Juggling a sports film, a superhero fantasy and a drama can be daunting. But The Sky Is Pink composer Pritam tells us it’s the only way he can work
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; October 7, 2019)

Even though it is the story — inspired by actual events — that’s the biggest draw of The Sky Is Pink, composer Pritam Chakraborty has managed to keep cinephiles further invested in the film owing to his score. In an interview with mid-day, he discusses what went behind composing for the Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Aktar-starrer, and juggling multiple films.

When you have the biggest production houses wanting you on board, what are the parameters you consider before taking up a project?
Generally, I have two ways to decide whether I want to take it up. The first is if I want to collaborate again with friends whom I have associated with in the past. The other is the script. If the script is exciting, [I] look forward to working on it.

In the case of The Sky Is Pink, I had heard very little of the story, initially. When Shonali [Bose, director] approached me, I turned her down because [my diary was] choc-a-block. But, when I heard the story of Aisha [Chaudhary], and saw the way Shonali spoke of the film, I felt for the family. Doing this was an emotional [decision].

While Gulabi Sky and Dil Hi Toh Hai have released, can you take us through the other songs in the film and the genres you’ve explored?
[Much like viewers] I also thought that the film would offer many opportunities to create emotional songs. But there aren’t many. There’s one song called Zindagi, which is my favourite. The others are feel-good [songs]. Dil Hi Toh Hai is a celebration of love. Gulabi Sky is [a play on] the film’s title. Nadaniya celebrates Aisha’s emotions. I thought there would be more emotional numbers, but Shonali wanted to cut through the heavy emotions with [a] brighter [palette]. Also, collaborating with Gulzar sa’ab [was fantastic]. Every moment is a fan moment when working with him. I’m always in awe.

You have mammoth projects like Brahmastra, ’83, Aaj Kal and Gulabo Sitabo, in the pipeline. Do you work on them simultaneously?
I don’t like to work on one project at a time because I can’t sit on one thing constantly. I have a [limited span of] attention, which helps me, in a way, because I can take up multiple projects. I can easily move in and out of the sound zones that I allot to different scripts. If I don’t juggle projects, I get bored. I usually devote no longer than two days for one song. After I finish one track, I’ll move on to another, from another film. Also, I am very moody. I won’t do something if I’m not enjoying it in that moment. The job is difficult. The projects I do are varied and I must keep each soundtrack [suited] to the script. Even if two films that I’m simultaneously working on release together, they should sound different, like it was in the case of Jagga [Jasoos] and Jab Harry Met Sejal, or Barfi and Cocktail.

Is there a soundtrack from your recent releases that has stayed with you?
Jagga Jasoos. I don’t think I’ve worked as much on any project as I did on it. Generally, projects that do well don’t remain a favourite. See, you are likely to focus your attention on a person who is talented, but still under-performs [laughs]. I wish it [Jagga Jasoos] had done better. Then, there are songs from [well-performing] films, that [go unnoticed]. There’s Ghar, from Harry Met Sejal. It’s close to my heart, but didn’t do very well. It was also not promoted.

Onkar Kulkarni (BOMBAY TIMES; September 28, 2019)

After making films like Amu (2005) and Margarita With A Straw (2014), Shonali Bose is all set to present another heart-wrenching tale with The Sky Is Pink. The film stars Farhan Akhtar, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Zaira Wasim, and is based on the life of Aisha Chaudhary, who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, and her family. In a conversation with Bombay Times, Shonali spoke about her late son Ishan, narrating an emotional tale on the big screen, shooting the film amidst Priyanka’s wedding preparations and a lot more.

The film sees Priyanka and Farhan share screen space four years after Dil Dhadakne Do (2015).What prompted you to get them on board as Aditi and Niren for The Sky Is Pink? Did it require some convincing on your part or were they on board right away?
Priyanka and Farhan were my first choice and so getting them on board was a dream come true. When I say first choice, it’s not in terms of the stardom, but purely as actors. Frankly, I was terrified and even intimidated with Farhan stepping in as an actor, because he is a director himself and he has even directed Priyanka before (Don and Don 2). I was thinking that I was going to be watched (laughs!) Also, Priyanka has done so many things (as an actress in her past films), so I was really nervous about teaming up with her.

I got a text (from Priyanka) on my son (late) Ishan’s birthday, in which she said that she wanted to meet me. I went to New York to meet her and discussed the film. The plot revolves around the death of a child, and I have been through that grief in my personal life as I had lost my nine-year-old son. She got teary-eyed and she even talked about her (late) father. It was interesting to see that for the first time I was meeting this big star and we immediately connected heart-to-heart.

As far as Farhan is concerned, we had asked him to read the script, post which he was going to meet us to tell us his decision. When I met him, he just stood up, looked deep into my eyes and said that he was terrified of doing this film because he thought it was a raw, emotional and honest script. He knew that I would demand an honest performance from him as a father. Giving such a real performance is much tougher than doing it in the typical Bollywood way. He told me that he was just going to put himself in my hands. I felt happy that he trusted me as a person because that’s what you want from your actors, right?

The film is based on the life of Aisha Chaudhary, what were your interactions with her family like?
Aisha’s parents told me that her brother, Ishaan Chaudhary, didn’t want this film to be made because he was very nervous about a Bollywood film being made on his sister. However, his mother said that she had no problems with the project and that we could go ahead with it. I told her that I wouldn’t make the film if her son didn’t want that. So, when I had the screening of Margarita With A Straw in New York, I invited him for it. He came for the screening. Later, we met at a coffee shop and he wept in my arms. His mother, who was surprised, told me that he had never wept in her arms even when his sister passed away. He cried and talked about his sister with me, and I talked about my son. I asked Ishaan, who is also a music composer, for an original song from him at the end of this film. Thus, the film ends with a song composed by Ishaan for his sister.

It was amidst the shooting of the film that Priyanka got married to Nick Jonas. How was that phase of filmmaking?
I have seen Priyanka’s journey from the time when Nick was not on her horizon, to the time when he became her husband. At the time, I felt like her mother as she would talk to me and tell me that Nick was going to propose to her and whether she should marry him. We have laughed, cried, talked for hours deeply about many subjects. This bond helped me direct her with ease just the way I directed Kalki (Koechlin in Margarita with a Straw) or Konkona (Sen Sharma in Amu).

Talking about the shooting phase, I feel that Priyanka has this ability not to get distracted by anything. That’s her forte as an actor. Once we got to know that she was going to get married and was hosting two big ceremonies in India and overseas, we just supported her. There was a separate room made on the sets where she held her wedding-related meetings. In between the scenes, she would go there, have a meeting about her wedding plans and then come back and give a shot. Initially, I was worried about how she would be able to do it, but, I could see that she did it with ease and that gave me confidence. It didn’t affect her performance at all. Once we were shooting in Chandni Chowk, post which she had to catch a flight, as they needed her to come to Paris to try the wedding gown. The next day she flew back, came to the set and continued shooting. In Delhi, we shot for five days right before her wedding. During Thanksgiving, it was Nick who came to Mumbai to be with her as she was busy shooting for the film. He even visited the sets. As a surprise, Priyanka arranged for a turkey from somewhere. After wrapping up, we had a party with him where we all danced together.

On the last day, we had decided to do a bidaai ceremony for Priyanka. We had called for a cake and champagne. That day, Priyanka had an intense scene, and suddenly, I heard some sniffs on set, I was surprised to see Nick standing next to me and crying seeing Priyanka give the shot.

This subject is close to your heart, was it tough, especially when you were shooting the emotional scenes?
I remember that when I was shooting Margarita With A Straw, there was a scene at the hospital where the mother is dying of cancer. We were shooting at a real hospital and the smell reminded me of being with my son at the time as he was admitted in the hospital during his last days. I started wailing and broke into pieces during the shoot. I was the director and producer of the film, I had 100 people around me and they wouldn’t know what to do when you are the leader and are supposed to be strong, but instead, you break down. As a filmmaker, I could have wrapped up the shoot for that day, but I decided not to give up and continued shooting. I went around hugging everybody on the set. Seeing me, a lot of people on the set opened up and shared stories about losing their near and dear ones. It’s been nine years since Ishan’s death. Shooting for The Sky is Pink was a joyride, and I was just laughing throughout the film. I must say that I have done a lot of grief work in order to process his death in terms of my feelings, pain and loss. I have reached that place where I can feel that he is always with me and I am not disconnected from him.

The day when we shot the death scene, I had called all the ADs (assistant directors) to my room and I did a light meditation where we all held hands. They all were feeling nervous. On that particular day, Zaira, Farhan and Priyanka cried as they had to perform an emotionally tough scene.

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. What was that experience like?
I felt so blessed that the project which began on Ishan’s birthday premiered on his death anniversary (September 13). On that day, we walked the red carpet, where there were over 1,000 fans. There was Farhan, Priyanka and the rest of the team with me, and I was surprised to see that people were screaming my name, too. They even took my autographs. Later, we went inside the auditorium, which was a three-tier space with seating for 2,000 people. The size made me extremely nervous, and my heart was beating faster. I told the audience that we were watching the film with them. We all could hear people laugh and even cry loudly. In fact, Farhan was crying, too. After the film ended and the credits rolled, I could see everyone standing up and applauding us. Later, at an after-party Aisha’s family joined us. They said that they felt as if Aisha has been reborn. Now, my terror is about the reaction in India. With The Sky Is Pink, I feel I have done a trilogy. The focus has been on the mother-child relation in all my three films. In Amu and Margarita With A Straw, the mother dies, while in the third one, the child dies. Though I did not set out to do this subject as a trilogy, I feel that I have explored the subject thoroughly. It just happened… Subconsciously, there was continuity in my work.

Farhan Akhtar on how footage shot by the Chaudharys of daughter Aisha helped him prep for The Sky Is Pink
Sonia Lulla (MID-DAY; September 30, 2019)

Until the trailer of The Sky Is Pink dropped online, many movie-goers assumed that the film would be a poignant chronicle of how a set of parents deals with their daughter's death. Leading man Farhan Akhtar too held similar perceptions before reading the script. "Death is scary, but we treat it with a degree of moroseness. When I read about how, instead of mourning the impending passing of someone they loved, the family focused on making her [remaining] life as beautiful as they could, I was blown away," says Akhtar.

The Shonali Bose-directed biographical venture sees Akhtar and Priyanka Chopra Jonas play Niren and Aditi Chaudhary, parents to Aisha Chaudhary, who was born with an immune deficiency disorder. While movies inspired by real-life events take cinematic liberties to draw viewers to theatres, he credits Bose for staying true to the material. "Everything shown here is what was told to Shonali [by Aisha's parents]. As a father, I could relate to the love the parents felt. Ever since the child was aged one, this family lived with the knowledge that anything could happen to her, anytime."

While he had watched Aisha's TED Talk, he has yet to read her book, My Little Epiphanies, which was published a day before she passed away at 18. "As soon as Niren and Aditi knew Aisha's time with them was limited, they shot her [every waking moment]. They had plenty of footage featuring Aisha and themselves. Those videos gave me an insight into their relationship. Aisha treated them like friends, and would constantly make fun of them. We've also read passages of her book because they've been included in the film."

When we had last connected with Akhtar in April, he was overwhelmed with the all-consuming journey of creating his debut album, Echoes. "After Echoes, I needed a film of this calibre to pull me back to acting. It rekindled the flame of my search for good stories."

Priyanka Chopra on married life, films she wants to make and finally accepting her father’s loss
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 25, 2019)

Early in the afternoon, Priyanka Chopra glides into Film City studio like a beam of sunshine and straightaway gets down to business. Excerpts from an interview:

Three years after Prakash Jha’s cop-drama Jai Gangaajal, you have another Hindi film coming up with The Sky Is Pink. How does it feel to be back to your first love, Bollywood?
It’s still my love. I couldn’t do a Hindi film earlier because three seasons of Quantico took up 11 months of a year and I just didn’t have the time or bandwidth. I love the new-wave films being made and how people are reacting to them. As a filmmaker and an actor who likes to do different things, I have a choice and was able to pick a film like The Sky Is Pink.

The film deals with the subject of loss. What drew you to it?
What moved me about this film was its take on family, relationships and loss. Indian culture teaches us to stay together as a family through all trials and this film underlines this even through the loss of a child. Instead of mourning death, Shonali (Bose, director) chooses to celebrate life. My mother, brother and I also agreed not to remember the last few moments before my dad passed away. We remember the man, his spirit and laughter, how he brought families together. Death is inevitable, yet we are afraid of it. Shonali changed my perspective through this film, healed me.

Shonali said recently that during a scene, you couldn’t stop crying even after she called “Cut”. Did it remind you of someone who is long gone?
In that particular scene Zaira’s (Wasim) character Aisha (Chaudhary) decides she’s not going to go in for surgery to extend her life because she doesn’t want to be bed-ridden for the rest of her life. My character Aditi agrees with the decision, but as Aisha’s mother during the scene, I kept thinking about what it must be like to lose a child. So, I just held Shonali and kept saying I was sorry she had to go through this, I couldn’t stop crying. You can empathise with the loss, but won’t really understand the feeling unless you have a child of your own. As a director’s actor, I spoke a lot to Shonali; I also spent a lot of time with Aditi Chaudhary (Aisha’s real mother) in London. The beauty of this film is that every family can relate to it because it’s about normal people with normal problems but extraordinary will.

Tell us about one such conversation with Shonali?
It was during a shoot in Delhi… We sat on a park bench and spoke for an hour. I was about to get married and was missing my dad. We had to shoot a difficult scene as well but we didn’t touch on it, just processed the loss. My dad had been ill and I knew it would happen but it was still painful. We spoke about the inevitability of loss and by the time we went back to the shoot, she didn’t even need to direct me.

Your on-screen daughter Zaira recently announced her retirement from acting, stating that her career was coming in the way of her religion. What do you think of her decision?
It’s a personal choice. Who are we to dictate what someone should and shouldn’t do? She is an amazing actor who has done incredible work. We will always wish her the best.

She has not been a part of the promotions, have you connected with her since her announcement?
I’ve spoken to her many times, but not about her decision to quit films. That’s none of my business. She’s an amazing artiste but maybe it was time for her…

In a recent interview, you spoke about wanting to have a baby. What is the one thing you really want to experience as a mother in real life?
The only thing I pray and wish for is a healthy child who can live life to the fullest.

What kind of a father will Nick Jonas make?
We will find out. It’s a hypothetical question about a hypothetical future.

Okay, what’s Nick like as a husband?
I can only relate to what I saw with my parents’ marriage. That was a marriage of equals, there was a lot of mutual respect and admiration. Nick and I have that too. He is the most considerate man I’ve ever met. In everything he does, Nick puts me first. It’s wonderful to wake up every day and know that there is this person who thinks about you even before you think about yourself. That’s eventually what you want, someone who loves you like a hug.

Did you see your dad in him?
The more I get to know him, yes. I feel I have married someone who is my dad’s chhavi. Not just the music, they are both very stable, solid, rooted and dependable.

Has Priyanka, as a person, changed much after the wedding?
(Laughs) I’ve become nicer and happier. This is the most content I’ve been in a really long time and full credit to my husband who is a calming presence while I run a million miles a minute. We are like each other’s Yin and Yang, that’s what you want to find in your partner.

What is your usual day in Los Angeles like?
We don’t have one as both of us travel a lot. Right now, we are based in New York a lot more than LA. When we have a day off, we don’t access our phones, just grab lunch, chat for hours, watch a movie, take Diana (their pet) for a walk… Nick loves walking in NY and I’m trying to learn how to do that since I’m not much of a walker. But there is something romantic about it, apparently.

What’s happening on the work front in the US?
I’ve just wrapped up a kiddie superhero movie with (director) Robert Rodriguez. It also has Pedro Pascal, Christian Slater and a bunch of other actors and 11 kids. Then, there’s the adapation of the book, The White Tiger and a romcom with Mindy Kaling inspired by my own wedding which I’m producing. I’m a huge fan and when I met her for lunch, we started talking about my wedding, her relationship with India and the story just came out from there. It’s a buddy comedy between two girls and travels from the US to India for an enormous wedding like mine. We are still writing that one. I’m also in talks for an American TV show but can’t divulge details. I’m producing two other TV shows in the US too but won’t be acting in them.

What’s happening with the show on Madhuri Dixit’s life in Denver?
We were developing that, but I don’t know what’s the status on it. It was a sitcom inspired from MD’s life, an Indian actor who moves to the US and what happens next.

Madhuri’s back in the Bay. Do you miss Mumbai?
Of course, I do, but I come back every two-three months because I have a home and work here. So, it’s not like I’m really gone. But I miss the city when I am away. Today I had fresh idlis after three months and it was a great start to my morning.

You are house-hunting in Los Angeles, we’re told...
Yup, we sold our house and are looking for another one. My work dictates my life in both countries so it’s important to have a base in India and the US. It will be Nick and my first home together and that makes it exciting.

Your brother Siddharth has reportedly found love again in South Indian actress Neelam Upadhyay…
Like I said with Zaira, I don’t speak about other people’s life because it’s not my business. You should ask him when you meet him next.

After you stepped out of Bharat, buzz was Salman Khan got upset and took jibes at you while promoting the film. Have you spoken to him since?
The only thing I’d say is that if there was a reaction required you’d have had it by now. Salman is amazing. I’ve always admired him. He came for Nick and my reception, we went to his house, I’m really close to his sister (Arpita Khan). So, there’s never an issue with him.

After Dil Dhadakne Do you’ve reunited with Farhan Akhtar for The Sky Is Pink. Can we hope to see you return with Don 3?
You will have to ask the producers that. No one has spoken to me about it, it’s been almost 10 years.

With this film you’ve made your debut as a Hindi film producer. Any plans to revive the Kalpana Chawla biopic?
I don’t believe in projects, I believe in stories. We are working on the script, when it’s ready, we will green-light it.

Meanwhile you’re playing Ma Anand Sheela in a film adaptation of a 2018 documentary on the Rajneesh cult…
That’s another script we are developing. I am doing it with Barry Levinson who directed Rain Man. I will be producing it.

Buzz is, another favourite director of yours, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, has approached you for his dream project, Gangubai, one of the mafia queens of Mumbai. Simultaneously, it’s also been reported that Alia Bhatt is doing the film.
I have no idea. I haven’t signed a Hindi film yet because the two I’m doing in the US and the one I’m starting next year, are taking up my time. Now, it’s time to go shopping for the next film I’d want to do. I wanted to finish The Sky Is Pink first. I’m a fan of Sanjay Bhansali in whatever he makes, I’ll always be his fan.

Shonali Bose on love, loss and how her new film, which premiered in Toronto on Friday, rounds off a trilogy of sorts
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 16, 2019)

After her debut film, the National Award-winning 2005 drama Amu, followed by Margarita with a Straw nine years later, director Shonali Bose recently returned to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) with her next. The Sky Is Pink is the love story of a couple—Aditi and Niren Chaudhary (Priyanka Chopra and Farhan Akhtar respectively)—who lose their daughter Aisha (Zaira Wasim) to pulmonary fibrosis. Rohit Saraf plays their son. The film premiered at TIFF on Friday, September 13, and that leads to the first question:

The Sky Is Pink was the only Asian film in the fest’s Gala section. How was it returning with a hat-trick?
It is a huge honour. I have a special connection with Toronto as this is where I started the fundraising drive for Amu (headlined by Konkona Sensharma) and also got help to release it. When I came back for screenings in Canada, a Sikh taxi driver refused to take money from me, saying, “You’re the Amu filmmaker, I can’t take money from you.”

During a screening for the Sikh community, a lady sitting next to me was sobbing. Later, she said, “Bless you, you’ve given me healing and relief.”

All three films have got emotional responses. After watching the rough cut of The Sky Is Pink, Cameron Bailey (Artistic Director, TIFF) admitted that he felt deeply healed, having lost his mother just two weeks before.

What kind of reactions did you get at the world premiere last Friday?
It was a spectacular night with close to a thousand fans on the red carpet. We entered the Roy Thomson Theatre and I introduced my cast and crew to an audience of 2,000 people. It was so special.

We heard them sniff loudly, laugh, go still and silent. We got a standing ovation and TIFF old timers told me they hadn’t seen a response like this in years. We went to Soho House and hung out until 3am. I kept smiling and saying “thank you”. People couldn’t stop praising the film.

The real Chaudharys were also at the premiere. How involved were they with the film? Were you nervous about screening the film for them?
Yes, they were there and hosted a dinner event for us last week where everyone got very emotional. I was not at all nervous about showing the film to them because they had seen the rough cuts. I’d have been terrified otherwise! The first thing I showed them was the scene of the day their child dies and how each of them reacts. They watched it while I stood outside the edit room nervously. When they came out, they hugged me and wept in my arms, saying that I’d captured it exactly as it happened. It’s difficult to capture somebody else’s memory about the loss of their child, I know how it is, having lost one myself.

Is that why you were drawn to their story?
My film is related to my son’s (Ishan; right) death, in a sense that I, too, have lost a child and so, understood the emotions deeply and could write easily about two parents and their grief. I was drawn to Aditi and Niren’s story because I found it inspiring. I saw them as carers for their daughter, inspiring thoughts that they came up with, like life has to be lived to the fullest and just because there’s death looming over your head doesn’t mean that you succumb to it. Aditi wanted to put on Aisha’s grave, “She lived” and boy, they did know how to make their daughter live!

The story moved me, and I was ready to explore the subject. I feel like I’m filled with light and love over the death of my own child. It’s a wonderful vehicle through which I bring out another layer to the issue of death, which, maybe, the Chaudhary family didn’t have.

Did you miss Ishan while making the film?
I don’t miss Ishan because he’s with me 24/7. He’s the light, love and the fuel of my life, like my younger son Vivaan. Both my children are equal to me. I don’t miss Ishan because I never have to say goodbye to him anymore. I cry when Vivaan leaves for college. I miss him but Ishan is with me wherever I go. On his birthday, on January 20, 2018, I got a text from Sid (producer Siddharth Roy Kapur) that Priyanka had finished reading the script and wanted to meet me. I laughed when I read the text because I knew it was a sign. The world premiere happened on the day he died, September 13. There’s something uncanny in the way Ishan blessed me and this film all the way.

How did Priyanka and Farhan deal with complexities of their characters?
I think the script was gold for both Priyanka and Farhan and a lot of it is all written, so it was easy for them. The workshops helped. I also told them well in advance that I’d need rehearsal days. I really enjoyed working with these actors and had formed an emotional bond with them, including with Rohit and Zaira, which you see in the film.

Priyanka borrowed from your stories of Ishan, even referring to Rohit’s character Ishaan as Ishlu, your nickname for your son. Were these scenes difficult to shoot for you, specially Aisha’s death scene?
Thank you for asking this question. It’s so beautiful that you’ve noticed that Priyanka called Ishan “Ishlu” which is not a name Aditi calls her son by. Priyanka heard me calling my Ishan that when I spoke about him and asked me, “Can I call him Ishlu in this scene?” I just smiled from ear to ear.

Another emotional shoot was when she had to break down after a scene. After I called “cut”, I hugged her and she couldn’t stop crying. She kept whispering, “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. I know now what it means to lose a child. I am so sorry for Ishlu.” I continued holding her.

Getting back to your question: Was it difficult? Not at all. After Ishan died, I spent an entire year doing what I call “grief work”. I took my pain in my own hands and I just sat with it. When you do that you transcend your pain, and that’s what happened with me. As a result, I am in a place of complete acceptance of his death and feel his presence with me so much that I don’t miss him.

What’s next for you?
I can’t think of my next film while I am finishing one. All my three films are fresh and original; they are a trilogy in the sense that they are all about close, beautiful mother-child relationships and death. But I think I will end with this subject after this film and move on, perhaps to a comedy. I’ve made people cry enough, I think now I need to make them laugh a lot.

DNA (September 29, 2018)

Priyanka Chopra has returned to Hindi films after a two-year break with The Sky Is Pink. The roles she has picked for her last few outings in Hollywood and Bollywood have been strong, independent characters. That has been seen with films like Dil Dhadakne Do and Bajirao Mastani and her international series Quantico.

Her next role of Aditi Chaudhary, mother to motivational speaker and author Aisha Chaudhary, played by Zaira Wasim on screen, is equally challenging. Aisha, who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 13, wrote the book My Little Epiphanies. After Aisha’s demise at the age of 21, Aditi has been spreading her legacy and story.

The film will also see Priyanka sport four different looks as it will follow her character over a span of 30 years. Though the details have been kept under wraps, people on the sets say that a lot of attention has been paid to the various appearances. A crew member adds that PC is going all out and shooting round the clock for the film in Mumbai.

The actress, who recently returned from her US trip, resumes work on Shonali Bose’s next in October
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 25, 2018)

After making their relationship official with a roka ceremony on August 18 in Mumbai, Priyanka Chopra flew to the US later in the month to spend some quality time with her singer-songwriter fiancé, Nick Jonas.

On September 16, they brought in his 26th birthday at a baseball match, going on to hang out with friends and family at a ranch in Oklahoma. Priyanka and Nick’s retreat recently wound up with an appearance at Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal’s engagement party in Lake Como, Italy, where they hung out with Sonam Kapoor and her husband, Anand Ahuja.

Now, Mirror has learnt that after arriving in Mumbai on Monday, the desi girl is gearing up to take off for London in early October to resume shooting for Shonali Bose’s The Sky Is Pink.

The film revolves around Aisha Chaudhary (played by Zaira Wasim), who was born with an immune deficiency disorder and was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis at age 13.

For the schedule, PeeCee will be joined by co-stars Farhan Akhtar and Zaira, who play her husband and daughter respectively. “After completing the first schedule of the film in August in Mumbai, they will now shoot for a major portion in the UK, where Aisha had grown up, between October 10 and 21. Shonali has already done the recee and is presently prepping for the extensive schedule,” informs a source close to the development.

Actress is gearing up to play the protagonist with immune deficiency disorder in Shonali Bose’s next
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 18, 2018)

Mirror (April 18) had earlier reported that Priyanka Chopra and Abhishek Bachchan have been approached to feature in Shonali Bose’s next directorial that is inspired by the true-life story of Aisha Chaudhary. We have now learnt that the makers have roped in Dangal and Secret Superstar actress Zaira Wasim to play the young protagonist in the film which will be produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur.

A motivational speaker with a book, My Little Epiphanies, to her name, Aisha was born with an immune deficiency disorder and at 13 was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. Despite her ailments, the youngster faced life head-on, sharing what gave her a sense of hope and control through her book and inspiring many with her life-affirming talks on several platforms since she was 15. She was named an INK Fellow following her speeches in the 2011 and 2013 INK Conferences and was also a speaker at TEDx Pune in 2013. She eventually passed away on January 24, 2015, at age 18.

“Zaira really liked the script and has given her nod to the project. Shonali is currently busy with the pre-production and is hoping to start shooting by the middle of this year in Mumbai. Priyanka and Abhishek will play parents to Zaira’s character,” informs a source close to the development.

Incidentally, Shonali’s 2015 directorial, Margarita with a Straw, which bagged Kalki Koechlin the Special Jury — National Film Award, had also revolved around a teenager grappling with a condition — cerebral palsy. Kalki’s Laila relocates to the US and comes of age following a complex relationship with a blind girl, played by Sayani Gupta.

Messages to Shonali and Zaira remained unanswered.