By Rituparna Sengupta Basu
Tragic love story ‘The Sky is Pink’ hit the silver screens today. This biographical film directed by Shonali Bose and co-produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, Ronnie Screwvala and Priyanka Chopra under the banner of RSVP Movies, Roy Kapur Films, and Purple Pebble Pictures.
The film is the return of Chopra after a break of three years from Bollywood. Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra, Rohit Saraf, and Zaira Wasim took the lead in this film. Right before the release of the movie, Priyanka Chopra came to the capital for promoting and sharing her experience, fun which she faced and enjoyed while working in the film, etc. Team Expresso caught up with her in a candid conversation.
Expresso: “The Sky is Pink”, how does the title justify the movie?
Priyanka: Actually, I was too junior to know about the title of the movie since it is completely based on a real-life family who is not any kind of superhero or super athlete. It’s quite normal to face extraordinary problems in ordinary life, and the movie shows how they positively deal with it.
Every scene of the movie was narrated by Aditi and Niren so, the song in which you have seen me wearing a helmet inside the houses of Chandni Chowk, they use to do that I think as well, but without the song. But when Aditi use to come to their house, he uses to hide her by simply putting on the helmet.
Similarly, there is a scene, where Aditi’s daughter Aisha played by Zaira was one year old, and for her treatment, they were staying in London. Their son Ishaan once calls up Aditi and says that the teacher punished him in the painting class as he painted the sky pink. Aditi felt hurt, and she mentioned not to tell anyone the color of your sky and don’t let anyone manipulate you.
She said to paint the sky with your favourite colour. So, the philosophy of the parents in this film fascinated us so much, that we couldn’t think of any other title.
Expresso: What kind of social message does this movie give to the viewers?
Priyanka: See, the first thing, which I want to clear it out people put in a lot of responsibility in the entertainment industry. I think while being in the democratic country the storyline of the movie is the prerogative of the director. It is not necessary that every movie or every storyline must have a moral otherwise then we have to say to every writer, that their story doesn’t have a moral. Keeping that aside, what you can get from the movie, we often forget to appreciate our parents, our friends, and the loved ones while they are alive. We appreciate and miss those memories after they are gone. So after finishing the movie, I can promise you, that you would want to call up your loved ones and let them know how special and valuable they are for them. The message that you can get from the movie, families must always be together, support each other, and especially their parents. Both Aditi and Niren Chowdhury, especially remind me of my parents since they wished, that my daughter should lead a big life, and not a long one. Parents should give enough support to their kids, especially their daughters so that they can fulfill their wishes and I am a live example.
Expresso: In the time of OTT platforms and digital spaces, has the language of film making changed for the big screen as there is more liberty in digital space. For this film especially, have you had to keep certain things in mind?
Priyanka: The way I see it, I feel that the cinema has not changed; it’s the audience that has changed. With digitization and streaming coming in today, people sitting anywhere in the world, and any parts of the country can sit and watch any cinema from any part of the world. You can watch an Iranian movie by sitting in Delhi; watch any Indian film by sitting in America. So, the boundaries have completely erased, and due to which the medium has too increased. I think it is a wonderful time for entertainment as a whole and anyone can make any story and people can watch it. The audience has evolved as you might have heard earlier, we used to say to leave their thoughts at the house, so you do not make the mistake of leaving your brains and thoughts at home. Use your brain as well as your heart while watching the movie and this film, does the same job.
Expresso: Whenever any actor plays any character, they try to find something special in it and feel some sort of attachment be it any actor or actress for which they agree to portray it. What did you find in this character, any emotion that inspired you by any means?
Priyanka: For me, before choosing any kind of character, I always choose the story first. If the film becomes a success then only I will become successful. I never think about my role in the movie, and the audience comes to watch the storyline, and they give the credits to the actors. Films are the medium for the directors and I feel like the directors are the real star and we are the vessel for narrating their story. So for me, the story of the film was important to me, and the way it was written since Shonali and Nilesh has beautifully penned down the story.
Although, there is a heavy subject, and event in the story which affected the family the way the story has been narrated in the movie is quite funny. Birth and death are the only two things, that are sure to happen with us, but the things that will take place in between cannot be predicted. The film also says that these things are bound to happen, and we must not be afraid of that. I loved the story; also I was looking for a heavy character since I have done Quantico for three years, and I knew the character properly, so I was not taking any kind of challenge or surprising myself. I was looking forward to a movie, that can give me an immersive experience, and this film was scaring me as obviously I am not a mother. Also, I did not play the role of a mother, but losing a child is scaring as it is not a real order of nature which I loved as it was challenging me as an actor.
Expresso: Throughout the trailer, you were looking flawlessly beautiful and not a mother of two kids. What was your thought behind your aging according to that?
Priyanka: I also, just like you because of the biases around us, and also the cinema has taught us that when a woman starts aging she must look dowdy, must put on weight, should not use makeup, etc. I mean why not and if you meet Aditi Chowdhury, then you will surely love her philosophy “When life sucks, look like a million bucks” and she believes that. If you are suffering from tough problems, then it is not necessary to show it, you must be happy and feel happy. So, it was important for Shonali to change the misconception that when women start aging it is not necessary to feel bad.
Even my mother is also same, she stays well turned out all the time, her hair is always in place. Another most important thing that I loved, which Shonali did in the movie; we always show romance at a young age in the movies, but never at the forties and fifties. Aditi and Niren also maintain their romance even in their forties, they are flirty and for Shonali, it was interesting to show that a couple can have intimacy and real-life romance even as they age and after having children.
Expresso: How did you prepare yourself for the role considering the story, and how did the character grow inside of you?
Priyanka: it was important for me to derive a lot from Shonali and Aditi because as I said, I don’t have the experience of motherhood, and unless you are a mom it is really difficult to understand to have a child or to lose a child. I asked a lot of questions to Shonali as I wanted to more about the character, talking to her about millions of things. Also, I have aged a film before like in ‘7 Khoon Maaf’, I went from nineteen to sixty-five, and here it is a lot less comparatively. So for me, I love to involve more in the character than myself, and never take anything from real life as I would be then playing Priyanka and not the character. I even met Aditi in London, spend time with her, asked her a lot of difficult questions, and Shonali as well on the set.
