4.0/5
Aisha Chaudhary was a motivational speaker and author who suffered from a rare genetic disorder that finally took her life when she was just 18. The present film is a fictionalized account of her parents' struggle for keeping her alive and also her own bout with her incurable condition.
Aisha Chaudhary (Zaira Wasim) narrates the story from beyond the grave. She's a sassy teenager having a zest for life. She comments on everything from the sex life of her parents, or even the lack of it, the ability of her elder brother Ishaan (Rohit Saraf) to pick up girls, to the pall of doom surrounding their lives. She highlights her own hopes and desires, frustrations, crushes, sexual tension and fear of impending death. The actual Aisha spoke about living in the moment as death is inevitable and her fictional life is shown to be an extension of her thoughts.
Niren Chaudhary (Farhan Akhtar) is a small-time executive living in old Delhi, who falls in love with a South Delhi girl an “almost” Miss India Aditi (Priyanka Chopra Jonas). They get married but when their first child, a daughter, dies, they come to know that both are carrying a faulty gene and there's a chance that their future children can carry a genetic disorder because of it. Their second child a boy is born okay but their third child Aisha is born with SCID, or Severe Combined Immunodeficiency, a genetic disorder that lays the child wide open to infectious disease. The couple comes to London to treat the child and with the help of a radio show, are able to raise enough money to pay for her costly stem cell therapy and bone marrow transplant procedure. They end up spending ten years in London. They move back to India and all is fine for a while. But they don't know that as a side effect of her treatment, she developed pulmonary fibrosis -- a type of condition that causes hardening of the lungs. It's an incurable disease. She's increasingly dependent on oxygen cylinders and finally succumbs to it.
The film is based on the lives of real people. One can only imagine the kind of struggle they went through. Instead of showing it in all its grimness, director Shonali Bose has chosen to showcase it as a rom-com. The narration goes back and forth in time, acquainting us with the ups and downs of their relationship. Cracks do occur when things get hard but they pull through as a couple. There are plenty of scenes which will make you laugh despite the tragic undertone of the film. And some, like that of a sleep-deprived Aditi attacking her husband after losing her mental equilibrium, are goosebumps-inducing Indeed.
This is Zaira Wasim's last film as she has decided to quit filmdom for personal reasons. She's a completely natural and approaches her role with enough sass and wit for us to root for her without pitying her for her condition. She makes us believe in the real Aisha and the snippet from Aisha's actual TedX speech that we see towards the end confirms that belief. Let's hope Zaira rethinks on her decision or quitting films as we sure would hate losing a good actor.
Farhan Akhtar and Priyanka Chopra make for a made-for-each-other couple. They might have their differences but are able to solve them as they genuinely love each other. Like real couples, they speak more through their eyes, their silences, their body language than through dialogue. If Priyanka comes across as a Tiger Mom, then Farhan is her sheet-anchor through all thick and thin. They complete each other on-screen and are a delight to watch. They should sign more films together pronto. Rohit Saraf too has made his presence felt like a caring brother.
Cinematography by Kartik Vijay and Nick Cooke brings home coziness of a close-knit family admiringly well. The film is a bit long at 149 minutes but the performances by the lead cast make you overlook this gaffe.
Overall, this bitter-sweet film will make you laugh, will make you cry and will surely make you ruminate on the glorious uncertainty of life...
Trailer : The Sky Is Pink
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