After a deeply impactful Margarita with a Straw in 2015, comes another emotional ride from Shonali Bose, that tells the true story of the Chaudhary family, and how they strive for life despite their daughter’s illness, right from the time she was born, and even before that.
Born with a rare genetic disorder that threatens her survival as a baby, Aisha Chaudhary narrates the tale of her short but full life. Of how her parents’ love for each other and their sheer will to fight for her life, becomes a life long mission, that simultaneously makes their family and breaks them.
This is the story of Aditi Chaudhary (Priyanka Chopra) and her single minded devotion to the only cause that matters, that of keeping her daughter alive. The daughter, that is both her strength and her weakness.
This is the story of Niren Chaudhary (Farhan Akhtar) and his whole-hearted love for his wife and family, and how he is willing to do what it takes for them, even at the cost of his own identity.
The film is a tear jerker with a light touch, that makes your heart weep for the real Chaudhary family and everything they have been through. It makes you want to reach out to them, hug them, pray for them, applaud them and tell them that they are not alone and that we are all with them.
And that is perhaps what Shonali is trying to do with this film. Just the same as it was in her previous film. In that sense, Shonali is not a story teller as much as she is an activist. Her film is just a means for her to achieve her mission - mission to make an impact, to make us feel what we otherwise wouldn’t feel in our selfish everyday existence, to move us from our static lives, to build empathy. That’s what she’s after, and that’s what she achieves.
And that also becomes the flaw in the film. It makes an impact yes, but is not an engaging story telling. You feel bad for the characters, but you don’t feel what they feel. You watch them but you are always the outsider. You always know it’s someone else’s story. You are always kept at a distance from the characters, and the film somehow doesn’t let you in. And even though you have shed a few tears through the 160 odd minutes, you feel strangely cold to the whole experience.
May be its to do with the actors, or the way the story is told. But may be it’s because it feels like a Hindi film that is thought through in English!
In any case, If you liked Margarita with a Straw, you will like this one too. Watch it to go through the lives of what the chaudhari’s went through.. to build perspective on how privileged lives we all live.. ...to build empathy towards those who perhaps don’t have as fortunate lives as us.. to contribute and participate in Shonali Bose’s mission.
