Karthik Bhatt

Kaadumale (2025) drops you straight into the wild heart of Karnataka, where the forest isn’t just a backdrop—it’s a living, breathing beast of its own. Karthik Bhatt leads the charge as an outsider with a past he’d rather forget, running from city ghosts and ending up tangled in village politics and old superstitions. Instead of peace, he finds a community that’s barely holding itself together, bracing against illegal loggers and shadowy creatures that creep in when the sun dips low. There’s something both eerie and beautiful about the way the villagers talk about the forest as if it’s watching them, and honestly, who can blame them? Strange things keep happening—animals vanish, ancient trees get marked with weird symbols, and people whisper about a curse no one dares to break. Karthik gets sucked in, whether he likes it or not, befriending a gutsy local teacher and a wise old man who knows way too much for comfort. The deeper he digs, the more he realizes that the real monsters aren’t always the ones lurking in the dark. There’s greed, betrayal, and a whole lot of secrets tangled up in the roots of Kaadumale. The movie swings between jaw-dropping natural beauty and tense, claustrophobic suspense, mixing earthy myth with the messy reality of people just trying to survive. It’s a wild ride—one moment you’re marveling at glowing fireflies, next you’re holding your breath, waiting for something to snap.