The Sky Is Pink

The Sky is Pink is based on the true story of a young girl named Aisha Chaudhary who died at the age of 18 due to pulmonary fibrosis. She was a bright young girl who had a really different vision about life and happiness. So when you think about someone making a movie about that character, we all will jump into the conclusion that it will focus on certain areas. But where Shonali Bose’s movie surprise you, is in the way it traverses away from the usual template. The Sky is Pink shows us what the parents went through during the event, before the event, and after the event.

Aditi and Niren were in love. Eventually, they managed to convince their parents and got married. For a better life, the couple shifted to London along with their son Ishaan and the newly born Aisha. But soon the parents found out that the little one has a disease that causes a lack of immunity and it needed to be taken care of. The Sky is Pink is about the efforts of this family to take care of Aisha as long as they can and the movie shows us the emotional repercussions of it on each character.

The director of the movie Shonali Bose has revealed in interviews that how the loss of her son has affected her immensely and also played a key role in making her tell the story of Aisha Chaudhary in a different way.  Unlike an Anand or Kal Ho Na Ho, here we have a character who is that zone of sympathy very soon after she was born. And due to certain history, there is a huge dilemma in terms of decision making when you look at things from the parent’s end. The Sky is Pink could have easily been that “yet another feel-good movie”. But when this shift in point of view happened, things became all the more fresh. When I see a movie like Kal Ho Na Ho now, even though I had liked it when it released, there is a part of me that feels its way too filmy and cheesy. If you also share that sentiment, I would say The Sky is Pink is that perfect update in treatment you were looking for.

In terms of performance, Priyanka Chopra is fabulous as this caring mother. Aditi Chaudhary is one character any quality actor would love to play. The movie shows her over a span of roughly 30 years and the range of emotions she goes through is wide. Initially, it is insecurities and the fear of missing out that is bothering her, but as the film progresses the character’s psyche becomes very complicated due to the internal stress.  Farhan Akhtar shares a wonderful chemistry with Priyanka and he carried the internalized pain and guilt of the character with subtlety. Zaira Wasim as the cool and charming Aisha Chaudhary was just so delightful and I really wish she will make a comeback. Rohit Suresh Saraf as Ishaan was also a fitting choice for the character.

The narrative Shonali has chosen for the movie is a crisscross one. And it actually makes things interesting for us. They have smartly used Aisha’s voice over to navigate the movie from one zone to another completely different zone. Aisha talks about the episodes in the life of Moose and Panda depending on the situation. The humor in the situations is really fun to watch and I enjoyed the quality of the voice-over dialogues the same way I enjoyed the thoughts of Pluto Mehra from Dil Dhadakne Do. Aisha has an idea about being happy and the movie also embodies that feeling. Yes, the movie will tear you up when you see the way the family breaks down after accepting the reality. But ultimately Shonali Bose makes sure that it will somewhere make you emotionally stronger. The cinematography of the movie is on that calmer side. The light and space are expanding and reducing according to the vibe of the situation.  I haven’t really tried to listen to the album of the movie, but the songs are so neatly placed that I wish to hear them, to sort of relive the movie.

The Sky is Pink can be called as a modern-day Anand. The major tweak is that here Babu Moshai gets the focus through the eyes of Anand. With well written vulnerable characters, terrific performances and a refreshing take on the story, Shonali Bose has channeled the energy in the right direction.

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