Shyamji and Kesar Patel are a traditional, well-off but childless couple in a small Saurashtra town, weighed down by a longing neither will say aloud. When Annie, a Paris-based fashion designer, arrives to learn Kesar's award-winning Patola craft, she instead nudges the ageing pair toward IVF and a child of their own. What follows is a comedy-drama about becoming parents at an age when most people are grandparents, and about the past Kesar has been quietly carrying.
Carry On Kesar picks a premise most Gujarati films of its moment would not touch: a couple in their fifties deciding to have a baby. It marked Supriya Pathak's debut in Gujarati cinema, opposite Darshan Jariwala, and their pairing is the reason to sit through it. As Kesar and Shyamji they feel genuinely married, worn into each other, and the quiet moments between them carry more feeling than the film's louder machinery. There is a scene of Jariwala confronting his own ageing face in a mirror that shows how much these two can convey without raising their voices.
The problem is that the rest of the film rarely trusts them to do it. DeshGujarat, rating it two out of five, called it a nice idea flattened in the execution, faulting the high-pitched melodrama, the lazy writing, and dialogue that leans on sexist and racist jokes for cheap laughs. Those complaints land. The rhyming wordplay grows tiresome, the logic wobbles, and the Annie subplot never earns its place. The Times of India was kinder, praising the lead performances and the family-friendly warmth, and audiences on IMDb have been warmer still.
Sachin-Jigar's songs, sung by Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan and Javed Ali, give the film some lift, even if they are overused. What you are left with is a movie whose heart and casting outrun its script. If you come for Pathak and Jariwala, you will find two seasoned actors making an uneven film watchable. Come expecting the sharp, subtle drama the subject deserved, and it falls short.
Verdict
A tender, novel premise and two seasoned leads keep it afloat, but loud writing and lazy jokes stop it well short of the film it could have been.
What works
- Supriya Pathak and Darshan Jariwala are lived-in and believable together
- A rare, genuinely novel premise for the industry
- Sachin-Jigar's songs voiced by Alka Yagnik, Sunidhi Chauhan and Javed Ali
- Warm, family-friendly tone with real emotional beats
What holds it back
- Melodrama pitched far too loud throughout
- Dialogue leans on sexist and racist jokes
- Overuse of rhyming wordplay wears thin
- Logic gaps and a forced Annie subplot
Cast & crew
Writers: Ankit Trivedi (story, dialogue), Vipul Mehta (screenplay)
Music: Sachin-Jigar
Cast: Supriya Pathak (Kesar Patel), Darshan Jariwala (Shyamji Patel), Avani Modi (Anahita (Annie)), Rittesh Mobh (Dr. Pratik Joshi), Amish Tanna (Jignesh)
Producers: Bhavna Modi, Kamlesh Chakku Bhuptani
Watch the trailer
Play the official trailer on YouTubeMore from Vipul Mehta
More Comedy Gujarati films
Frequently asked
Is Carry On Kesar worth watching?
A tender, novel premise and two seasoned leads keep it afloat, but loud writing and lazy jokes stop it well short of the film it could have been. Kevu Che rates it 3 out of 5.
What is Carry On Kesar about?
Shyamji and Kesar Patel are a traditional, well-off but childless couple in a small Saurashtra town, weighed down by a longing neither will say aloud. When Annie, a Paris-based fashion designer, arrives to learn Kesar's award-winning Patola craft, she instead nudges the ageing pair toward IVF and a child of their own. What follows is a comedy-drama about becoming parents at an age when most people are grandparents, and about the past Kesar has been quietly carrying.
What is the IMDb rating of Carry On Kesar?
Carry On Kesar (2017) holds an IMDb rating of 8.8 out of 10 from 101 votes.