Movies are more often than not looked at, from a single dimension of being entertaining. Of course, one of the primary expectations from a Movie is to be entertained; but sometimes, a movie becomes a mere medium to convey a message, inform, educate, or maybe just leave you thinking about a particular topic. Pink, by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury is one such film.
The movie begins in Delhi with a shaken Minal (Tapsee Pannu) her friends and roommates Falak Ali (Kirti Kulhari) and Andrea (Andrea Tariang). The girls are tensed about something and they're visibly afraid. In another car, Rajveer (Angad Bedi) is being driven to a hospital by his friends. Rajveer hails from an influential family and with support of Ankit (Vijay Verma); his brother/ cousin tries to harass the ladies in different ways; most of which are rather condescending, debasing and/ or illegal. Fiefdom and complete disregard of the law is second nature to Rajveer and his clan. They go to shallowest levels to suppress the ladies; to the extent of falsely accusing them of crimes, that result in Minal getting jailed. Deepak Sehgal (Amitabh Bachchan) a retired lawyer with bipolar disorder; is a resident in the same housing complex as the ladies. He is a silent observer of some of the incidents that the ladies endure and decides to help them once Minal is jailed.
Once the courtroom sessions start, Pink takes (at times) uncomfortable, but really brave stand. Ritesh Shah (the writer) boldly navigates through multiple idiosyncrasies and commonly said statements which make Indian society full of bigots. The patriarchal approach of life which has got so deeply ingrained; in so many sections of the society will make many audience members squirm in their seats, and rightfully so. The film also shows the gaps in the legal system and how easily lawyers with malicious intent can corner a woman, just by viewing a situation with a flawed (typical) Indian perspective. To underline the hypocritical aspects of the way our society thinks, Deepak Sehgal mentions how rules are different for men as compared to the ladies.
The movie is filled with exemplary performances by Tapsee Pannu, Andrea Tariang, Angad Bedi, Raashul Tandon, Piyush Mishra and Tushar Pandey. Amitabh Bachchan continues to be the torchbearer that takes the weight of the movie on his shoulders.
But, any amount of accolade wouldn't do complete justice to work done by two actors. Vijay Verma, is sinister in a rather small role. If I have any complain with Pink, it's that Vijay Verma deserved more screen time. The second actor that will leave a mark in every audience members' heart and mind is Kirti Kulhari. This actress needs to be lauded with many movies. It was so good to see her on the screen again, after Shaitan (2011). She looks so good, and acts much better. Falak Ali made me reach for my tissue at times, and in some scenes; her palpable anger made me want to punch a few characters.
The filmmakers shouldn't thank the audience for watching this movie; on the contrary, us audience should thank Annirudha Roy Chowdhury, Ritesh Shah and all the other crew members behind the camera for making this film. Pink is an effort towards reflecting how badly and soon our country needs to change. Women today are doing exceedingly well for themselves (and our country). It's high time we stop looking at them, or treating them as weaker sex and give them a pedestal; that they have rightfully earned.
The filmmakers shouldn't thank the audience for watching this movie; on the contrary, us audience should thank Annirudha Roy Chowdhury, Ritesh Shah and all the other crew members behind the camera for making this film. Pink is an effort towards reflecting how badly and soon our country needs to change. Women today are doing exceedingly well for themselves (and our country). It's high time we stop looking at them, or treating them as weaker sex and give them a pedestal; that they have rightfully earned.
