Karwaan
- Director
- Akarsh Khurana
- Studio
- RSVP MoviesIshka Films
- Release Date
- 2 August 2018
- Running Time
- 114 min
- Language
- Hindi
- Country
- India
- Budget
- ₹23.00 Cr
- Box Office
- ₹26.42 Cr
Review
Imaad Hussain's *Karwaan* succeeds where it matters most—in the character work and the quiet emotional authenticity that underpins its road-trip narrative. The premise, admittedly contrived (a wrong body mix-up spurring a cross-country journey), could have devolved into slapstick chaos, but instead becomes a vehicle for genuine introspection. Dulquer Salmaan delivers a remarkably subdued performance as Avinash, capturing the paralysis of a man trapped between filial duty and self-discovery with remarkable restraint. Irrfan Khan, in one of his final roles, brings gravitas and warmth to the driver Shaukat—their chemistry feels earned rather than manufactured. The director's strength lies in allowing scenes to breathe, favoring lingering conversations over forced comedic beats, which sets this apart from the director's earlier work (averaging 4.0/10).
Where *Karwaan* stumbles is in its structural laziness. The narrative adds subplots almost arbitrarily—the misplaced box, the wedding detour—that feel like padding rather than organic complications. Mithila Palkar as Tanya begins with promise but gradually becomes a romantic foil rather than a fully realized character, and the budding romance between her and Avinash lacks the earned intimacy the film otherwise champions. The final act particularly suffers, rushing toward resolution with a sentimentality that feels unearned after the film's earlier restraint. Commercially, the ₹26.42 crore haul with a 15% ROI suggests modest audien
Storyline
So basically, this guy Avinash is stuck working in IT in Bangalore, totally miserable with his job and his relationship with his dad is pretty rocky too—his father never supported his dream of doing photography. Then one day he gets the news that his father died in a bus accident while traveling in the mountains, and the body's being sent to him. But when he and his driver friend Shaukat go to receive it, they realize they've got the wrong body—it's actually some old lady! Turns out Avinash's dad's stuff is with a widow named Tahira down in Kochi, so the two friends decide to take a road trip to sort everything out.
When they're about to head down south, Tahira calls them in a panic because her teenage daughter Tanya has basically disappeared after finding out about her grandmother. They end up finding Tanya at her college in Ooty, and even though she's pretty moody and irritable at first, they manage to convince her to come along on the journey. Along the way, they discover that among the belongings with them is a box that actually belongs to some other woman who was also in the accident, and they learn that this woman's niece is getting married in another town, so they decide to check it out.
As they keep moving forward, Avinash and Tanya start getting closer and bonding during the trip, which brings a whole new dynamic to their little group of three. Meanwhile, there are all these complications popping up along the way that keep throwing them curveballs, and things keep getting more interesting and complicated as they travel through different places trying to sort out this whole mess with the bodies and belongings.
