All that appeals is not Pink, we need to think further.

Pink - Film Review

Finding a low grade cinema hall was a task and that too, to watch a film like PINK was yet another one. Finally I settled down to go to E- Square multiplex in Pune near the university. Naturally, the audience were mostly students (as the university is nearby) and a few senior citizens. It was a Tuesday and an afternoon show. Being a multiplex, the tickets were fairly priced at Rs. 130 for the Gold class. The cinema hall was air conditioned and had a Dolby sound. Be it a multiplex or a normal cinema hall, Indians will be Indians.

I would like to quote Max Herrmann who is regarded as the founding father of German theatre studies as an academic discipline. Max Herrmann states, ‘The original meaning of theatre was derived from the fact that it was a social game – played by all for all. A game in which everyone is a player - participants and spectators. The spectator is involved as co-player. The spectator is so to speak, the creator of the theatre…’

Though his theory is related to theatre and performances, I would borrow it for Cinema and its audience, as I believe cinema is an advanced form of theatre. The spectators are indeed an important part of cinema, even though there isn’t direct interaction between the actors and spectators. The audience also become ‘opinion makers’ which lead to certain and vital and slow reforms in the society. In the cinema hall, there were two chaps sitting right beside me, constantly laughing and joking about the scenes where the protagonist of the movie was being harassed or was aggressive about men. No, it was not a sarcastic laugh. Firstly, it was just the two of them laughing. However, as the movie progressed other people including women as well, hinged with them. Their reactions to such scenes gave me the reflection of the patriarchal society and the need for a movie like ‘PINK’ to be made. On the other hand, an interrogation also began in my head: Was PINK enough to make the Indian audiences fathom about the rip-offs of patriarchy and its consequences emerging into the hike of rape cases in India?

Directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhary and produced by Rashmi Sharma and Shoojit Sircar, PINK is a drama thriller film starring Tapsee Pannu, Amitabh Bachchan, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Angad Bedi, Piyush Mishra and Dhrittiman Chatterjee. Written by Ritesh Shah, the story strongly criticizes the modern Indian society as patriarchal and hypocrite. Fondly known as ‘Tony Da’, Director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhary has directed several Bengali films, and made his Bollywood debut with PINK which has indeed acquired a significant place in the Bollywood films. His films usually make use of abnormal situations and human responses to it, using social angles. In PINK too, he has used this pattern.

The plot revolves around three independent women Minal (Tapsee Pannu), Falak (Kirti Kulharia), Andrea (Andrea Tariang), who stay together as tenants and struggling their lives working in Delhi. The geographical area chosen for the film is most suited, as in recent times Delhi has been the hot spot of brutal rape cases. The drama begins when these three ladies after a rock concert meet a group of boys, who invite them for dinner to their resort. Rajveer is known to Minal through a common friend and hence, they accept the invitation. At the resort, they get drunk and offer alcohol to the ladies too. These boys begin to consider them as ‘open and friendly’ and finding opportunities, they separate the girls from each other. Minal is left alone with Rajveer who then tries to molest her. She clearly says ‘NO’, but Rajveer continues kissing her. In aggression Minal smashes a bottle which hits Rajveer on the eye, and the girls run away from the scene.

The film starts with credentials appearing on the screen in a plain white text on a black background and we hear a group of people chatting normally and suddenly we hear a chaos, thus, creating a suspense and anchoring the audience to the film right at the beginning. A group of boys in their twenties are seen rushing to the hospital and one is bleeding profusely. On the way to the hospital, the boys are already preparing how to black mail and teach these girls a lesson. Never does their conscience suggest that they were at fault. On the other hand the girls reach home late and are horrified. They try to be normal, however the guilt of hitting somebody and then fleeing from the scene makes them uncomfortable. Rajveer (Dhrittiman Chatterjee), the person who is being hit, is the nephew of a powerful politician in South Delhi. To take vengeance, Rajveer and his friends try to vacate the girls from their flat by threatening the owner, but to failure. This fuels their rage and they resort to threatening the girls and even kidnap Minal and molest her. Minal is compelled to lodge an FIR against Rajveer and his friends. However, the lady police officer refuses to register a complaint against Rajveer knowing his political family background.

When Rajveer discovers this, he lodges a false complaint labelling Minal and her friends as prostitutes. Minal is also charged with ‘Attempt to Murder’ for hitting Rajveer and Falak and Andrea are labelled as the co-accused. Deepak Sehegal (Amitabh Bachchan) is a neighbor to these girls and suffers from a bipolar disorder, undergoing mood swings. He is a celebrated lawyer, but due to the disorder has to give up his practice. In the first half of the film, he is shown as a watch dog over the girls creating more and more suspense. When the police create a shameful scene in the society complex to arrest Minal, Sehegal witnesses and decides to represent the case of the girls. The story then advances in the court room, where Sehegal fights for the girls against the powerful and influential opposition.  Piyush Mishra plays the lawyer of the boys, also representing the patriarchal mindset of the society.

Based on realistic plot, the movie is filmed and cinematographed with realistic and habitual natural lighting. Though, dramatic lighting is used in some parts, for instance when Sehegal is standing in the balcony of his house looking at the girls’ apartment, to create thrill. Like all the Bollywood movies, PINK too is loaded with a couple of songs. However, choreographed dances and stardom is dropped off. The songs are placed and used as a background score to enhance and append the mood of the film. At the end of the film when the credits scroll, a melancholic yet inspiring and motivating poem by Tanveer Ghazi is projected with rhetoric eloquence by Ambitabh Bachchan in his deep and husky voice. The ladies were pinned to their seats, as if each one recollecting their experiences of patriarchy and promising themselves to rebel against each and every one.

Minal, played by Tapsee Pannu, a South Indian film actress and also awarded as the Most Enthusiastic Performer-Female Award at the 2014 Edison Awards, proved her abilities and has raised stakes for the other Bollywood ‘divas’ by her performance in PINK. Giving total justice to her character of a model, she played her role with enthusiasm and realistically. The co-actresses Kirti and Andrea too, have given a remarkable performance. Deepak Sehegal played by Amitabh Bachchan has a deep impression in the film and creates a mix of emotions. The interesting part of his character is that of the mask he wears when he goes out. It is an elevation training mask which helps strengthen lungs and diaphragm and improving oxygen intake and mental focus. It adds to the character of Sehegal who is suffering from bipolar disorder and also works as a metaphor.      

Yes, PINK is a movie which is a benchmark in the Bollywood. Yes, it has spread awareness among women. Yes, the cast and the cinematic language was used to its fullest. But did it reach and hit the audience for whom it is actually meant? The class depicted in the film was that of a politician, but does patriarchy exist only in a few classes of India? Another question that arose was that, what happened to the girl after they were convicted non-guilty? We cannot deny that there was a politician in opposition with lots of powers and control. 

~ Aishwarya Walvekar