Alice Oscura – Featured Writer
The Sky Is Pink is an Indian biographical comedy-drama that was written and directed by Shonali Bose. It is based on the true story of Aisha Chaudhary who suffered from a rare genetic disorder known as SCID (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency). The story is told from the perspective of Aisha (Zaira Wasim) via first-person narrative. She tells us the story of her parents Aditi aka Moose (Priyanka Chopra-Jonas) and Niren aka Panda (Farhan Akhtar) specifically their marriage and love for each other, and how her illness and subsequent death affected the family including her older brother Ishaan (Rohit Suresh Saraf). It is currently available on Netflix in Hindi but English subtitles are provided.
The real-life Aisha Chaudhary became a motivational speaker at the age of 15 and an Indian author of the book My Little Epiphanies, that was sadly published just one day before her death at the age of 18. She had an elder sister named Tanya who died of SCID at the tender age of five-months old. Aisha underwent a bone marrow transplant when she was six months old, but during her treatment she developed pulmonary fibrosis due to severe and irreversible scarring of the lungs.
What wouldn’t any loving parent do to save the life of their child? You might ask yourself why did Aditi and Niren take the risk of having another child knowing full well that there was a high possibility that Aisha would be born with the same terrible genetic disorder that killed her older sister Tanya? I think that it’s not as simple as that. Aditi found faith in the Christian religion after the death of her first child and even converted to Christianity via baptism. She knew it was wrong to abort Aisha and I believe even though their heart still aches and grieves for her every day, they never regretted the decision. They would never regret being able to spend 18 loving years with Aisha and will always cherish the little imprint that she made in so many other peoples lives through her words.
Chopra-Jonas shines as Aditi Chaudhary. She is a ferocious Mama Bear determined to save her daughter’s life and provide her with everything beautiful that life has to offer during her short time on the earth. Even though the actress does not have any children of her own she was somehow able to tap deeply into her maternal side and deliver a touching performance. Priyanka has been quoted as saying that it was an extremely challenging role for her and she wanted to do it justice, not only for the real Aditi, but also for the director Shonali Bose who has also known the loss of a child. I tend to agree with the actress because it is an extremely sensitive topic when you are dealing with losing a child.
Her co-star Aktar had all the right ingredients to add to their onscreen chemistry. Their portrayal was never meant to emphasise the melancholy or grief of the situation by having a sick child. They made Aisha’s life as happy as they could have by teaching her not to dwell on her illness and trying to let her experience as much of life as they could. This added a bit of the comedic element to break the ice in certain situations and it makes the movie more enjoyable to watch as there is a momentary break from the heaviness.
The actress who plays the role of adult Aisha is so cute and bubbly that you cannot help but like her. Her display of emotions when the character’s illness really starts to take its toll, and she reveals to elder brother Ishaan that she really doesn’t want to die, will bring tears to your eyes. It is tough to see such a young person with potentially their entire life ahead them being cut short.
The ending is very emotional, and it is clear that both parents grieved in different ways. But it doesn’t mean that anyone of them loved Aisha more than the other. For one parent it was hard to tear them away from her memories, while the other chose to block out the memories to protect themselves from feeling the pain of emptiness. In the end, it took Aisha to mend her parents from beyond the grave and give them the strength they needed to move forward with their lives while knowing that she will always be with them in their hearts.
It is a truly inspirational and heartfelt family movie that’s guaranteed to stop you from taking not only life for granted, but the sacrifice of family.
Alice’s Score: 8.5 out of 10
For my review of Helen Reddy biopic I Am Woman you can click here. And for more inspirational film reviews you can like and follow Redmangoreviews on Facebook here.
Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump.
I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. You can find me as Dark Alice Reviews on Facebook, my Instagram is alice_oscura and my Twitter handle is @lise_veliz2. For more on me you can click here.