Film Review: Pink
The film opens with three girls Minal, Falak and Andrea (played by Tapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea ) taking a cab back home after a rock concert. The story is set in Delhi. There is tension in the air. It is very late. They need to get home safe. The cab driver narrowly misses hitting an approaching vehicle. One of girls asks the driver to stop the cab and offers to ride next to him. The tension is palpable.The film cuts to three young men carrying an injured friend Ranveer (played by Angad Bedi) who has suffered an injury in the eye. The doctor removes shards of broken glass from the eye of the injured. Can the eye be saved? The boys belong to the wealthy and politically connected families. The film manages to establish the tension in the plot within the first few minutes. Something has happened. I wonder if the two scenes are connected. It could well be but no one explains. The background music heightens the suspense.The story moves at a brisk pace without explaining too much. You have to keep figuring out what really happened. Slowly we discover that the three girls had met Ranveer and his sidekick Dumpy at the concert through a common friend. After the concert the boys invited them to a resort for dinner and drinks. When Ranveer tried to molest Minal, she hit him on the head and left his eye and ego badly injured.The three young men are enraged that their assumptions about women in short skirts who laugh and share a drink in the company of a man can say no to a man’s advances. Surely that “no” is not to be taken seriously, they believe. In the patriarchal world, women who behave like that are asking for it. They need to be put in their place. How dare they say “no”.The three women are slowly being pushed into a corner. The landlord is told to evict the three girls. The employers are coerced into letting them go. When all this fails to break their spirits, Minal is kidnapped and molested as a warning that there is more to follow. Enter a quirky lawyer (played by Amitabh Bachchan) who has quit his practice to look after his dying wife.There is a courtroom drama. But what is equally gripping is what is happening outside the court. Big B delivers a strong performance as lawyer whose voice sometimes mocks, sometimes cajoles and often throws a punch in the face when you least expect it. It is the three girls who hold the film. Tapsi Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea, take a bow. What a powerhouse performance. Your performance will inspire many more women to speak up and push back. https://youtu.be/fFdyUJcqMQQ The background score by Shantanu Moitra deserves a special mention. It is subtle and never takes center stage. If the script starts sagging a bit in the second half, the background score steps in and does not let it slip.When the movie ends and the titles start rolling, don’t leave the hall or else you will miss a treat. Hearing Amitabh narrate the poem at the end of the film is a masterstroke of an idea. A special mention to Tanveer Ghazi who writing such inspiring lyrics. Hearing those words in Amitabh’s deep baritone is a treat, a real treat. A hard hitting film that will help more men understand the meaning of “NO”. https://youtu.be/zgViEWX2yO4What did you think of the film? Leave your views in the comments below.
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