Karwaan is one of the most loved films that was released in the year 2018 with Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, and Mithila Palkar in the lead roles. Directed by Akarsh Khurana, Karwaan gained a critical appreciation for its light-hearted take on life and its nuances. The film essentially depicts life on a road journey of three unrelated individuals who meet unexpectedly. Based on Bejoy Nambiar’s story, Karwaan brings out the complex nature of life through the lives of the three protagonists who belong to different age groups and socio-economic backgrounds. Karwaan becomes a symbol of self-realization, love, and friendship in its own quirky way. The film is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video
WHAT IS THE PLOT OF KARWAAN?
Karwaan revolves around the lives of an IT guy Avinash played by Dulqer Salmaan, his friend Shaukat played by Irrfan Khan who is the van driver, and a free-spirited yet irritable young girl Tanya played by Mithila Palkar who meet unexpectedly. Avinash’s father, with whom he had a tumultuous relationship, passed away in an accident in Gangotri. However, his body is misplaced and Avinash is left with Tanya’s grandmother’s body.
As Shaukat and Avinash start on a journey to exchange the dead bodies, they meet Tanya at her mother’s request. The three start on a journey and encounter several incidents which become a self-reflective journey for them in terms of lost passions, realizations, love, and friendship. As the trio reaches Tanya’s place, Avinash finds out about his father’s guilt for stopping Avinash from pursuing photography from his diary. The prayer meeting for the deceased becomes a bittersweet time for the close ones. As Shaukat finds love and Avinash follows his passion, Karwaan marks the beginning of a new life for all the protagonists.
WHY IS KARWAAN WORTH WATCHING?
Karwaan’s light-hearted and quirky take on life and its nuances make it a movie worth watching. The film is packed with the brilliant performance of actors like Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, and Mithila Palkar alongside the exquisite beauty of Kerala and Tamil Nadu that makes the road trip beautiful in its own way. The film also contains quite many humorous incidents which bring out the small moments of joy and pain in the complexities of life in a more realistic yet humorous way. For instance, when Shaukat falls in love with a young woman, he is smitten with her but later he comes to know that she is the Shehnai player’s wife who is on his deathbed. On the other hand, the entire confusion on the exchange of dead bodies or the instance where the goons take Shaukat’s van and the trip plots to get it back.
The film also addresses the issue of triple talaq and women’s right when the Shehnai player’s wife divorces him due to his abusive nature. Through Avinash, one can see how bitter and complex an individual can turn out to be when not understood, and pressured by parents. A healthy relationship requires a dialogic relationship, which Krwaan brings out quite subtly. It is a movie worth watching with its power-packed performances, quirky and charming humor, realistic depiction of the complex nature of life, love, and friendships as well as the journey of an individual through life with their own ‘Karwaan’.
