“These boys must
realize that NO ka matlab NO hota hai, usse bolne wali ladki koi
paricheet ho, friend ho, girlfriend ho, koi sex worker ho ye aapki apni biwi hi
kyu na ho. NO MEANS NO AND WHEN SOMEONE SAYS NO, YOU MUST STOP”
“Pink” directed by
Anniruddha Roy Chowdhury is a film that revolves around the lives of three
independent working women Meenal, Falak and Andrea and how an incident one
night at a resort near Surajkund involving some boys proves to be life changing
for them. What follows next is a powerful and mirroring courtroom drama where a
lawyer Deepak Sehgal played by Amitabh Bachchan not only represents them but
fights for every women who is judged, stereotyped and humiliated on roads,
home, public and private spaces because they practice their choice. The film
talks about consent and choices loud and clear.
“Kisi bhi ladhki ko
kisi bhi ladhke ke sath, kabhi bhi akele nahi jana chahiye, kyunki aisa karne
pa waha ke log ye assume kar lete hai ki wo ladhki willingly wahan pe aayi hai
aur unhe usse touch karne ka license issue kar diya gaya hai”
The film starts with
the black screen with credits written in the white color without any music or
background score which prepares the audience about the intensity they would be
witnessing in the film,after a while there is conversation between men and
women, some shrieks but no video! Then appears 3 men in a car out of which one
is injured and bleeding profusely and in the next scene 3 women who appear to
be scared, lost and in hurry, the audience simply has no clue as to what had
happened! This conversation unfolds at the end of the movie where what actually
happened is revealed that hits really hard.
The film portrays
brilliantly how lives of girls’ are always under the scrutiny of society, they
are judged on the basis of the clothes they wear, the time at which they are
coming back to their home, who is coming to drop them or with whom they are
going! And all the hell break loose after the Surajkund incident, a friend of
Rajveer who was not even present at that incident (the guy was injured) tries
to take revenge by threatening their landlord, verbally abusing them on phone,
kidnapping and assaulting Meenal (played by Taapasee Pannu)sexually.
The film also shows
dark realities that women faces when they want to report the crime- instead of
writing the FIR, the police inspector questions the victim and tries to
convince her to rethink on the decision, neighbors questions their character
when police arrests the protagonist etc. ‘Pink’ also throws light on the how
girls from north east are subjected to more sexual violence as compared to
other girls and character assassination.
At the same time the
film also shows the important aspects of the legal system and how it can
support women in distress- like Zero FIR, Section 354- Any person who assaults
or acts in a manner with the intent to outrage her modesty can be charged under
this section, Section 503, women and minors can get bail on weekends and
Section 164- a woman can record the statement with only one police officer and
a woman constable in a convenient place.
“Pink” has a gripping,
convincing and realistic plot with hard hitting and potent dialogues. The
director succeeds in extracting natural performances from all the actors and
makes a meaningful film which strikes the right chord with the audience.Taapasee Pannu
convincingly plays the role of Minal Arora, the brave, present day bindaas
Delhi girl. She brings out vulnerability of her character with ease when she is
jailed and when she faces courtroom trial. Her anxiety, frustration, strong
will and angst against system’s hypocrisy is so real that it scares a hell out
of me.
Kirti Kulhari as Falak
is equally superb as performer. The scene where she tries to apologize and
close the fight and then end up warning the rich spoilt brat Rajveer gives me
goose bumps. One of the courtroom scene, where she breaks down when the
opposition lawyer keeps arguing they have no character and have taken money to
do all this is laudable!
Amitabh Bachachan as
aged defence lawyer Deepak Sehghal shines like no one else. His entry in the
mask, to the way he looks at Minal in the park to the power packed performance
in the courtroom leaves me awe-stuck. His well-modulated tone, satirical
sarcasm, conversations inside the courtroom adds more power to the well-written
dialogues.
“Hamare yaha ghadi ki
sui, character decide karti hai.”
“Sharab ko yaha ek
galat character ki nishani maana jaata hai, sirf ladkiyon ke liye. Ladkon ke
liye to ye sirf ek health hazard hai!”
He digs at society and
its pseudo one sided norms and prejudices towards women in the form of “The
Rule Book of the Girls’ safety manuals” as enumerated by Deepak Sehgal from
time to time. And then he says “We are mistaken, we must save our boys. Only
when we save our boys then only girls will be saved”
And yes no other actor
would have essayed this role better than Mr. Amitabh Bachchan! Also if anyone has
a problem “Why a man has to take stand for women in the movie?” then please
stop right there, think and reflect on the question. It is because our patriarchal society, rudimentary
mindset refuses to hear ‘NO’ from a woman and very conveniently stigmatizes her
character and probably that’s why a 75 years old man has to stand up and say it
so that people can hear it.
“Na’
sirf ek shabd nahi… apne aap mein pura vakya hai. Ise kisi tark,
spashtikaran,explanation ya vyakhya ki jaroorat nahi hoti”
Ritesh
Shah, writer of the film has worked magic with the words! Kudoos to everyone
associated with the film :-)
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