Pink movie review: Amitabh Bachchan and Taapsee Pannu’s courtroom drama is the STRONGEST women-centric film of the year!

Kudos to Big B and the entire team of Pink for the brilliance that the movie is! We bet you'll get the chills by the end of the movie.

By Anusha Iyengar | Updated: September 15, 2016 3:43 pm

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Pink is not just any regular women-centric film that speaks about women’s rights. There’s more to it than just that. It’s hard-hitting and realistic. Shoojit Sircar and Amitabh Bachchan’s chemistry gets stronger and even better after Piku. There have been so many movies based on rape, molestation and thousand other things that women have to deal with in this country; Angry Indian Goddesses, Mardaani, Damini, Dor, Lajja and so on. Pink adds to these but with a special message that hasn’t been spoken about yet, a message that every woman will relate to very strongly. Pink is the answer to all your WHYs about an ‘appropriate’ lifestyle for women. No woman or girl deserves to be molested, raped or gawked at irrespective of what she wears or how she speaks.
Before I start talking about how effing brilliant the movie was, I want to talk to about the general concerns we Indians have about the codes of conduct of a man and woman in the society. A lot of feminists and social activists have protested and raised the issue about how a woman is judged by her lifestyle and her clothes. Parents force their daughters to cover themselves up and forbid them to befriend anyone of the opposite sex. Most of them don’t do it because they aren’t as liberal as the current or the future generation. They do it to protect their daughters from the judgmental eyes of the society, to protect their daughter’s dignity and most importantly, from other men. Do we hate that our parents can’t sleep till we reach home? We despise it!
An independent woman is perceived to be open to multiple sexual relationships. The ‘akeli ladki khuli tijori ki tarah hoti hai’ mentality still prevails no matter how much we progress and how educated we are. While there is a part of society that strongly supports initiatives like ‘Beti Bachao’ and myriad others, there is a section of the society suppressing it with rules and regulations for women.

Whenever there is molestation or a rape case filed, the girl’s character and personality is questioned before anything else. A girl’s past relationships, sexual encounters, habits like drinking and smoking, a promiscuous way of dressing is what everyone blames. Yes all of us are outraged by this perception. Our blood boils when a girl’s fate or character is based on how long she stays out of the house. If you stay out till the wee hours, you’re bound to be involved in things that you can’t even speak about in public.
A woman who judges or taunts about another woman’s character based on her clothes and habits is as bad as ten men molesting or raping a girl. Pink speaks very strongly of the power of the word NO. When a woman says no, it doesn’t mean anything else. It just means no. And when a woman says no, nobody has the right to force her, not even her own husband and this is very strongly portrayed in the movie by Amitabh Bachchan. This is probably one of the very few films that addresses the consent of a woman rather than just focusing on the injustice part of it.
What’s it about
The movie might remind you a little of Sunny Deol, Rishi Kapoor and Meenakshi Seshadri’s Damini, especially the courtroom scenes but Pink addresses a rather larger issue which is consent. Amitabh Bachchan plays the role of Deepak Sehgal who used to be a famous lawyer and quit his practice after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He lives under the shadow of his ailing wife who is in the ICU. He, himself, has several health problems and constantly wears a mask to breathe properly (which reminds you of Darth Vader a little bit).
Taapsee Pannu (Meenal Arora), Andrea Tariang (Andrea) and Kirti Kulhari (Falak Ali) are three flatmates who become best friends. They party together, laugh together and spend time with each other while focusing on their individual careers. Life changes for them after they get involved in a fight with Rajvir (Angad Bedi) and friends. Naturally, the girls are scared since the guys have been blackmailing them ever since they had the fight.
Rajvir is the son of an MLA and obviously has his ways with the law. What follows later is a courtroom drama with several accusations and ruthless comments on the girls and their lifestyle. Amitabh Bachchan decides to represent the girls in court.
What’s hot
The courtroom scenes are cut to cut without any unnecessary scenes about interrogations and finding the proofs, or any songs for that matter. There is not one soul in the movie that has disappointed the audience with their acting skills. Piyush Mishra, who plays the role of the prosecution lawyer, has done exceptionally well. His performance will make you hate him so much that you’ll whistle and clap every time Big B has brilliant comeback to his accusations. And we meant that as a compliment to him. Even the girls have delivered a terrific performance.
Not to forget, the dialogues are to the point and witty. The second half of the movie is more gripping and Big B steals the show in the second half. The last scene in the movie is bound to give you the chills. This is Bengali film director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s Bollywood debut and is produced by Shoojit Sircar. All in all, this is the Movie of the Year for me. I urge you to watch it with your family and friends.
Rating: 4 out of 5

Rating: 4 out of 5

Reviewed by Anusha Iyengar

* Poor
** Average
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***** Excellent