2018 has so far been a pretty amazing year for films, Bollywood especially. Continuing the trend of great movies, Karwaan hit the theatres on the 3rd of August but failed to garner a successful opening at the Box Office. Although, this movie is beauty converted into the art of a film right in front of your eyes! It holds values and lessons as well as the perfect amount of entertainment that a Bollywood movie requires.
The story begins with a rather demotivated man, Avinash (Dulquer Salmaan) who’s found out that his father, while on a holiday, has passed away in an accident and finds himself taking help of a dear friend, Shaukat (Irrfan Khan) who accompanies him to receive the father’s body. Only if it was this simple, the airport cargo mixes two bodies and hands them an old lady’s coffin instead. It dawns onto Avinash that no matter how strained his relationship with his father was, he owes him at least a respectful funeral.
The film revolves around a road trip, from Bangalore to Kochi, that Avinash decides to take to get back his father’s coffin and return the old lady’s coffin in his possession. Along the way they take a detour and meet a rather rebellious young woman, Tanya (Mithila Palkar), who turns out to be the granddaughter of the old woman in the coffin, as a side quest they also need to get Tanya home safely.
The road trip is filled with a bunch of twists but none of them seem unrealistic. The trio, as different as their characters are, somehow figure out a way to coordinate, learn and grow with each other despite the different varied backgrounds they each hail from. They make peace with their pasts and decide to move on towards happiness.
Akarsh Khurana displays a great eye for detail making this a nuanced piece of art. A few aspects that stood out were:
- Cinematography: Every frame on the screen has a reason to it. It focuses on the presence of all subjects, sometimes even the absence of them. It takes us with the characters on the journey as a third person instead of taking us through the character’s point of view which gives us a feel of closeness with the said character and the journey that they take. Every moment in the film is of importance, nothing feels stretched or a waste of screen-time. It all adds up to the climax.
- Performance: I would like to point out the brilliance that Dulquer Salmaan brings to the screen. The man shows his full potential with the character of Avinash. He is a natural and does convince the audience that he’s been Avinash since the start and not Dulquer. It could have been possible that the character of Avinash was written exactly to match his personality because of how effortless it looks. Moving on to another genius in the industry, Irrfan Khan. This man is a legend with his comic-timing. His attitude in the film takes up most of the space and yet seems like it is the best decision the director could have taken. There is not a moment in the film where it feels like he is a drag, his punch lines are what make up the whole film. Mithila Palkar lived up to her character as much as it was possible, only drawback was the fact that her character had no development as much as the others. All we know about her is that she is a rebel and she believes in freedom. But, it fit well so I can’t complain.
- Background Score: The music in this film fits the vibe perfectly. It is soothing and refreshing at the same time. It makes the audience feel alive. The music directors of this film have done a wonderful job with it. Kudos to Anurag Saikia and Imaad Shah!
- Dialogues: The writers have probably been appreciated for the amazing work they’ve done in the film. The timing, the tone and the intensity of every dialogue fills the movie with entertainment while also being thought provoking. They make a wonderful set of words used at the appropriate time for the appropriate mood, it is a pleasure to the mind.
- Slice of Life: The genre of this movie is a very authentic touch to the theme of life. It portrays humanity at its most natural. The pillars of the movie are the background characters. One being a lovely woman who Shaukat falls for, another being Tanya’s mother, then comes an old flame from Avinash’s life. All these people and more come together and boost the main characters into being the best versions of themselves, it is a lovely rendition of life.
The direction of this movie is marvellous, Akarsh Khurana has done an outstanding job with it. Other films by him are also based on a similar style of direction, yet the story line with this one and the actors involved give it a boost than any other.
The climax was perfect, exactly how one would’ve hoped and with a little more added, extra fun. This movie is satisfaction at its best, it gives you everything you’d want and happy unexpected surprises as well.
I would rate the film a 4 stars and would definitely do a re-run while it’s still in the theatres.
Highly recommend to not miss this one and after you watch it, do come back and let us know what you think in the comments section.
Fun and more to you. Thank you 🙂
