Mithila Palkar's first scene, when she comes out of a boys' hostel called Father Lankester Merrin Boys' Hostel, is a direct reference to the 1973 horror classic "The Exorcist", in which Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) performs the exorcism on Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair).
Before Malayalee actor Dulquer, Irrfan Khan collaborated with another famous actress predominantly working in Malayalam movies, Parvathy ("Qareeb Qareeb Single"); coincidentally both "Karwaan" and "Qareeb Qareeb Single" revolve around a road trip and a journey to self-discovery.
When the film was released, Irfan was out of the country; he was in London undergoing treatment for a neuroendocrine tumor.
"Karwaan" is a movie written by a Malayalam writer that features an ensemble cast, with each actor or actress predominantly associated with a different film industry: Mollywood (Dulquer Salmaan), Bollywood (Irrfan Khan), Marathi film industry (Mithila Palkar), Tollywood (Amala Akkineni), and Sandalwood (Kriti Kharbanda).
Movie is shot at Tamil Nadu's Nilgiri Hills, Ooty.