The Last Color
Dir: Vikas Khanna
Runtime: 90 mins
Cast: Neena Gupta, Neha Garg, Jyoti, Rajeswar Khanna, Aslam Shekh, Aqsa Siddique, Princy Sudhakaran, Budrani Chhetri
Rating: 

Multifaceted Vikas Khanna, a James Beard award-winning chef /author/owner of restaurant, Junoon, in New York, recipient of several national and international awards for his foundations, and the one who recently won paeans for his efforts to feed the multitudes affected by the pandemic, tries his hand at feature filmmaking with this subtle, tender story adapted from his own novel of the same name.

The narrative follows the keeping of a promise made by a nine-year-old, Chhoti (Aqsa Siddiqui) to an old widow, Noor (Neena Gupta). Chhoti, a street urchin living in the slums of Benares, who performs a tightrope act and sells flowers to earn a meagre living befriends the widow, living a passionless existence. The narrative delineates how they spur each other towards a more passionate and fulfilling life. In between the interludes of reflection, regressive customs, traditions, and amidst the fulcrum of courage, the narrative also exposes the debauched underbelly of risks that a girl child has to manoeuvre in order to come up trumps.