The Wishing Tree

THE WISHING TREE features a magical 6,000-year-old tree that, as narrator, calls itself one of the millions of tree sentinels of the environment made by the Indian Creator King when he created the earth millions of years ago. His presence predates Jesus, Mohammed, and Buddha -- he speaks admiringly of their wisdom. The movie pleads with humans, and most especially kids, to join trees in guarding the cleanliness of the earth's fragile ecological balance. Small dramas radiate around the tree. A heavyset girl named Nikita (Harshpreet Kaur) laments that she's bullied by classmates at her private Catholic school, and also by her unsympathetic family. She seeks tranquility at the tree and is spoken to by the spirit that lives nearby, a woman with greenish skin, lots of makeup, and veils. The spirit bursts into song as she promises Nikita that her dreams will come true and launches into the history of the Creator King's achievements. Dhanua (Aabhas Yadav) is a youth separated from his mother, who works for slave wages at a restaurant owned by a tyrant. He yearns to sing and dance in Broadway/Bollywood-style extravaganzas that he imagines in his dreams. Fatima (Shivani Joshi), Nikita's classmate, is more privileged, and she, too, wants to sing and dance. Her imagined performances are also featured. Sean (Mark Shaw) is the new kid at the Catholic school, a talented artist who is mocked because he is too shy to speak. Guri (Aditya Manghani) is the fifth misfit who comes to understand the goodness and magical powers of the tree. The kids save the tree from ignorant townspeople who believe evil spirits reside within.