Karwaan Review: Dulquer Salmaan makes his Bollywood entry in style

Karwaan Review: Dulquer Salmaan makes his Bollywood entry in style

Dulquer Salmaan’s much-awaited maiden Hindi flick, Karwaan, has hit screens all across India today. Noted actor/theatre personality Akarsh Khurana is making his directorial debut with this movie, which also stars the ace Irrfan Khan and internet sensation Mithila Palkar. Let’s jump straight to the review.

The narrative is told from the point of view of Avinash (Dulquer), who leads an unhappy IT life in Bangalore. The plot kicks off when father dies in a road accident during a spiritual journey to Gangotri. The travel agency mixes up while sending his coffin via air. Avinash’s father’s coffin is mistakenly sent to Kochi while an old lady’s body reaches him in Bangalore. Avinash along with his friend Shaukat (Irrfan Khan) take off to Kochi to exchange the body. On the way, Tanya (Mithila Palkar), the old lady’s grand-daughter joins them. The story evolves during this eventful journey from Bangalore to Kochi via Ootty.

Director Akarsh Khurana and Hussain Dalal (dialogues) have scripted the movie based on Bejoy Nambiar’s story. Karwaan is basically a feel-good film that relies heavily on the performances by its lead actors. The subject as such does not have anything out-of-the-world to boast of, instead it is the chemistry between the three lead characters that makes it interesting. The characters played by Irrfan Khan, Mithila Palkar and Dulquer are from different walks of life who come together at one juncture of their lives. It is a slice-of-life kind movie with prominence to realistic humour.

Karwaan has some typical moments that one would expect to see in such a film and that kind of plays spoilsport. After a point, we kind of start guessing how this is going to end and it follows exactly the same route. Thankfully, the performances of its three lead actors lift the movie from its mundaneness.

Dulquer Salmaan has made his B-Town debut a memorable one. Although his character is not challenging or anything like what he has been doing of late in his home turf, it is quite amazing to see the effortlessness with which he performs. He is probably the only male actor that Malayalam cinema has ever produced with a pan-Indian appeal.

Mithila Palkar brings in her trademark bubbliness and portrays the role of an outgoing young girl to perfection. Shaukat is no challenge for an actor of Irrfan Khan’s calibre. The actor delivers a lot of quirky one-liners which keeps the fun bone tickling. The ever-graceful Amala Akkineni is also there in an extended cameo role. Technically, Karwaan is rich with delightful music and breezy visuals that capture the scenic beauty of Kerala in all its glory.

Overall, Karwaan is an enjoyable ride even though it traverses the already familiar route. A simple timepass flick that reaches its destination safely despite a few bumps.