The Last Color trailer: A heart-rending experience

Vikas Khanna's The Last Color is finally on its way to theatres on 11 December. Accordingly, the makers of the film have released a trailer that conveys the emotional heft of the festival favourite. Featuring Neena Gupta and Aqsa Siddiqui, the film revolves around the life of a sequestered widow in Benares who finds a new lease of life through a girl selling flowers. 

While it is Gupta who has been at the centre of the film's posters, the trailer begins with glimpses of the young waif doing a literal high-wire act. With her bleeding feet on the rope, she encapsulates the dangers of growing up unattended. She finds a carer in Gupta's 60-year-old widow. The caregiving is mutual as the young girl brings colour into the widow's life as well. She promises, "This time I will put colour on you during Holi." But before she does that, she has her own pitfalls to negotiate. Meanwhile, the widow herself is bound by age-old customs that have deprived her all joy in life. 

The trailer has its moments of emotional brightness that is backed by some stunning visuals. The relationship between Gupta's elderly widow and the young, brattish orphan played by Siddiqui is the highlight of the trailer, and perhaps, the story. With its blend of emotional drama and social context, the trailer certainly promises an interesting film. 

Directed by Vikas Khanna, The Last Color has already premiered at several international film festivals, including the New York Indian Film Festival 2019 and Indian Film Festival Stuttgart 2019, and was also sent for consideration for the Best Picture Oscar at the 92nd Academy Awards.