Dark and powerful

PinkHindi (U/A)Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea TariangDirector: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury 

A no is a no is a no.  No, most men don’t get it even if the woman screams at the top of her lungs. What they understand, instead, are “hints” revealed by the length of her dress. 

So, a short skirt proclaims she is “available”. And if she shares a drink, she is definitely ready to “do it”.

Pink makes it plain clear. Sexual assaults have nothing to do with the choice of clothes, but everything to do with the misconstrued patriarchal “privilege” of forcing oneself on girls who “deserve it”.

Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury makes a powerful narrative of how women of a “certain type” are constantly judged and perceived to be promiscuous. Pink’s impact lies in its execution. 

The women — Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang — are extremely natural as the regular middle-class working women who encounter a problem that is so real and everyday. 

It all starts with a rock concert where the three women meet their torturers-to-be: Angad Bedi, Raashul Tandon and Tushar Pandey. A dinner follows, only to end with a smashed bottle and a punctured forehead. 

It’s a case of sexual assault. And as Pink progresses to the court, the women turn pale in self-defence, and the men go red with anger, hurling prostitution charges at their prey.

Amitabh Bachchan plays a veteran lawyer battling manic depression, who comes to the rescue of the women. Bachchan’s baritone helps the courtroom proceedings, but his is one role that is way off the mark in a movie that stands out with its theme. 

The women are all on top of their game, though Kirti outdoes everyone with a wow-act. This girl needs to be seen more often.Sex is also about consent. And Pink says it with conviction.