Traveling on the roads of India. New Year's week of watching foreign films. Film 8th (final). India.
Of course, what other film I could finish New Year’s Eve than Indian. Especially since yesterday, January 7, 2021 was the birthday of Irfan Khan. It turns out he was born on Orthodox Christmas (before, I somehow did not pay attention to this, and now that he left us only a pain in the heart and memories of himself, I began to study his biography very carefully). And then at an Indian forum, I read yesterday an article by one of the fans of Irfan, which to the question of journalists - Who is your favorite Khan in Bollywood, and who of all the Khans is the most talented and brilliant?, always chose only Irfan. I will give a short excerpt from that article "Letter to your favorite star": - "Dear Irfan, Bollywood is no longer the same without you! Dear Irfan, there are so many of you in our hearts. What I’m about to say may seem flirtatious and unfair to some, but no good movies can fill the void you left behind. This balance is beyond the control of Irfan, a movie without you is like riding a swing alone. Dear Irfan, we can never be the same without you!
And I have to admit, I totally agree with this man's letter. I miss Irfan, Bollywood is not the same without him. Although there are still actors of the old school, and peers Irfan and older Irfan, who now hold everything on their already weakening shoulders. And when they leave, then there will be nothing left, and our favorite Indian cinema will live only in the old classic films, which we will watch and enjoy, indulging in nostalgia, and brushing a tear from our eyelashes, we will very much regret that our favorite cinema, beloved country, is in the past and will not be the same as before. And that's very sad. What will our children have when they, like us, want to join the magical world of Indian cinema? There is still little hope that the children and even grandchildren of those great actors will inherit half of their talent and skill. Then we can expect that the favorite movie will exist in the form in which we know it, at least for another 100-200 years, so that our descendants can watch and enjoy it.
Again I was carried into the lyrics, just about Irfan I can talk and write endlessly. But this is a review of the film, so I’m going to go to it. Watched the film "The Caravan" yesterday for the first time, out of turn, as soon as I read about the birthday of Irfan. And I was completely fascinated by this story. However, recently more and more often come across films Irfan, lasting less than 2 hours. Films are of course serious, often dramatic, and very vital, but I think 2-3 sad-romantic songs would not hurt even in such films. Let it be without dancing, but songs are still needed, because they reflect in Indian cinema the feelings of the characters, their aspirations, love, friendship. The songs often tell the whole story of the character. And glad that here they are very fitting and in fact are a musical arrangement of the film. In some places, the musical theme has a melodramatic color, and mainly such an interesting unobtrusive positive music that gives a humorous image to the presented frame.
All the actors play great roles. Irfan Khan has a special role here, how brilliant he is here. In the beginning, such a grumpy and grumpy character who has a very kind heart. Like his character, all the others are later revealed by the actors completely. In this regard, the actors worked just fine.
He was also very good at Dulkar Salman. I saw him for the first time (he is the son of one of my South Indian favorites, superstar Mammutti). The guy has talent and it can be seen that is very happy, there is someone to continue working in the cinema.
But the actress who played Tania did not like her or her character. Her promiscuity, presented to the audience as a prank about her youth, her smoking, drinking alcohol - somehow does not fit all this with the puritanical upbringing of Indian girls, to which we are accustomed, watching Indian cinema. I don’t like such cheeky and too fixated on themselves and their rights, girls in life. They're not pleasant. And her character was just annoying.
But everything brightened up the character Irfan, Shaukat. His eyes, his smile, even his grunts, are something. I especially liked the moment when Shaukat in the hospital saw a Muslim girl immediately fell in love with her. All his courtship attempts, poems and everything else are so sweet.
Some people call it a melodrama, but I don’t think so. There's a lot of drama in movies. The relationship between parents and children, their mutual love and misunderstanding and even hatred, belated correct assessment of parental love. And what kinds of ? I just imagined the air of India, not at all like ours, another, thick, filled with a huge number of flavors.
The film is kind, about love and respect, about aspirations and fulfillment of desires. It looks easy and simple. For family viewing of any age, it is suitable as well as possible. There are funny moments, there are many, but they do not harbor anything new. There are no restrictive vulgar moments or scenes of violence in the film. But for me personally, it has a lot of romance, love and tenderness. There is no insidious intrigue, the development of all events is completely predictable, but nothing stresses, there is no semantic load in the picture. In general, the film deserves only a positive assessment.
I liked it, I will review it more than once, for the sake of Irfan’s smile and look, and not only. The skate of the film became already familiar stunning shooting. Magnificent wildlife scenery, bright colorful local color. You look at all this and admire, beautifully, pleases the eye, you want to wave somewhere on a trip.
10 out of 10