My favorite genre of movies is animation. To me the genre is the ultimate expression in any medium. It is the boundless expanse where, even a wild stretch of imagination implies abundant potential to address fictional plot lines. A genre I wouldn’t watch ever? Horror. Can’t deal with sadism or ghosts. Just. No thanks. Bye.
That being said, I wanted to take a stab at writing a well thought out review about a drama – since they’re usually hit-or-miss, I’m intrigued by what really clicks.
The credits scene spoke more to me than the entire movie itself!
In keeping with full disclosure, I missed the first five minutes of the movie. I was a later-gator, pumpkin-eater 😦
I know, I know. That’s not the best way to begin a review. But bear with me. (Also, later-gator and pumpkin eater neither have anything to do with each other, nor do they rhyme. I am aware of this.)
Pink, the recent Amitabh starrer had some great scenes going for it, with an overall fresh approach to the issue at hand. We have however seemed to have reached saturation point with the courtroom dramas. While some scenes did fall flat, the entire movie held up for two hours and fifteen minutes which is more than can be said for many others.
The theme of the movie was especially interesting and powerful, with some moments beautifully enacted by the talented ensemble. The theme was simple enough. What does it mean when someone, especially a girl, says “No”?
The primary half of the script deals with the repercussions of actions, even if it was a forced hand. The angst, the turmoil, constantly having to look over your shoulder to see if the boogeyman is coming to get you. We see three girls discussing in hushed tones and trying their best to pretend like nothing happened. Although the forced representation of diversity (one of the girls is from Meghalaya) was overwhelming at times, the movie seemed to sail smoothly for the most part.
Amidst all this, we catch scenes of man-children harassing these girls for a crime they believe was warranted, with one girl being particularly targeted and molested in the back of a moving vehicle. What started off as a queasy feeling, quickly turned to disgust. But suddenly, it became too much. Too far drawn out. Too lame. Too unbelievable (I’m sorry I’m nitpicking! But do I just expect too much decency from others?)
Enter Amitabh! A slight tweak of his character from Piku and we have this dude in Pink. He still seems constipated when he speaks, but it’s sort of sad that his backstory isn’t explored more. There’s a sick wife in the hospital and his meds make him fuzzy. Why does he take meds? Because he’s bipolar or some such. That’s about all we hear on that so we’ll leave it at that.
Continuing on with the story, in a classic case of corruption in favor of the endowed, the tables are turned on the girls who were hoping to go on the offensive by lodging an FIR (First Information Report) – which of course Random Cop Dude #1 tries to talk them out of. But as I said, the girls are put on the defensive in a counter-complaint and the primary defendant is put in jail to rot for a couple of days. When she finally makes bail, she looks as she feels on the inside – a little bit dead.
And from there the downward spiral begins in a series of clinical or exaggerated testimonies, a sarcastic lawyer whom you’d like to punch the living daylights out of, and of course the absolute mockery of the justice system through a series of sarcastic remarks from the defense lawyer himself, which the judge fails to have stricken from the record, thus forming the crux of his argument.
What really irked me about the courtroom scenes was not the fact that it seemed like the guys were getting away with sexual assault, or that one of the girls HAD to admit to taking money because the prosecution’s only argument was that they had been soliciting his clients in the first place and they could move on from that. No. What truly irked me was the fact that the viewers in the gallery were so stone-faced, they needn’t have been there at all.
When shooting a pivotal scene in a movie, shouldn’t you have the right kind of extras to back you up? And when tackling an issue such as ‘women’s right to say no’ (a topic that hits close to home for most – or should at least), why can’t the extras be more engrossed?!
Anyway that was me being nitpicky but that just stuck with me and pretty soon all I noticed during the courtroom scenes were the blank stares that no one wanted to share.
Kudos to Kirti Kulhari whom I think brilliantly stole the show right out from under Taapsee and Big B.
And that theme I was telling you about? No means no. Simple right? And effective I hope. We’ve had enough of the he said’s and the claims of morally bankrupt girls.
Get the memo. No, means no.
Also, that extra credits scene about the actual assault was riveting to say the least. In my opinion, it brought the whole movie together.
Final thoughts:
If you’re looking for a movie that doesn’t involve a guy beating up hundreds of other guys or just good ol’ slapstick humor, this one is not only a good pass time, but also gets the neurons firing for whatever it is worth.
But if you want the essence of the movie without having to sit through the length of it (basically the TL;DR of movies), I direct you to my girl Meghan Trainor who said it best.
So that’s my extremely delayed rant/review for the night.
TTFN. Ta Ta For Now!
Chronicles of the Twiggy 