When a woman says“no” it means NO!

Once upon a time I wondered whether Bollywood could come up with a film like Pink. Most Hindi films focus on romance but finally a movie like Pink is made, speaking about respecting a woman’s right to say no to sex.

The movie starts as a suspense thriller with three young men, Dumpy (Raashul Tandon), Vishwa (Tushar Panday) and Rajveer Singh (Angad Bedi) in a car. Rajveer is bleeding from a head wound.  Meanwhile, three young women are in a taxi; Minal Arora (Tapsee Pannu), Falak Ali (Kirti Kulhari), Andrea (Andrea Tariang) are rushing to get back home.

As the film moves, juxtaposing from the group of girls to the group of men in the next few minutes, the conversations of each group in different scenes indicate a serious situation. It emerges that Rajveer has been hit on the head with a bottle by Minal after she rejected his forceful advances.

Minal and the girls try to move on with their lives, trying to forget what happened that night but Rajveer and his friends are intent on revenge. Meanwhile, unknown to them Minal’s strange neighbor Deepak Seghal (Amitabh Bachchan) has been observing the three girls, especially Minal as she goes jogging.

 Rajveer and his friends are deadset on getting back at Minal, and start by pulling strings to make the girls’ lives miserable. They ask the building supervisor to kick them out of the apartment the girls are renting. They also make threatening phone calls to the girls.  An indecent picture of Falak is posted on the internet and her boss sees it, resulting in Falak’s dismissal.
 
Minal cannot take it any longer and she goes to the police without her friends’ knowledge. Meanwhile Falak tells one of Rajveer’s friends that they want to call a truce; she offers to apologize on behalf of everyone to end the matter.

Minal is apprehended by Falak when she informs her of the police report. She calls Rajveer and apologizes but he refuses to listen and insists on talking to Minal. He starts abusing Falak, which upsets her. She swears at Rajveer. His friends, who witness Rajveer’s anger, promise to teach Minal a lesson.

Next morning while jogging, Minal is pulled inside a van by Ankit and the gang. Rajveer is in the front seat. Deepak witnesses the incident and calls the police, but to no avail. Minal is molested inside the van. Deepak waits on his balcony until Minal is dropped back at the gate.

Falak and Andrea are aghast at the state of Minal as she knocks on the door of their apartment. They are helpless and do not have anyone to turn to. Two days later, Minal is picked up by the police for the attempted murder of Rajveer. Deepak has witnessed everything from his balcony. That night, he knocks on the girls’ door and offers to help.

Falak and Andrea then discover that Deepak is a lawyer who quit his professional career because of a psychological ailment. Falak and Andrea start consulting Deepak on the bail process for Minal and he offers to represent her in court.

What follows are captivating scenes which will keep the audience glued to their seats, waiting to see who will triumph in court.

Pink does not need an array of songs and dances to entertain viewers.

Director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury creatively juxtaposes the scenes, insinuating a problem without actually showing it at the beginning of the movie. He doesn’t start the movie with Minal breaking the bottle on Rajveer’s head instead he shows the villain bleeding and being taken to the emergency unit.  He unfolds the story slowly. Chowdhury’s directing brings forth the characters the artists portray with zest and reality.  Each part, from the smallest role to the main star, is played to perfection. The only hitch is the introduction of Bachchan’s character as Deepak, the lawyer. Chowdhury introduces Deepak as a lawyer after around 30 minutes. In the meantime, one is left to wonder what he is even doing in the film. But, as usual Bachchan gives superb life to the manic Deepak’s character.

Pink surpasses the usual Bollywood fare. It has all the ingredients of an excellent film, with its creative scriptwriting, editing, cinematography and direction.

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Pink

Running time: 136 minutes
Directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Angad Bedi, Dhritman Chatterjee, Piyush Mishra, Mamata Shankar

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