Irrfan Khan-Dulquer Salmaan-Mithila Palkar’s Kaarwan

Have you ever sat and ran your fingers through an old photo album? You will stumble upon important moments of self-discovery, where you struggled with bits and pieces of yourself that quite didn’t fit in. These are moments of strong emotions — angst, disappointment, strength and finally, somewhere, relief. But when you see those photographs, and are being gifted boxes of nostalgia, you don’t relive the struggle. Rather, you remember the story with a smile. That’s the journey #Karwaan took me on — it just breezes through with these little nuggets of lovely writing.

Avinash (#DulquerSalmaan) is an aspiring photographer and he gives two memorable phrases that, for me, is the film itself — capturing moments and finding focus. There’s a lovely monologue after Dulquer realises that his father wasn’t the villain of his story. “I’m not sure if I’m father was a good man, but I know that he wasn’t bad,” says Dulquer and wears his spectacles — a moment of finding focus.

He finds another when he pushes Tanya (#MithilaPalkar) into a rebellious millennial box, only to find out that she wasn’t all that. There’s no angst and she is a consequence of her decisions and actions, just like he was. This change gets some lovely treatment, as our three characters are forced to change their ride to something more closer and intimate.

It’s amazing how time can change our perspectives irrecognisably and when we realise they have, there’s trouble in bidding adieu. There’s a telling exchange where Dulquer gets some help in saying good-bye. And the circle is complete when Dulquer is asked ‘How did you do it’ and he replies, “it’s really easy. You just have to try it.” I couldn’t find something more apt to explain the light tone of the film.

PS: #IrrfanKhan was great. But this role is something that he could do in his sleep. The film has two amazing cheek in the tongue moments — one is when Dulquer says he doesn’t know Malayalam and the second involves Irrfan (also a culmination of Irrfan’s finding focus moment) and would rather let you guys watch that!