Hailed ‘the worst movie since Cats,’ a new Bollywood-inspired festive flick with an all-star cast has been absolutely savaged by critics.
Christmas Karma, which is directed by Bend It Like Beckham’s Gurinder Chadha, is a modern musical retelling of A Christmas Carol featuring a version of Ebenezer Scrooge who ‘despises refugees’.
It tells the story of a British-Indian man named Sood – who is described as a wealthy man who hates poor people and refugees on the basis they ‘haven’t worked as hard as him to get where he is’, played by The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar.
But despite its all-star cast featuring Eva Longoria, Danny Dyer, Pixie Lott, Billy Porter, Boy George and Hugh Bonneville – the film has been totally slated in its first reviews.
It even received a zero star review from The Telegraph – who branded it the worst film since the disastrous film adaption of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats in 2019.
And The Guardian headlined their one star review: ‘Dickens adaptation has as much Yuletide spirit as a dead rat in the eggnog.’
Hailed ‘the worst movie since Cats,’ Bollywood-inspired festive flick Christmas Karma, which has an all-star cast, has been absolutely savaged by critics (Danny Dyer pictured)
But despite its all-star cast featuring Eva Longoria, Danny Dyer, Pixie Lott, Billy Porter, Boy George and Hugh Bonneville – the film has been totally slated in its first reviews (Boy George, Billy and Eva pictured)
The Telegraph’s Robbie Collin wrote: ‘Christmas Karma is a film made with the best intentions by some lovely human beings, but which keeps finding new and spine-twistingly embarrassing ways to fall on its face.
‘The recipient of The Telegraph’s first zero-star film review since Cats in 2019 hails from the same school of indigestible seasonal tat as Nativity 3: Dude, Where’s My Donkey? It is among the worst things to happen to Christmas since King Herod.’
Brian Viner of The Daily Mail wrote: ‘The mid-November release of Christmas Karma (PG, 118 mins, HIIII), an Anglo-Indian musical version of A Christmas Carol written and directed by Gurinder Chadha (who made the 2002 comedy Bend It Like Beckham), is not quite the silliest thing about it. Not with Danny Dyer playing a singing taxi driver.
‘At a rough estimate it’s the zillionth screen adaptation of the Dickens story and one of the worst, which deserves to be haunted for the rest of time by the ghost of good films past.’
The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw: ‘This cynically Christmassy movie is leaden, unconvincingly acted and about as welcome as a dead rat in the eggnog.
‘It’s the worst Christmas film since last year’s Red One, in which Dwayne Johnson played the head of security for Santa Claus and more or less had us all rooting for anyone who could beat up Father Christmas.’
He added: ‘It’s only November and this film has given me an overload of Yuletide nausea.’
Empire’s John Nugent said: ‘You need to hire someone better than Gary Barlow to write the songs. This is the kind of soundtrack that will have you muttering, “Humbug!” under your breath.’
It tells the story of a British-Indian man named Sood – who is described as a wealthy man who hates poor people and refugees, played by The Big Bang Theory’s Kunal Nayyar (Pictured)
The film has even received a zero star review from The Telegraph – who branded it the worst film since the disastrous film adaption of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Cats in 2019 (Pixie Lott pictured)
And The Guardian headlined their one star review: ‘Dickens adaptation has as much Yuletide spirit as a dead rat in the eggnog’ (Eva Longoria pictured)
He added: ‘Instead, it has an end-of-the-pier Christmas panto feel, a cheap-and-cheerful approach with constant sloppiness: singing often out of sync, noticeable green-screen and janky CGI, cheap-looking projections on walls, and acting that is, with the best will in the world, somewhat amateurish.’
The Irish Independent’s Chris Wasser wrote: ‘A strange line-up, but Chadha’s films usually find a way to charm the socks off us, not this one. The Scrooge stuff is fine, and Christmas Karma works best when exploring Mr Sood’s Indian heritage.
‘It’s the hokey, cluttered musical that gets in the way – and I think Nayyar is a tad too young to portray the cantankerous lead.’
Christmas Karma is due for release on Friday and sees EastEnders actor Danny Dyer also has a part in the musical as a London cab driver and was spotted wearing a red Christmas jumper during filming in May last year.
Director Gurinder said of the film, according to The Telegraph: ‘Our Scrooge, called Sood, is a rich British Indian who despises poor people and refugees in particular.
‘Sood has decided that immense wealth brings him status and standing, so to hell with the poor, unemployed and disenfranchised who didn’t work as hard as him to get where he is.’
The director, who is known for Bend It Like Beckham and Bride and Prejudice, said the inspiration for the modern-day musical came from politicians in Britain today.
She added that Christmas Karma, which is set in London, is a celebration of ‘all of modern Britain’s communities and cultures’.
Director Gurinder said of the film, according to The Telegraph: ‘Our Scrooge, called Sood, is a rich British Indian who despises poor people and refugees in particular’ (Hugh Bonneville pictured as Jacob Marley)
Gurinder explained that her version is ‘very true to the original text and sentiment’ and aims to teach viewers how prejudice in society still exists.
‘A hundred-and-eighty-two years later, Dickens’ novella still resonates globally in today’s sometimes harsh world,’ she said.
A Christmas Carol traditionally recounts the story of Ebenezer Scrooge – a miserable old man who is visited by a series of ghosts.
He is subsequently transformed into a kinder and more empathetic character.
Kunal, who plays the protagonist in Gurinder’s musical, is known for his role as Raj Koothrappali in the US sitcom The Big Bang Theory.
Meanwhile, Boy George will play the Ghost of Christmas Future and Paddington’s Hugh will take on the role of the Ghost of Jacob Marley.
