Karwaan

Avinash works in Bangalore at a job he hates. Word comes that his father has died in a bus crash. The body is sent, but there has been a mix up: the coffin that arrives holds someone else and his father has gone to another family. Avinash has to set out and exchange them. He takes his friend Shaukat and, along the way, a young girl. The three drive through southern India in a van. Akarsh Khurana directs. Dulquer Salmaan plays Avinash and Irrfan Khan plays Shaukat. Irrfan Khan carries the film. His character is coarse, talkative and without limits, and all the humour comes from him. It is among the last films he made before his illness became known. The narrative runs in the shape of a road film and proceeds through three people getting to know each other; the real subject is that Avinash could never talk to his father. Dulquer Salmaan is a well known figure in Malayalam cinema and this is his first film in Hindi. The landscapes of southern India take up considerable room and the places along the road are carefully shot. Its limit is the structure; the events proceed in episodes, some weaker than others, and the ending leans on an emotional speech. Who it is for: viewers who like Indian road films and Irrfan Khan. Who it is not for: little happens, the humour is sparse, and the young woman is not worked enough.