Karma Korma (2025) [Series Review]: A slow-burn web thriller blending crime with compassion

by Emily Davis | 8 hours ago | 4 min read

Karma Korma, written and directed by Pratim D Gupta and streaming on Hoichoi, is a seven-episode Bengali web thriller that uses food as a doorway into darker emotional territory. Marketed as a crime-revenge drama, the series instead unfolds as a character-driven slow burn about two women from different worlds whose casual, biting joke becomes the spark for a police investigation and a moral reckoning.

Story & Writing

A compact premise that slowly simmers into a layered mystery

The narrative begins simply: a cooking workshop where Shahana (Ritabhari Chakraborty), a well-to-do socialite trapped in emotional neglect, meets Jhinuk (Sohini Sarkar), a struggling dubbing artist facing financial strain and domestic abuse. A flippant “you kill my husband, I’ll kill yours” line moves from dark comedy to grim reality when Jhinuk’s husband, Gopal, turns up dead. What follows is less a whodunit than an exploration of why people reach breaking points. Pratim Gupta resists spoon-feeding answers; instead, he doles out clues and character moments, letting ambiguity and ethical complexity linger. The script borrows familiar thriller ingredients—investigation, revenge, fractured marriages—but blends them into a quieter, more contemplative stew.

Performances

Two powerhouse leads anchor the series

The show rests on the shoulders of its principal actors. Ritabhari Chakraborty delivers one of her most restrained turns, quietly rendering Shahana’s loneliness and simmering resentment with small, devastating choices. Sohini Sarkar is equally compelling as Jhinuk, capturing exhaustion, fear, and the barely contained rage of a woman pushed to extremes. Ritwick Chakraborty as Bhupen, the investigating officer, provides a sharp, often wry counterpoint—his mix of sarcasm and empathy keeps the procedural thread from going flat. Supporting players—Shataf Figar as the distant husband Arjun and Pratik Dutta as the volatile Gopal—round out the ensemble without ever upstaging the core emotional conflict.

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Direction & Tone

Pratim’s confident restraint — mood over melodrama

Pratim D Gupta’s directorial instinct is to understate. Rather than leaning on sensational twists, he cultivates tension through atmosphere and small domestic details. Fantasy sequences and imagined scenarios pop up periodically; at times, they feel indulgent, but mostly they function as useful windows into private longings and anxieties. The pacing is deliberate—some viewers will praise the patient build, others may find the tempo languid—but the measured approach allows moral ambiguities to breathe.

Cinematography & Sound

Visual and aural textures that enhance the theme of domestic claustrophobia

Prosenjit Chowdhury’s cinematography is a standout: low-light interiors, close-framed domestic spaces and careful food photography create a tactile, often claustrophobic look that mirrors the characters’ internal confinement. Food is shot lovingly, not as a mere prop but as emotional shorthand. The soundscape supports the mood, with restrained scoring that amplifies tension without melodrama.

Strengths & Shortcomings

What Karma Korma does well — and where it could be sharper

Strengths include two commanding lead performances, empathetic writing that resists easy judgments, and a strong visual identity. The series is brave in leaving certain questions open, trusting the audience to sit with discomfort. Weaknesses are mostly structural: the slow-burn pace occasionally verges on sluggishness, and some fantasy detours may feel self-indulgent to viewers craving tighter plotting.

Verdict

A thoughtful, food-flavoured thriller for viewers who like nuance

Karma Korma is a thoughtful, well-acted addition to Bengali streaming content—less interested in tidy resolutions than in tracing how hunger, shame and loneliness can conspire toward violence. Fans of character-first web thrillers and those who appreciate the marriage of food imagery with moral drama will find much to admire.

Final score: 6.5/10 — a slow, savoury thriller that rewards patience and humane attention.