Irrfan steals the show
MOVIE: Karwaan RATING: 8/10 REVIEWER: Fakir Hassen
KARWAAN is a delightful debut for the darling of Malayalam cinema, Dulquer Salmaan, in his first major Hindi film. Salmaan plays Avinash, an IT worker stuck in an unhappy job and equally disturbed in his personal life because his father has hampered him from following his true calling – being a photographer.
We learn about this estranged relationship when the father dies in an accident and Avinash has to attend to the funeral. But as the title suggests, there is an arduous journey ahead for Avinash, who has to head for the distant state of Kerala after a mix-up over funeral arrangements for his father and a total stranger.
In the process, he and best friend Shaukat (Irrfan Khan), a van owner who is roped in to transport the body, end up with Bohemian student Tanya (Mithila Palkar) on the road trip. This allows director Akarsh Khurana to delve into the psyches of the three characters and uncover skeletons in their cupboards.
As in the earlier road movie, Piku, Khan with his witty dialogues, reflecting truth with no beating about the bush, again steals the show. The main difference is that in Piku, Khan as the taxi driver drove around with the toilet used by Deepika Padukone’s father, played by Amitabh Bachchan, atop the vehicle, while this time round it is a coffin!
Bordering on black humour a lot of the time, Khurana manages to keep the plot entertaining, albeit that one of the three main strands in the film, that of a sudden love story evolving in a hospital, is initially a little implausible.
But as expected, the trip together evolves into a catharsis for all the characters as they find closure for significant incidents in their lives.