'The Sky is Pink' review: Priyanka, Farhan starrer will make you appreciate all you have in life

For a movie that is centred around the death of the protagonist, 18-year old Aisha Chaudhary (this is not a spoiler, considering as how we are hit with the news a couple of minutes into the opening), 'The Sky Is Pink' is delightfully funny in parts, with a light-hearted, yet serious, take on life, love and loss.

Directed by National Award winning filmmaker Shonali Bose (Margarita with a 'Straw', 'Amu', 'Chittagong'), the Priyanka Chopra-Farhan Akhtar starrer is based on the real life story of the Chaudhary family as told through the eyes of their daughter Aisha (played with great humour by Zaira Wasim), who is born with an auto immune deficiency that leads to pulmonary fibrosis.

Real life dramas can be pretty challenging to bring on to the big screen, specially when the family on whom the movie is based are still around. But Bose does such an excellent job of taking the audience into the lives of Aditi (Priyanka Chopra) and Niren (Farhan Akhtar) in Delhi and London, that you feel as if you are as much invested in their lives as the immediate family. It also helps that the entire movie is narrated by Wasim's character, with dollops of humour and tongue-in-cheek references to her parents' life. 
Interestingly enough the title, 'The Sky Is Pink', comes from their son Ishaan's (Rohit Saraf) insistence on painting his sky pink while at school much to his art teacher's chagrin. As his mother Aditi tells him, "You can paint the sky whatever colour you want it to be. Not everybody's sky is necessarily blue."

The message being, of course, that we have the freedom to paint our lives in whatever hues we want it to be. It's a philosophy that is reaffirmed at the end of the movie when we are shown the real Aisha's TED Talk where the motivational speaker implores the audience to always stay happy. In Aisha's own words, "if death is the ultimate truth, the only thing that matters right now, is to be truly happy." 

Priyanka, Farhan, Zaira and Rohit are perfectly cast in this emotional family drama, with each bringing their own core talent to the table. Together they are a formidable foursome. Though there are times when Priyanka's character, Aditi, comes across as the more aggressive and stronger force, Niren is able to hold his own, as are Ishaan and Aisha.

'The Sky is Pink' is a life affirming movie, which will have you weeping your heart out one minute, and laughing out loud the next, and though at times you might feel the tears threatening to take over your movie-watching experience, trust us, this is one film which will make you appreciate all that you have in your life and most importantly make you want to hold your loved ones a bit more closer.
ambica@khaleejtimes.com 

'The Sky is Pink'
Director: Shonali Bose
Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar, Zaira Wasim, Rohit Saraf
Rating: 3.5 out of 5