B.a. ll.b.

(2017-22)
Exploration in Social INEQUALITIES

REVIEW OF FILM ‘PINK’

Prepared By :

Abhijit Sahoo (1783002), Ankit Nande (1783015),

Ankit Kumar Verma (1783016), Anurag Aryan
(1783020),
Ashish Ku. Pradhan (1783031) &
Jibanjit Srichandan (1783052).

Under the guidance of :

Dr. Binita Behera & Dr. Soumya Mohapatra

(School of Law)
 PREFACE

This Project Report has been prepared in partial fulfillment of the requirement for
the Subject: Exploration in Social inequalities of the programme B.A. LLB (A)
(Sem. III) for the academic year 2018-2019.

As we are the part of the B.A. LLB curriculum and in order to gain practical
knowledge in the field of sociology, we are required to make a project on any movie
that shows social inequalities. The basic objective behind doing this project is to get
knowledge about the various social inequalities that exist in the society.

We hope who goes through it will find it interesting and worth reading.
All constructive feedback is cordially invited.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We take the opportunity to express our gratitude to all the concerned people who
have directly or indirectly contributed towards completion of this project. We extend
our sincere gratitude towards our faculties for providing the opportunity and
resources to work on this project.

We are extremely grateful to many bloggers and film critics, whose insight
encouraged us to go beyond the scope of the project and this broadened us learning
on this project.

We also want to show our gratitude to whose insight helped us to complete this
project.
 PINK
BACKGROUND

Pink is a 2016 Indian courtroom drama film directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury,
written by Ritesh Shah, and produced by Rashmi Sharma Telefilms (Pawan Kumar
and Rashmi Sharma), Sheel Kumar and Shoojit Sircar. It stars Amitabh Bachchan,
Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Angad Bedi, Piyush Mishra, and
Dhritiman Chatterjee. It was released on 16 September 2016. The Central Board of
Film Certification (CBFC) granted the film a U/A certificate with four verbal cuts.
The film received widespread critical acclaim, and garnered the National Film Award
for Best Film on Other Social Issues.

PLOT

Three young and affluent boys, Raunak (Raashul Tandon), Vishwajyoti (Tushar
Pandey) and Rajveer Singh (Angad Bedi) rush to the nearest hospital because
Rajveer is profusely bleeding from an injury to his head. They nervously refrain
from filing a police complaint.
On the other side of the same town, three young women - Minal (Taapsee Pannu),
Falak (Kirti Kulhari) and Andrea - hurriedly travel in a taxi to their apartment. They
look disoriented, and it is implied that they have something to do with the incident.
Minal and her friends are shaken but try to carry on with their normal life. The story
revolves around these three young women. They are independent and self-sufficient
women living together in Faridabad. Minal goes out for her usual morning run,
where she is constantly observed by an old man who lives in her neighbourhood, a
man called Deepak (Amitabh Bachchan).
He senses there is something wrong and introduces himself to these women as a
reputable lawyer who is in retirement, and they enlist his help in the matter.

Eventually, as Deepak had predicted to the women, a series of threats arise from
Rajveer's friend Ankit (Vijay Varma), who pushes for revenge. The threats result in
Andrea being stalked and Falak losing her job. They are discouraged by a police
officer from filing a complaint stating it would make their daily lives more miserable
unless they relocate to another town or city. In reality, the local police are aware that
the young men are "well connected" and are backed-up by Rajveer's uncle Ranjit, a
powerful influential politician from South Delhi. Nevertheless, Minal files a
complaint.
Immediately, the next day, Minal is kidnapped by Rajveer's friends during her
morning run. Deepak witnesses the incident but is unable to help in the heat of the
moment even though he notes down the details and number plate of the car
Minal is threatened to stop filing complaints, blackmailed and is molested in the
moving car and later dropped back home after all the commotion with a serious
warning. A few days later, Minal is arrested by police from her apartment, based on a
complaint from Rajveer labelling the women as prostitutes and charging Minal with
attempted murder. At this point, Deepak says enough is enough and visits Falak and
Andrea at their apartment. Soon enough he helps them with the bail procedures and
also in representing them in the court to plead their case.

In the courtroom, Rajveer's lawyer, Prashant Mehra (Piyush Mishra), presents the
following version of events:
Rajveer and his friends meet with Minal and her friends at a rock concert. The men
invite the women for dinner at a hotel resort, where they have drinks. The women
provoke the men, have intimate relations and thereafter demand money, all signs
indicating that they are prostitutes. Rajveer refuses to pay and an enraged Minal hits
him on the head with a bottle and flees. Prashant's argument focuses on the poor
moral character of the women.
He pushes the idea that the friendly manner of the women, the fact that they attended
a rock concert and the fact that they had drinks with the men indicate that they were
prostitutes.

Prashant attacks the fact that Minal has family in Delhi but chooses to live alone,
Falak is in a relationship with an older man, and Andrea has moved to the city from
Northeast India.
Contrary to this, Minal and her friends statement: that the men tried to sexually
assault them. Minal alleges that Rajveer tried to rape her, and she attacked him with
the bottle in self-defense.

Deepak's argument focuses on the issue of consent and a woman's right to say no.

A series of interesting and chilling courtroom arguments ensues in the following

days.

Towards the end of the trial, Rajveer becomes enraged and provoked by the
reputable and respected lawyer Deepak, revealing the truth by stating that the women
"got what they deserved".

Deepak criticizes the regressed views of the society where women are stereotyped as
prostitutes if they come home late, move out of their home, want to be independent,
drink and so on, but none of these applies to men.

In his closing remarks, Deepak mentions that his client said "NO". No means no and
does not require further explanation. The women are acquitted while Rajveer, Ankit,
and Dumpy are charged, with the duration of their sentences pending. Vishwajyoti is
let off with a warning.
MUSIC

It’s difficult to fit songs in a film like Pink which is high on suspense and courtroom
drama. Composers Shantanu Moitra, Faiza Mujahid and Anupam Roy have created a
good mix for the album which opens with Jeenay de mujhe sung, written and
composed by Faiza Mujahid is a full-throttle declaration of letting people lead their
lives on their own terms. Faiza is a rock sensation from Pakistan and this song shows
why she’s so hot across the border. The no-holds-bar song about freedom, about
choice, especially from a female perspective goes well with the theme of the film
and will surely leave an impact.

Qurat-Ul -Ain Balouch is another talented voice from Pakistan and something of a
pop sensation there. Known popularly as QB, she has sung the pathos-filled Kaari
kaari with just the right amount of pain and angst in her voice. Her rendition makes
Tanveer Ghazi’s lyrics even more impactful. She’s surely a singer to watch out for in
future, as is Faiza.

Tujhse hi hai roshni is sung, written and composed by Anupam Roy and offers a ray
of hope after the sombre mood created by Kaari kaari. It was refreshing to hear a
male voice in a film revolving around the plight of three women. The talented Mr
Roy was first heard in Piku and has shown the same pedigree that he did in his Hindi
debut. The guitar riffs work well with his melodic voice to create a soothing song.
The title song is sung by internet sensation Jonita Gandhi, with rap by EPR Iyer. It
has a buoyant, big stadium sound and is all about girl power and living a pumped up
life.

Overall, for a non-commercial film like Pink, the music comes as a surprise it not
only touches the soul but also manages to keep up with the pace that the promos
promise.
BOX-OFFICE & ACCOLADES

Pink grossed approximately ₹4.32 crore on first day in India. The first weekend
collection was ₹21.51 crore.
At the end of 7 days the domestic box office collection was ₹35.91 crore. Pink
grossed ₹50 crore in first 10 days in India.
The lifetime box office collections in India is ₹68 crores.

The film received widespread critical acclaim, and garnered the National Film
Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues. The film was specially screened for
the Rajasthan Police so as to train them to be sensitive and sensible about women's
rights and dignity. The film was also specially screened at Rashtrapati Bhavan and
invited for a screening at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

CONCLUSION

Pink is a powerful statement on the existing feudal mindset of a majority of India,

where men and women are judged by a different yardstick. And if the man happens
to be from a powerful family, then the fight for justice is even more skewed. It is a
relevant film, in a day and age when there are many such cases in the news, when
attempts by women at seeking justice are often equated with vindictive litigation.
Despite the fact that so many women don’t even have recourse to justice, they are
accused of misusing the law. When one article upon another on a recent case has
been obfuscating reason and rationality in many of us, it’s good to have a film stating
categorically, even if a trifle simplistically, that a NO is a NO.
That single working women are not a catch. That friendly girls are not promiscuous.
That a shared drink doesn’t mean a woman is available. That it all boils down to a
woman’s choice and consent.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pink_(2016_film)
2. http://www.koimoi.com
3. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5571734/plotsummary
4. https://www.boxofficeindia.com
5. http://www.indicine.com