Darshan Bhagat stars in and directs Karma Local, an engaging comic thriller about a young Indian newsstand clerk who stumbles onto a more exciting life when he agrees to mind a stranger's package at his uncle's subway newsstand. Bali's blissfully convinced the $100 he's been promised for his trouble is an omen of good fortune, but when he opens the package and finds $7,000 of stolen money, he's not so sure. When Bali loses the money, its gangster-owner gives him 24 hours to replace it. "The film is a philosophical discourse on karma framed as an action story about an innocent gaining experience," says Bhagat.

Bhagat, 35, grew up in Bombay, graduated India's National Institute of Design and worked in graphic design and animation until he moved to New York and entered NYU's grad film program in 1991.

"No one believed I could do it (produce Karma for a lean five figures)," says Bhagat. They were wrong. Karma includes a sunset helicopter shot the filmmakers got for the $225 cost of a tourist trip, racehorses flying past the finish at Belmont Racetrack and Fulton Fish Market footage, which was difficult to obtain after a rumor that the FBI been posing as student filmmakers to document potentially criminal activity. "The advantage of having as small a crew as we did was that we could move in and out of locations without bothering people," says Bhagat. "We were virtually invisible." He ended up shooting Karma in several distinct chunks beginning in May '96 and says the subway scenes were toughest to come by, entailing a three-month negotiation for permits. Karma will premiere at the IFFM in rough cut; all rights are available.

Cast: Darshan Bhagat, Josh Pais, Balraj Uppal, Mariusz Szczech, Don Creech, Parvathy Menon, Jose Rabelo, Michael McMonagle. Crew: Producers, Emory Van Cleve, Darshan Bhagat; Screenwriter, Vijay Balakrishnan. Director, Bhagat; Director of Photography, Van Cleve; Production Designer, Petra Barchi; Gaffer, Pablo Berger; Editors, Ana Gill Costa, Bhagat. Contact: Emory Van Cleve, Karma L.L.C., 343 West 19th Street, New York, NY 10011. Tel: (212) 929-4729, Fax: (212) 387-0952.

A Fish in the Bathtub - Joan Micklin Silver
Frogs for Snakes - Amos Poe
High Art - Lisa Cholodenko
Karma Local - Darshan Bhagat
Mixing Nia - Alison Swan
Restaurant - Eric Bross
Route 4 - Jeff Dark
Show & Tell - Dean Pollack
Smart Money - Alexander Hennech
Strangers in Transit - Brad Kaned