The Bell: Kannada short film gets preachy about karma and reaping what you sow

Directed by Raghukumar OR, the short dropped on PRK audio recently.

A still from The Bell

It is quite heartening when those in the business of mainstream Kannada cinema provide a platform for upcoming talent to showcase their skill sets. The late Power Star Puneeth Rajkumar’s PRK Audio, for instance, has been giving young and upcoming filmmakers an avenue to put out short films. In the past, they’ve released films like My Name is Raju, Thank You, Gift, GPS, and the latest to join this list is The Bell, which premiered last evening.

Directed by Raghukumar OR, The Bell stars Asha Rani, Ashwin Hassan, Bhavani Prakash, Ramya Krishna, Manoj Puttur, HMT Vijay, Jagruthi, Muktha and Pushpadanth. The 30-minute short film, which has elements of the supernatural, follows a young couple who have just moved into a house. The initial signs are foreboding – flickering lights and an electricity loose connection. As they settle in, the husband steps out, and then the lights go out.

Over the next several minutes there are typical horror movie tropes like moving shadows, random electrical appliances working even without power, weird noises, doors and windows closing, etc. The young woman feels something’s not right, and feels someone’s presence, but can’t put her finger on it. It is only when this spirit decides to get proactive and kill the woman that the couple decides to take the help of a tantric, who can exorcize it.

The film thereafter changes tone as the tantric needs all of two minutes to figure out the backstory surrounding why this ghost has been terrorizing occupants of the house. Turns out, an old bed-ridden mother and her son and wife used to live there. The son dotes on his mother, even though she needs round-the-clock care and has a bell to communicate if she needs help. But he has a job to attend to and leaves the responsibility of his mother’s care to his wife, Charu, who has to handle running the household and the elderly woman too. This scenario can be overwhelming for anyone because taking care of a bed-ridden person can be back-breaking. Charu, of course, finds it too much and cannot wait for the day that the old lady dies. But when it doesn’t happen naturally, Charu decides to take matters into her hands, only to have her husband walk in on the scene of his mother’s murder.

While violence of any sort cannot be condoned, director Raghukumar decides to get preachy, thereafter, about the need to care for your near-and-dear ones and how you reap what you sow, implying that Charu gets what she deserves.

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