Before deciding
on which movie or TV show to watch,
checking its ratings on IMDB has become the norm for many. But it’s not every
day you find a Hindi film scoring high ratings. So a quick glance at the IMDB
page of Hindi film, ‘Karwaan’, before going to watch it added to the suspense.
This movie has scored 8.2 out of 10!
In many ways, one of the big driving factors for this movie was
the curiosity it had built among the public. Not only did this movie have a
unique story line as suggested by the trailers, there were so many big
personalities in the film. For starters, if you follow theatre, the film’s
direction and screenplay was by Akarsh Khurana of the famous Akvarious
Productions. You have one of the brightest stars in the theatre world, Hussain
Dalal, writing the dialogues. Moreover, the film’s story was written by Bejoy
Nambiar, who has previously delivered ‘Shaitan’ and ‘David’ and Wazir’.
And then you have an incredible cast wherein each of the stars
has a following of their own for the kind of work they have been involved with.
You have Irrfan Khan who is possibly one of the best actors of this generation
and who has also endeared himself to younger audience with his collaborations
with the likes of All India Bakchod. Then there is Dulquer Salmaan, an Indian
film actor who appears predominantly in Malayalam films, with this film marking
his Bollywood debut.
The story is essentially about two friends and a chirpy
teenager, who take a road trip from Bangalore to Kochi. YouTube web series star
Mithila Parker (‘Girl in the City’, ‘Little Things’) aces it in her role as the
teenager living her own independent life by her own rules. All of the three
actors perform brilliantly in their respective roles – Dulquer as a typical
Indian boy, who is a victim of the patriarchal system but finds himself judging
people from that same system and Irrfan, whose sense of humour and comic timing
is possibly the biggest reason for the film’s success and high ratings.
Each of these three characters have a storyline that anyone from
any generation and background can relate to. And a testament to that argument
was the packed hall and the constant laughter among everyone seated, especially
some old women who couldn’t stop laughing.
The film is a
light-hearted comedy, in which Dulquer plays a guy who lives in Bengaluru. It
is a road trip with a difference. These aren’t three friends out on an
adventure, but rather three misfits on a journey that goes a bit too off-track.
Avinash (Dulquer) is
a repressed young man who hates his IT job, loathes his boss and would rather
become a photographer, but for his father (Akaash Khurana). His father passes
away in a road accident and his body reaches another family by mistake.
Avinash’s friend, Shaukat (Irrfan), offers his van and company to travel from
Bangaluru and exchange the body in Kochi. Enroute, Tanya (Mithila), the
granddaughter of the now-deceased person, with whom the other body was
exchanged, joins them. It is a trip that neither of them wishes to be part of but
end up enduring.
The film covers a lot
of ground, from brilliantly touching upon the kind of struggles and decisions
one has to make in life to support themselves, sometimes even giving up on
their own passions, to living your life by a certain philosophy that can help
you take on any problem, to being typecast just because of your family
background and the expectations that come with it.
The film tackles a
lot of deep, sensitive issues that most films tend to brush aside in a very
subtle manner and yet manages to get into the various layers that make up the
family dynamics. While this may seem a bit sober, the film has a fantastic pace
and the constant shifting of cities during the road trip and the encounters the
trio have with the culture and people from each city feels like you yourself
are on that road trip and it can bring memories of your own personal visits to
these cities.
Besides this, there
is a well woven romantic element in the film and this too doesn’t have the feel
of your usual Bollywood romantic movie; it has a comic charm that can be seen
throughout.
One of the reasons I
believe the movie has done so well and has resonated with the audiences is
because it is, at the end of the day, a good family movie and it talks about
today’s times so well. Everyone has faced some sort of criticism when they have
wanted to do something but had to face opposition instead based on ‘what
society would make of it’. The movie also talks about how friendship evolves
among people. There are a couple of feel-good moments that can make you leave
the cinema with a smile on your face and ultimately, your money’s worth.
The film is
refreshingly different and it stands out compared to the recent popular films
that have had offbeat storylines.
After
the film, I was excitedly recommending the same to a friend and the mention of
‘coffins’ made the person wonder if this is really a light-hearted comedy.
Simply put, it is one of the better comedies I have seen in a really long time
and probably the first Hindi comedy film that I have recommended to my friends
and family.