In the post Internet world most of us have become unwanted medical experts and, in turn, hypochondriacs. I, for one, do copious research on an illness even before the doctor has diagnosed its presence in me. On a bad day I might even imagine myself dying from it. The world of Enakshi (Shweta Tripathi Sharma) and her parents (Vipin Sharma and Deepika Amin) in Gone Kesh then seems at a tangent. I spent most of the first half of the film, distressed with Enakshi’s parents’ seeming callousness in tackling her illness. Take her hairfall seriously; see a dermatologist and perhaps an endocrinologist; it could be hormonal: I kept wanting to tell them.
- Director: Qasim Khallow
- Cast: Shweta Tripathi, Vipin Sharma, Deepika Amin
- Storyline: All about the tribulations of a young girl suffering from alopecia
- Run time: 110.14 minutes
No wonder then, that the Darjeeling depicted in the film, complete with quaint sales people in its malls and streetside shops seem refreshingly lost in time. A special word for the momo stall called Wong Kar-Wai, I want to visit it right away. The three-member family at the centre of the film has a wonderful lived-in feel. Tripathi Sharma and Amin are especially on top of their “being real” game.
Despite all things going for it, Gone Kesh’s freshness, warmth and good-heartedness, feels too slight and doesn’t have enough meat in it to be more than a short. Why not show more of Enakshi’s passion for dance, for instance. The film has a tug for anyone who has had complexes to contend with, whether it’s social awkwardness or being an introvert or having pimples that refuse to leave your face. Gone Kesh, touches on all that, but then just goes away.