SIFF: Rainbow

Description

A sweet fairy tale about an unwaveringly optimistic 10-year-old girl and her blind younger brother as they travel across the Indian desert hoping to meet Shah Rukh Khan, a famous and charitable Bollywood star. Recommended for ages 9+ (Includes discussion of parental death, adults smoking and drinking, sleeping pills administered to children without their knowledge, foul language, physical violence depicted and threatened)

This heartwarming story follows two orphaned siblings living with their aunt and uncle in a scenic village in Rajasthan, India. Pari, the responsible older sister, acts as a guide for her blind eight-year-old brother, Chotu. Chotu remains cheerful and free-spirited, even as he yearns to be able to see again. Inspired by a message on a poster of Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Pari promises Chotu that he’ll get his sight back before his upcoming ninth birthday. Pari writes letters to Shah Rukh Khan, asking for his help, and doesn’t give up hope even when he doesn’t respond. When she finds out that Shah Rukh Khan will be filming a movie just a few hundred kilometers from where she and Chotu live, the two siblings decide to run away from home to find the superstar and convince him to fix Chotu’s vision. Despite the obstacles in front of them, Pari and Chotu are determined to complete their excursion to Ranau, the village where Shah Rukh Khan is filming. As they cross the desert planes of Rajasthan, they run into a number of eccentric characters, each one helping to further their journey in one way or another.

Director Biography: A chemical engineer by profession, Nagesh Kukunoor gave up his lucrative career as an environmental consultant in Atlanta and, using his personal savings, wrote, produced, acted in, and directed his immensely successful debut film. Hyderabad Blues (1998). His cinematic journey has now spanned over a decade and has received rave reviews across the globe.