A week after a movie hits the theatres, you expect to see an average turnout for a morning show on a sunny day. To my amazement, the theatre had an occupancy of 90% for the movie “Pink”. A classic Shoojit Sircar film – offering an important message through an unconventional yet common story. “Pink” makes you re-evaluate so many instances from your own life right from the first scene till the end. A fresh take on a number of issues that curtail some of our basic rights as citizens in our country.
The movie starts with a panic struck group of women living together in an apartment and presumably headed back from a party and a group of men in an equally panic struck situation to save an injured yet influential friend. The plot is revealed as the movie progresses with subtle scenes that make us acknowledge the parity in our society which we sometimes consider “trivial”. Some of the notable scenes include:
- Lawyer Deepak Sehgall’s sarcasm on 4 to 5 rules that every woman living alone should adhere to in order to avoid the possibility of molestation or rape.
- The mentality of the residents and their notions about Indian women who decide to live alone even if their parents in the same city.
- Helplessness of visiting a police station to register a First Information Report (FIR) for an incident that did not take place in a particular police station’s ‘jurisdiction’.
- Influence of political connections which take precedence over facts
- Patriarchal mindset of the educated strata of the society and differentiation between conduct of “good women” and “bad women”. As the lawyer Deepak Sehgall states – “Humare yahan ghadi ki sui, character decide karti hai.”
Meenal (the protagonist) has played the character of an average working girl in Delhi who decides to live with her friends even though her parents live in the same city. Our society still buy zovirax pills india views the concept of independent living as a classic case of women seeking the so called “freedom” to “do whatever they like”. This brings me to highlight the obvious piercing remark by the opposition lawyer which concluded that Meenal wanted to live alone to successfully conduct her alleged “prostitution” business. The burning question here – Do the masses believe that women who live alone are more open to the idea of sexual relations?
Andrea’s character represents a working woman from the North East who experiences discrimination on a day to day basis probably more than an average working woman in Delhi.
Falak, the character represented by a sole bread earner of the family and responsible for tending to her sick brother’s medical expenses highlights another existing issue from the corporate perspective. Her involvement in a high profile case exposes her to the risk of cybercrime which becomes evident from a morphed picture with her contact number. The dialogue with her senior makes us wonder how willing employers are in safeguarding their employees. The lack of support from the management and the disregard to her hard work as an efficient employee makes us question – Can brand image always take precedence over employee welfare?
This movie has a lot to offer and is definitely for the masses. It is well researched with a subtle and soothing music that is powerful enough to give you goosebumps! Additionally, the rewarding response from the audience evidently shows that our society is ready for intelligent cinema. To conclude, our take from the movie is Deepak Sehgall’s concluding argument – ‘Na’ sirf ek shabd nahi… apne aap mein pura vakya hai. Ise kisi tark, spashtikaran, explanation ya vyakhya ki jaroorat nahi hoti. Regardless of the demographical aspect, when a person says “No”, you ought to stop!
Here’s wishing team “Pink” the best of luck and success at the box office for it truly deserves it!
