Cast - Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar, Amala Akkineni, Kriti Kharbanda
Runtime - 2 hrs
Director - Akarsh Khurana
Hardly ever does Bollywood come up with such subtle yet magnificent storytelling. Karwaan is a story of rumination and awakenings, and as in life, here too, such things rarely happen with drumrolls and festoon shows. And that's exactly why the film shines.
Akarsh Khurana, Bejoy Nambiar and Hussain Dalal's writing ensures this "drive," is smooth and pleasant.
The scenic journey from Bengaluru to Kochi through the beautiful Western Ghats and Prateek Kuhad’s soothing songs cocoon you inside a familiar world and convince you that, may be, it’s time to stop being so hard on yourself, much like the characters in the film.
Somewhere along the way, these characters bond, lighten up, change and grow up.
What remains consistent from start to finish is cinematographer Avinash Arun's inventige, expansive frames. I mean a low angle shot of DQ reading a paper framed against a backdrop of thick green trees is breathtaking to say the least.
As someone who has followed Dulquer Salmaan's career from the beginning, I confess I was apprehensive when I realized that Akarsh Khurana would be directing his first Bollywood film, considering what a fuzzy bomb Sumeet Vyas starrer High Jack was.
But I an glad I was proven wrong. Karwaan sure isn't a bone crushing beauty of the sort of movies DQ has done in the past.
But here we have a director and a star collaborating to give a script priority over everything else, which is something Bollywood rarely does.
So yeah, Props to Mr. Khurana for that.
At one point, a character in this movie explains that he is not sure whether Mr. X was a "good person" but it is clear that he was "not bad" which, in itself, is quite something in this day and age.
It has its share of shortcomings like the white racism and "appropriate clothing" gyan but it is admirsbly purposeful and unwavering. By emphasizing that a girl and a guy can just be friends, this road-trip film is also proof that you can find yourself without letting a manufactured love story derail it.
The appropriate description for Karwaan would be -
It isn't earth shattering, but it isn't bad at all. Which is another way of saying it is an intelligent, funny, thoughtful, an "almost" flawless movie and a pleasant experience.
And if for nothing else, Karwaan can be watched for its performances alone.
This kind of dry, dark humor is made for actors like Irrfan Khan. His impeccable style of delivering lines with deadpan eccentricity makes even a deadbeat situation funny. I mean, who else could make "Aye, Maiyyat pe romance nahi ha," sound funny?
Kriti Kharbanda is disarmingly fresh as her character is required to be. Why don't we see more of her in Bollywood?
Likewise, Dulquer Salmaan brings just the right amount of intensity to a character who is bored with his life but doesn't bore you.
His understated and quiet performance strings the narrative into a smooth flow.
Here you don’t get a glimpse of the star from Malayalam cinema, rather, you realise why he’s a star.
With the limited screentime, Mithila Palkar is decent as the quirky millennial.
It's essentially a meditation on mortality, grief, and letting go - an ingenious set up that gives birth to a terrific coming-of-age drama.
The strength of this film lies in its ability to find humour in hair-brained situations.
This one will stay with me forever. ❤️
So go, get your tickets! You can thank me later.
Ratings - 3.5/5
Amazing ❤
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