family lives in a small hut a few miles away from the rest of the village.

A mysterious stranger appears in the village. He is tall and well built, and carries with him a briefcase. As he arrives in the village, a blind street musician accosts him and the two converse. It is revealed that the stranger has come from afar and seems to be fluent in the local language, Kannada.

In the meanwhile, a soothsayer visits the poor family, living in the remote hut. Great fortune is heading their way, he promises. Mallika, in no mood for nonsense, rudely tells him to go away. Just as the soothsayer leaves, he crosses paths with the mysterious stranger. Walking past him, the stranger arrives at the hut. After introducing himself to the three inhabitants, the stranger asks them, if they would be kind enough to let him stay in their house, for one night.

After some reluctance, the father agrees. As the stranger settles down in the house, a man dressed in a traditional loin cloth and a suit jacket comes to the house.The family insists that they need to meet with the man by themselves, and ask the stranger to remain at the back of the hut until the man leaves. It is revealed that this man is a loan shark and that the family had deeded the house to him, in a moment of need.

The man demands the money from the father, but says that he could possibly compromise with them. As he speaks, he casts a lustful eye on their daughter. In anger, the girl lashes out verbally and tells him to leave. The man leaves.

The stranger gets more acquainted with the family. He seems down-to-earth and pleasant. At one point, he opens the suitcase, he brought with him. The family catches a glimpse of priced jewellery in the suitcase.

This is the turning point in the movie. It is at this moment that evil thoughts enter their minds. They are sure that no other soul saw this man come to their residence. If he were to disappear, no one is going to come to their house looking for him. These are the thoughts that they share. At this point, the family seems to lose all humanity and conspires to formulate a dastardly plan, that they will put into action that very night.

The movie now becomes an edge-of-the-seat thriller. There are terrific twists in the movie, as the blind musician who accosted their guest earlier, comes to their house and asks them if they saw the stranger. Two local policemen also pay them a visit, as they are investigating another unrelated case. These are some of the chilling moments in the film that lead up to an explosive climax. It would be revealed, that contrary to their impression, some of the villagers were actually aware that this stranger was going to visit the family. Who is this mysterious stranger. This is another explosive revelation, that will come just before the climax.

There is one very unnecessary scene in the film. It seems to me that the director who was targeting an Indian audience suddenly had a concern, as to whether the audience would accept a movie without commercial elements. So he decided to add a scene where the daughter Mallika is momentarily attracted to the stranger and fantasizes that she is singing and dancing in a romantic duet with him. This scene, to be perfectly honest, did not belong, in this otherwise riveting movie and should never have been included. The viewer is advised strongly to ignore or overlook this sleazy inclusion, that lasts about five minutes.

All the actors in the movie give solid performances, but Anupama Gowda who plays the quick tempered daughter Mallika steals the show with her stellar acting. This is another hidden gem in Indian Cinema, brilliantly directed expertly by Dayal Padmanabhan. The cinematography is also visually appealing. The movie is definitely worth watching.

The movie is available on Hulu with a subsciption.

Director: Dayal Padmanabhan

Cast: Anupama Gowda, Karthik Jayaraman, Veena Sundar, Rangayana Raghu.