Tag: Movie Review

Title of the Movie: Pink

Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury

Written By: Ritesh Shah

Story By: Shoojit Sircar, Ritesh Shah, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury

Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Vijay Varma, Angad Bedi, Tushar Pandey, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Piyush Mishra, Mamata Shankar

Release Date: 16th September 2016

Country: India

Language: Hindi

Age Group: 9^th, 10^th, 11^th and 12^th grades

Genre: Women’s Issues/ Feminism/Social Issues

IBDP and IGCSE Subjects Covered: Global Perspectives and Sociology

Review Written By: Fiza Pathan

Introduction

‘No – Means No!’

We study a wide range of literary novels, short stories, plays, and poems, among others, throughout our studies in the IGCSE and IB Diploma Programme. Still, somehow, even here, most of the time, our teachers fail to reveal to us the significance of the word ‘no’. We learn about the Elizabethan and Jacobean Age of Shakespeare’s time, the names of all the Stoic and Epicurean writers of old, and a comparative study of books penned by James Joyce and possibly Henry James or F. Scott Fitzgerald and even analyze existential themes in English literature, but we still during our school education fail to study or analyze the depth of meaning in the word – ‘no’. Somehow, down the line, teachers are failing to explain to young Indian males that when a girl or a woman says ‘no’ to intimacy or any other kind of affection from their side, it means only one thing – ‘no’, and that is that. It does not mean ‘maybe’ or ‘I don’t think so?’ or ‘probably later’ or ‘I’m on the fence about this’ but it is a clear-cut indication that the party in question is not interested and the opposite party will have to stop their advances. As the Bollywood superstar states somewhere in this film, the word ‘no’ is not just a word but a sentence in itself, which indicates non-conformity with the advances of the other individual in the equation. There should be no other interpretation for this.

But somewhere in our education system, even after teaching subjects like Global Perspectives and Sociology in the IGCSE and IBDP classrooms, we still do not manage to convey to our male students this fact that a girl’s ‘no’ is just a ‘no’ and nothing else, a word to be respected and a word that sets boundaries. We are failing to convey this message, and this is evident from the many date rapes, sexual assaults, molestation cases, stalking cases, and other eve-teasing cases coming up on an every minute basis here in Mumbai itself, let alone in other more ‘unsafe zones’ for girls in our still very patriarchal country. Most of the uncountable date rapes, accidental pregnancies, and other forms of party sexual harassment cases come from those students who attend IB and IGCSE schools. This is a cause for concern and a reason for more young individuals to watch the film Pink rather than shy away from it.

It is high time that we teach our young that ‘no – means no’, and this is now not merely about only women or girls but any individual, whether from the LGBTQIA+ community or any other individual conforming to different gender norms or social or religious norms, especially those who have stated clearly in many overt and covert ways that they do not wish to indulge in any intimacy and that their boundary lines should be respected and not disregarded as ‘playing hard to get’. Women of today are not interested in playing ‘hard to get’ anymore because the Sexual and Feminist Revolution of the 1970s, which we learn in Sociology in Gender Studies, has reached a peak despite the many Right Wing and Patriarchal Governments coming into force globally as evidenced in our study and research of Global Politics. So, women know what they want and when they want it, and even how to achieve the intimacy they require from the people they wish to show affection towards. There is no need to play the damsel in distress role anymore. Women are slowly getting emancipated by their revolutionary actions of disregarding ancient stereotypes regarding their sexual needs, and there is no need to be ashamed about owning them. Women no longer have to be ashamed of setting their boundaries and creating ground rules for their dating partners.

Movies like Pink, therefore, teach us that it is more than just about ‘no – means no’. It means it is time to accept a woman’s equality to men and that she can make her own decisions in her dating choices, and she has the right to say ‘no’. A Sociology textbook that teaches everything else, but this aspect, under Gender Studies, is an incomplete Sociology, which the movie Pink can easily correct, primarily through the simplistic yet hard-hitting dialogues of Amitabh Bachchan.

Plot

Amitabh Bachchan, a retired and ill lawyer trying to recuperate from a bipolar disorder, one day notices something different in the lives of the three independent young women living in a building in a rented flat opposite his. He notices that they are on the edge and starts keeping a close watch on them. Soon, it is found out that one of the young women named Minal had broken a wine bottle on the head of a young man named Rajveer, who was the rich nephew of a reigning politician of that city. The bottle just missed Rajveer’s eye but caused him a serious head injury, which could only be rectified with surgery. On coming through, he, with his three elitist goon male friends, threatens Minal and her two roommates, Andrea and Falak, about the incident. In the bargain, he and his friends start harassing them mentally, emotionally, psychologically, and then finally sexually when Minal is kidnapped for a day in the male’s van and molested there mercilessly for the injury she caused Rajveer. When the goons were kidnapping Minal, Amitabh Bachchan witnessed the crime and tried to save Minal by attempting to contact his many connections in the police. He fails, though, to save Minal from being severely molested and traumatized by the young men. The police arrest Minal for assaulting Rajveer, and Amitabh Bachchan, known in this movie as the reputable lawyer Deepak, takes on the case of the three girls. He realizes that, in reality, the three males, Raunak, Vishwajyoti, and Rajveer, had forced themselves onto the three girls without their consent after an evening of drinks after a rock concert. It was during Minal’s altercation with Rajveer, who was not taking no for an answer to his advances that she brained him with an empty wine bottle to stop him from forcing himself upon her, and thus, she managed to escape his clutches and the venue with her two friends. However, during the court proceedings, the three girls are branded as sexually amoral and loose women who were extorting money from Rajveer and his friends for sexual favours. Deepak manages to turn the tables on the boys by teaching the court and the prosecutor about the fact that a woman’s no means only that – no. When she does not give her consent to sexual intimacy, then the opposite party must stop their advances. In Rajveer’s case, he did not do so, and so to stop his advances, Minal had to brain him. Stellar performer Amitabh Bachchan narrates to a spellbound court audience that whether the woman in question is your girlfriend, your female friend, your work colleague, a sex worker, or even your own wife, a no means a no and should be respected. Thus, Deepak wins the case totally in favor of Minal and the other two girls, giving back the respect and dignity due to them, which the city police and prosecutor were trying to take away from them through a nerve-wracking and sickening court case that highlighted the many stereotypes we have regarding women and their lifestyle choices or their body language. Rajveer and the other boys were declared guilty by the court for trying to molest the modesty of the three girls, especially Minal and Andrea, the latter being from the Northeast. The girls then comfortably return to their regular lives, deeply grateful to Amitabh Bachchan for taking up their case despite the loss of his ailing wife during the court case trial.

Analysis

Note that the following film review will be analyzed in a condensed Sociological form, with references made to specific topics, theorists, and themes contained in the many IBDP Sociological and IGCSE Global Perspective textbooks, which cover issues related to India, Indian Feminism, and Social Issues faced by urban women in India. 

From the retired reputable lawyer Deepak, played by Amitabh Bachchan, we are educated by the fact that now women have achieved that level of emancipation and independence that was always there due to giving their consent or not for sexual intimacy or any intimate relationships with members, especially of the opposite gender. From the same Amitabh Bachchan, we, however, also learn that this right of a woman or girl is not respected or appreciated but instead is cast aside by the male in question according to their stereotypical ideas regarding the virtues of certain women or mainly because they think they can easily get away with it as it is easy enough in our Indian society to tarnish the name of a woman who is forced into an intimate relationship with any man rather than any slur being slung at the male in question.

Many Sociological Themes regarding feminism, as explored in the writings of scholars such as Simone de Beauvoir and Gloria Steinem, emerge from the women-centric movie Pink. Notice the theme of stereotypes commonly associated with Indian society regarding several aspects of what a young woman should be and not be like as follows:

1. If she is unmarried, then she should be a virgin; otherwise, she is considered to be a loose woman who is then inadvertently considered to be ‘free for all’. This does not hold in the case of a man. I’ve heard plenty of derogatory names for a woman indulging in premarital sexual unions in all the languages I am acquainted with, but not one of these languages has a similar derogatory word for a male indulging in similar pre-martial activities. The sexual appeal of the male increases with every new sexual conquest he makes, whether forced or consensual. Notice how Deepak, the lawyer in the movie, removes that topic about ‘not being a virgin being equaled to a ‘free for all’ mentality’ in the latter portion of the film in his famous ‘Are you a virgin’ question to Minal. He shows that being a virgin or not does not determine the character of a woman at all, nor a man. However, if the woman is an adult and chooses out of her own free will to get intimate with a male, then that right of hers should be respected and not torn asunder in a court of law. A woman who also has had sex a hundred times before marriage also has the right to say ‘no’ at the 101st count because she does not feel comfortable doing so with the opposite person in question. If then the act is still forced upon her, then indeed, it is rape and nothing less.

2. There is another stereotype prevalent in Indian society regarding judging a young woman or young women who live alone in an apartment complex and who work late at night, come home in the early hours of the morning, invite their male friends over, and dress supposedly boldly, who smoke, etc. Gossip mongers then malign the names of such independent working girls when nothing of this kind would usually take place if a few young working men were rooming together. Middle-class individuals surrounding the rented flat of Minal, Andrea, and Falak also judged the young girls cruelly without considering that they were living life on their terms, earning a living for the sake of their families, and were not troubling anyone in the vicinity. They became the topic of ideal gossip mongers for the mere fact of existing because middle-class working individuals in Indian society look down upon young unmarried women who live alone away from the security of their parent’s home. The idea is that they have done so not to be independent but to indulge in promiscuous sexual activities.

3. There is a sickening stereotype in Indian society that looks down upon a woman who charges money for her sexual favours. Therefore, a call girl or red light area sex worker has little or no rights at all in our society. When Minal, Andrea, and Falak were being accused by the prosecutor representing Rajveer and his friends, he kept insisting that the boys had done what they did because the girls had asked for money for the same. Finally, in a nerve-racking and haranguing cross-questioning moment, Falak breaks down and states boldly that even if they had taken money, does that still mean that they had no right after that to say ‘no’ and to halt the proceedings of their male friends? At first, the Judge, the other two heartbroken girls, and the court audience are disappointed by Falak’s peculiar, out-of-context confession in the heat of fury. But Deepak or Amitabh Bachchan stoically puts the whole idea into perspective by saying that finally, at least because of what Falak said, the sickening topic about ‘charging money’ had at least been removed from the check-list and that they were back on the subject of consent which should have been in the first place always because Falak was right. Even if a woman charges money previously for her sexual favors, that does not mean that she cannot stop the proceedings if she feels uncomfortable with her partner or, if she feels her dignity is in danger or for any other reason whatsoever. Money does not equate to a license to rape! Even for a sex worker or a call girl! This is something Gloria Steinem and post-1970s Feminist writers have focused on in their essays and theories to edify the public about the fact that, yes, even sex workers get raped, as well as married women. The latter is a volatile issue not only in India but also throughout the world, with the rise of several Right-Wing, highly patriarchal governments worldwide. However, this is tenderly touched upon by Amitabh Bachchan in the movie Pink through the ‘No -Means No Monologue’ at the end of the film. This is also seen primarily through the tears of the married female constable in charge, who weeps every time Amitabh Bachchan mentions the fact that the consent of a wife to have sex with her husband should also be respected. At the end of the successful win, she shakes Amitabh Bachchan’s hand in admiration and gratefulness. Notice she did not salute him like a subordinate saluting a senior, but she shook his hand like an equal. Equality thus came at last when a woman’s right to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to sex or intimacy is also respected.

4. Where Andrea was concerned, she was from the Northeastern part of India and so was mistreated brutally and viciously by the prosecutor because the stereotype that we associate with women from the Northeast (among many) is that they are sexually promiscuous. It is a peculiar stereotype of India alone, and because of this, even to date, Indian Sociological studies have never been completed, even at the IB Diploma Programme (IBDP) level, without a mention of the same in their textbooks, research papers, or Extension Essays. It is framed for now as a peculiar and sickening aspect of India as a country to treat the citizens of the Northeast like they are sub-humans or, in this case, sub-Indians. There have been numerous instances where various governments that have ruled India have overlooked the distinct existence of the Northeast as a separate entity within the country until it is time for elections. Andrea is demeaned terribly in this movie, to the point where she even blurts out emphatically to Deepak that she was being harassed the most in that court of law because, indeed, she was from the Northeast. That single statement said a lot, which even contemporary Sociological textbooks like to leave unsaid, but not as it seems, IGCSE and IB DP sociology textbooks, for now!

5. Where Falak was concerned, she used to take loans from her elderly ex-boyfriend, Javed, to pay for the operations of her differently abled younger brother. She was repaying Javed his loans rupee by rupee ever since they broke up. But as mentioned before, when a woman gains money from a man without any indication that she is technically working for him in any employment, her character is demeaned by Indian society, and she is thought to be charging the male money for her sexual favours. Strangely, this is never regarded in the case of a male who borrows money from either a female or another male!

6. The stereotype of the body language and habits of a woman in Indian society determines whether she is available or not according to sex-crazed patriarchal men. But this is not so. No action on the part of a woman other than a direct action of a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’ can determine whether she will be or not be interested in sex in the present or future. It is essential to obtain her consent, either verbally or non-verbally, or both. This was not the case in Minal’s case as since she was talking freely with Rajveer, cracking lewd jokes, drinking alcohol, mixing his drinks, touching him while speaking in a simple, friendly manner, and even smiling at him – he felt that that indicated that she was interested in initiating sex with him. I’m sure if a male were to do the same, the very patriarchal MCP Rajveer would not have thought that the former male was also interested in initiating sex with him, would he?! Plus, a woman who drinks alcohol, wears bold clothing, or cracks lewd jokes is not inviting males to initiate sex with her. She is just being herself. When a male does and wears the same, we don’t en masse feel that he is inviting people to get sexually intimate with him in any way, is it?! This apparent dichotomy is again a theory first put forward by Simone De Beauvoir and before her, the famous 18th-century feminist Mary Wollstonecraft in her magnum opus ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’.

These were the stereotypes related to women that were highlighted through the plot of the movie Pink.

In the movie, we also see that the director likes to keep the plot crisp, evenly paced, and focused on the central theme of consent. The director does not derail off track at all in the movie through many unnecessary scenes with Deepak and his elderly female friend and her death due to a long-standing illness while the court case was going on. The gestures of the three girls attending to the memorabilia of their elderly female friend, Deepak, speak more than a thousand unnecessary words. Additionally, the respective working and romantic lives of Falak, Andrea, and Minal were not given much focus, which was a wise move on the part of the director to maintain the tense and edge-of-your-seat pace of the film. This is something novel and professional about the movies of the current OTT era. Pace is essential for the modern-day director, and sticking to the plot is crucial rather than getting unnecessarily sidetracked.

Amitabh Bachchan’s acting was par excellence, and his dialogue delivery was spellbinding. The director made great use of his otherwise seemingly frail body frame to bring out the age-old truth of Indian society that we don’t respect the consent of women in a sexual act, or the lack thereof. His frail frame, yet deep and resounding voice full of conviction, tends to echo in the minds of viewers who have felt the tremendous pressure of this aspect of their lives as females in urban India.

The other actors did their jobs well, but the movie seemed to be solely carried on the shoulders of Amitabh Bachchan. Bipolar disorder is evident in the moody behavior of Deepak, especially in the saddening scene where he is concentrating on a cockroach on one of the seats of the courtroom rather than on the questioning of the Judge. His sudden bouts of fatigue during the court case, followed by even more sudden bursts of excitability, along with his frenzied speaking, which he tries to slow down most of the time, is categorical of a Bipolar personality, which IBDP psychology students can analyze by studying the thorough par excellence acting skills of Amitabh Bachchan. His frenzied talk and inability to make sense to people is especially seen when he takes a long time to convey to the police the kidnapping of Minal before the police apprehend her or register a case against Rajveer and his friends.

When Deepak wins the case, no ‘thank you’ is required, but the grateful, loving affection of Minal, who clasps his hand as he stands erect. This is evident on his face while she cries out her gratitude to him along with Falak and Andrea. The image of Minal holding Deepak’s hand is likened to that of a daughter holding or clasping the hand of her father, who has upheld her dignity. We don’t see her acting endearing in this way toward her father, but she does so toward Amitabh Bachchan, who won her case.

The movie evocatively ends with the whole scene of the molestation enacted out for the audience to witness how cruel and barbaric indeed were Rajveer and his friends towards the girls, creating a lasting impact on the viewer, making Falak’s words at the beginning of the movie to Rajveer very agreeable in our ears – that Minal should have not only brained Rajveer with a bottle but should have broken or smashed his head for what he tried to do to outrage her dignity.

Conclusion

Notice that the stereotypes assigned to the three girls in this movie were not intended for the sister, mother, or fiancé of Rajveer, who were treated differently from the former just because they were associated with or known to Rajveer. This is a lesson for us: we tend to judge people differently when they are our own flesh and blood or known to us, compared to when we judge strangers. We must, in that case, remember the words of William Butler Yeats, which says:

‘A stranger is a friend that I haven’t met yet.’

Let us, as Global Citizens, cast away our stereotypes, especially about women and their sexual activities, simply because it is time for real equality.

Special Note

If you’re interested in book reviews, indie author interviews, book analyses, short story analyses, poems, essays, essay analyses, and other bookish content, check out my blog at insaneowl.com. If you are interested in purchasing my books, you can visit the products page on my blog or check them on Amazon. There’s a lot of great stuff to buy! Happy reading to you always!

©2025 Fiza Pathan