I’m not a fan of sappy movies. You know why? Because I’m a BIG crier. So even though I had heard great things about The Sky Is Pink (it got a standing ovation at the Toronto International Film Festival!), I was a little hesitant to watch it. Not because I didn’t want to cry, but because I prefer to do it within the confines of my own room and not in a theatre full of people. I checked out the trailer and understood that it is about a family dealing with a terminally ill child–a story that’s been told a million times before. But will this one touch me? Let’s find out!
1. The movie’s just begun but before the cry fest starts, can I just say–PC looks smokin’ in a pixie cut!
2. A sad-looking labrador sleeping alone of a bed that looks like a young girl’s room. Obviously this means the terminally ill girl has died. But the sad dog trope? Come on, that’s cheating!
3. “Kaha tha na condom pehen lo,” says Priyanka Chopra’s character aka Aditi aka Moose to Farhan Akhtar’s character aka Niren aka Panda. Side note: the next time that fuckboi says condoms just “aren’t his thing”, tell him about this scene and show him the door!
4. They’re discussing what to do about the baby. Wait, did she just say “what if it’s a girl?!”
5. Okay, maybe I jumped the gun too soon. They’re talking about diseases so I’m guessing it’s something to do with a genetic disorder affecting women in their families.
6. Five minutes into the movie and Aisha, the narrator of the story, declares that she is already dead. Time to prepare myself for future waterworks.
7. They haven’t said what the disease is but they’re talking about bone marrow transplants for a tiny baby, so I’m guessing it’s very serious.
8. Okay, the first tear has arrived.
9. SCID. That’s what Aisha has. A rare genetic disorder in which a child is born without any immunity. Most kids die within a year. That’s…not looking good.
10. They already lost a daughter to the disease! Turns out before their son Ishaan aka Giraffe was born, Aditi and Niren had a daughter called Tanya and she died of a very young age. Way to make an already sad story more tragic!
11. But, I’m liking the dark humour in this movie.
12. The doctor just calls Aditi and tells her that Niren isn’t Ishaan’s father. DRAAAMAAAA!
13. After that emotional plea for donations on the radio, a taxi driver just stopped by and donated money for Aisha! Cue waterworks!
14. Okay so turns out that Niren IS Ishaan’s real dad. Uh-oh, so much for all the grief he gave Aditi! Now begins his guilt trip.
15. Apparently they collected 2,50,000 pounds from the radio show!!!! Double the amount they asked for!!!! Okay the floodgates have opened and I am FULLY crying.
16. Ah, they finally explain where the movie got its name from. Young Ishaan, who is living in India with Niren, coloured the sky in pink in art class and was punished. His reality is his own!
17. There comes the video of Aisha walking for the first time. I’m ugly crying now. I mean, they thought that she might not even make it to a year.
18. Did Niren just refer to his penis as a ‘mirchi’? Yuck.
19. Niren surprised Aditi by flying to London and telling her he’s got a transfer! Yay, the whole family’s back together. What he does for a living though? ‘Transfer’ sounds like it’s a decent-paying corporate job?
20. They’ve moved forward in time and Aisha is now a pre-teen. Aditi gets pissed because she pets a dog. First, she has a terminally ill disease and now she can’t pet dogs? How much more tragic can her life get?
21. They just found out that Aisha’s test reports are clear. She’s no longer sick!!! It’s nice to see them so happy but we know that it’s not going to last 🙁
22. They’re moving back from London to Delhi. And they’re living in a farmhouse…in Chartarpur. Wait, when did they get rich? Weren’t they living inside a shoebox-sized flat in London?
23. There’s a happy party complete with relatives, wine, dancing and drunk singing at the Choudhary household. But all this happiness is making me suspicious. Something bad is going to happen. I know it.
24. Ishaan finds Aisha is lying passed out in the hallway. I knew it!
25. Despite her illness, Aisha is such a positive kid.
26. Skip to the present and Aisha’s already passed away. Niren and Aditi can’t stop fighting. This is very common with couples who lose a child.
27. Aditi pays a visit to Aisha’s grave and out of habit, de-sanitises it. And the fireworks are back.
28. We’re back in 2009 and Aisha has just learnt that she has only five years to live. Aditi, in an attempt to make her feel better, summons the kids and tells them they’re “adopting” a new family member. Let me guess, it’s a dog.
29. I knew it!!! The puppy’s adorable. But ‘Rolo’ is a very weird name.
30. Puppy is cute but asking a guy to pretend to like Aisha and take her on a date is …overstepping. Aditi needs to cool it.
31. Karan and Aisha have broken up. What the hell, Karan, the girl is dying! Couldn’t you just tell her that you loved her back?!
32. They take her to an exotic island vacay to make her feel better after the break-up. Coolest. Parents. Ever.
33. Of course she has a medical emergency on the airplane!! Did no one think of the fact that there’s a lack of oxygen when the plane’s in the air?!
34. Niren and Aditi are arguing over whether Aisha should get a lung transplant. I can’t understand what it feels like to be a parent but fuck, this must be a hard movie for parents to watch.
35. We see her breaking down for the first time. I break down with her.
36. Ishaan comforts Aisha, telling her that they’re all going to end up together eventually. Mental note: call my brother who lives abroad after the movie ends.
37. Shit, all that stress has finally got to Aditi. Things just aren’t easy for this family.
38. Watching a fictional couple deal with a terminally ill child getting closer to death with every passing minute is so hard.
39. Okay, hearing a dad call their kid “sport” is still going to make me cringe hard. Stop trying to make ‘sport’ happen, Niren!
40. Aisha’s gone but Niren, Ishaan and Rolo huddling up and crying together is making me ugly cry in this theatre.
41. If Aditi is Moose and Niren is Panda, I’ve officially turned into a racoon, thanks to my smudged mascara from all that crying.
42. Aditi and Niren have drifted apart after Aisha’s death. Niren is moving back to London and Aditi doesn’t want to go with him. Please don’t let this already tragic movie end on an even sadder note!
43. Fuck. Are you done making us bawl Aisha? (not revealing why I had this thought)
44. Great. The end is the real killer. And here I thought I was done crying. Psych, waterworks are back!!! For the last time, I hope, because the credits are rolling in.
Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. Yes, it was definitely a little over-dramatic in bits, but at the end of the day, The Sky Is Pink is just a beautiful story of a very tight-knit family dealing with extreme grief. I would suggest you take your entire family along for this one–because didn’t someone say that a family that cries together stays together? Okay, excuse my poor humour, but believe me, when I say this, you will definitely want to hug your loved ones tight after watching this touching movie!
I rate this movie 3.5/f
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