Pink- Society’s Perpetually Haunting ‘Black’ Shade

Three single independent working women in New Delhi stays in an apartment. In today's modern world, that one line constitutes a horror film.

Unequivocally, with another line- “They are asking for it.”

Girls go out with boys for a rock concert.- “They are asking for it.”

Girls go out for dinner with the boys whom they met at the concert. – “They are asking for it.”

The question ‘Are you a virgin?’ in a Bollywood film in a meaningful and non-smirky manner, writes the success of the evocatively moving tale, ‘PINK’.  

Pink- Directed by Shoojit Sircar and written by Ritesh Shah, is a stinging indictment of the deep-set prejudices, unmistakable misogyny, erroneous male entitlement, and outright injustice that handcuffs women in stereotypes. Even in today’s context, woman’s character is determined by the clothes she wears, the time she comes home, how much she smiles at men, whether she drinks or not, and of course, her sexual history.

The beauty of the film lies in the fact that it refrains from making a mockery of the sexual abuse, as often happens in such films yet portrays a disturbing reality of the belligerently silent fights that women had to put up to bring across a simple message to men that “No is just not a word. It is a complete sentence. No simply means no.”

Pink makes the horror so real that your skin crawls. A calm sense of pandemonium ensues in you, when you see the girls, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang tremble in fear. And that is because what we are witnessing on screen, is a mere reflection of our daily struggles. I was totally moved to tears not because it was just another tear-jerking, women-centric film but the scenes that ooze reality put you in an uncomfortable position which we have labelled as taboo topics at home or at workplace. We don’t discuss this. We don’t share this. We don’t talk about this. We still think this happens to bad girls who go around with bad boys because ‘the girls asked for it.’

Taapsee- Reflecting uttermost strain of agony and horror of the victims of a failed society, she, exudes brilliance in every shot. Read her interview and learnt that she herself was a victim in real life and that itself was more than enough to prepare for this role.

Kirti Kulhari- Perfectly played the character of a tortured soul who desperately and genuinely fights for her and her friends’ rights. The scenes where she argues in the court, fights, questions and surrenders to reality- it is more than crying, it is the kind of desolate sobbing that comes from a person drained of all hope. It is sure to shatter us.

Andrea- At one point, she says, "As a North-eastern girl, I feel I am harassed more than an average Indian girl." It's a small moment but it underlines the awful truth that harassment is normal, but extra harassment is reserved for those we perceive as outsiders.

Big B- Turning your eye anywhere else is a crime when he is on screen. I was seated 4 rows away from the screen.  I could have jumped onto the screen to hug him tight. It was a temptation I had to resist, even though it sounds silly. Sir, there is no other reason why you should stop acting. The courtroom episode is nothing short of bringing about a gratifying performance from Big B who doesn’t dominate because he is the big star. Indeed, he compliments the scenes and story and indubitably scores in the role of a lawyer with his unconventional methods and seemingly tangential ramblings, and finally and inexorably demolishes the wrongdoers.

 

Director & Writer- Thanks boys for elevating ‘PINK’ to a cinematic glory. Thanks for making a movie which says it so clearly, without beating about the bush, without prevaricating or using obfuscatory language, tells us a great deal about the society we live in.

This is just not a film about women for the women. It is for every one of us.