I remember watching a movie "Dard Ka Rishta" released way back in 1982, I was 10 years old then, that beautifully weaved a story of a father of a daughter suffering from blood cancer. Sunil dutt saheb was unforgettable in the role of the father.
I had started to expect a millenial's version of Dard Ka Rishta as I sat through the first half of "The Sky is Pink". However, the movie amazingly went quite much beyond Dard ka Rishta and took the audience through 145 minutes of a veritable maze of emotions from extreme happiness to pitless depth of sentimental sadness of being helpless fighter - leaving them fazed at the end with mixture of feelings that is difficult to describe in words but is definitely worth experiencing.
Based on a true story of a girl Aisha who, since birth, is affected by a rare disease SCID - a condition in which the child takes birth without any immune system. The movie is a moving tale - diligently pieced together - delicately narrated - tastefully cinematographed - of her life its ups and downs, the joys and frustration, the struggles of her parents and much more.
The movie has so many threads that one has to be alert to have touched all of them even as an audience, and that is in appreciation of the director. I can call it a love story between two people so unconditional that one wonders how strong a bond can two people ever build; I can also call it a tale of a brave girl who is about to die, but lives her life to the fullest or I can call it a story of dedicated parents who go to the end of the earth for their kid; One can also live it as a saga of a closely knit family that stays together through the travails of life, becoming the reason for each other's happiness.I have not even mentioned smaller - minor threads like the chemistry or relationship of mother-daughter, father-daughter or brother-sister etc.
It raises very difficult questions - the push pull of faith against science: the dilemma of choosing a treatment trying for longevity laced with uncertainty of a painful life; the quest for openness to adjust to individual choices in a system of shared stakes: the deep troubles of
two people living together with diametrically opposite ways of dealing with one's sorrows and hence misunderstanding the other as being insensitive and callous; The age old story of a Chandni chowk boy falling in love with a south delhi girl and there interesting chemistry. The beauty is that all this is done without being melodramatic, keeping it almost real - believable; in fact, I it is done with rare touch of spunky light heartedness.- always sincere, never trivialised.
Some sequences stay with you and shall haunt.The father begging for help on the Radio, the mother sanitising the grave, the sister sharing her fears with her brother and the bro helping her settle down, from the another corner of the world - in the process getting upset himself, the video speech of a terminally ill daughter, the farewell speech of the father, the brother narrating how weak he feels inside and I would remember this movie as one that showed a beautiful kiss from a sister to her brother after a long time in a movie. It's an emotional journey.
I am not really a Priyanka Chopra fan, in fact, I was reluctant to watch "The Sky is Blue" because of her and would have given it a miss, had my wife not insisted. It would have been a mistake. Priyanka turns out her life's best performance - she is almost flawless in the character of a modern mother of two millennials. Farhan keeps "rocking on" with his ever sincere attitude and effortless acting. He plays the archetypical Indian father who is all strong outside - melting slowly inside and the only way he is able to show his immense love for his kids is to NOT let them know how weak he feels inside. After Dangal and Secret Superstar - Zaira Wasim does a fabulous job, proving that hers were not a one time wonder performances, earlier. The movie however, is clearly a labour of love of its writer director - Shonali Bose. Every sequence crafted, leaves her indelible mark, so much so, that you don't mind the long movie, which to become a commercial success, needs some brutal editing. She has tried to treat the intense subject and heavy theme of the movie with a light hearted, almost casual attitude of the millennials and dare I say she has succeeded too, largely.
I must warn you that, this is a "difficult to watch" movie. It has been released at the wrong time. In India this is the festive season and most moviegoers are probably looking forward to light, breezy, happy and foot tapping rhythmic movies. So while my recommendation is surely to watch the movie - but don't go looking for an easy on mind, body & soul entertainer.
I had started to expect a millenial's version of Dard Ka Rishta as I sat through the first half of "The Sky is Pink". However, the movie amazingly went quite much beyond Dard ka Rishta and took the audience through 145 minutes of a veritable maze of emotions from extreme happiness to pitless depth of sentimental sadness of being helpless fighter - leaving them fazed at the end with mixture of feelings that is difficult to describe in words but is definitely worth experiencing.
Based on a true story of a girl Aisha who, since birth, is affected by a rare disease SCID - a condition in which the child takes birth without any immune system. The movie is a moving tale - diligently pieced together - delicately narrated - tastefully cinematographed - of her life its ups and downs, the joys and frustration, the struggles of her parents and much more.
It raises very difficult questions - the push pull of faith against science: the dilemma of choosing a treatment trying for longevity laced with uncertainty of a painful life; the quest for openness to adjust to individual choices in a system of shared stakes: the deep troubles of
Some sequences stay with you and shall haunt.The father begging for help on the Radio, the mother sanitising the grave, the sister sharing her fears with her brother and the bro helping her settle down, from the another corner of the world - in the process getting upset himself, the video speech of a terminally ill daughter, the farewell speech of the father, the brother narrating how weak he feels inside and I would remember this movie as one that showed a beautiful kiss from a sister to her brother after a long time in a movie. It's an emotional journey.
I must warn you that, this is a "difficult to watch" movie. It has been released at the wrong time. In India this is the festive season and most moviegoers are probably looking forward to light, breezy, happy and foot tapping rhythmic movies. So while my recommendation is surely to watch the movie - but don't go looking for an easy on mind, body & soul entertainer.
थमते थमते थमेंगे आँसू
रोना है कुछ हँसी नहीं है
Go for a thought provoking, soul stirring and sentimentally moving experience. It is sad that such movies do not become a talk of the town anymore, unlike the way "Dard ka Rishta" was in its time. I feel the millennials should surely watch it once - because it underlines relevance of a family in a increasingly individual and private world without being preachy about one's choices. Go live the experience.
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