After a really long time, a movie review :)
Have been hearing and reading rave reviews about this movie. The title suggested it could be yet-another-feminist flick, hell bent on painting all men bad and how miserable and suffering women folk are. But the positive reviews aroused curiosity on the movie. More than being feminist, the movie scared the heck out of me is an understatement. To rephrase, its one of the scariest movies i've ever seen.
It doesn't have any jump out of your skin kind of horror or make your spine chill kind of bgm's and sudden heart stopping twists on screen play. What makes the skin crawly moments of the movie is its candidness. When people watch horror flicks, they kind of know what to expect, the least of which being getting scared. They may jump at the shadows for a while, till the after effects of the movie passes by. But movies like PINK would surely give you sleepless nights, more so if you care for the women in your family. More than a story involving protagonist and antagonist, it brings to light any unfortunate day in the life of women in any metro, when their stars shine down and make them cross path with those in power. To me the scariest part of the plot was the ease with which people bend law to their will. Even with crores of cases pending and with corruption ruling roost, the good people of this country, still have an inkling of belief in the justice system. When the corrupt takes control of the court and write their own judgement, that's when it hits real hard. More than their act, its the ease at which the system surrenders to their beck and call, that makes the movie scary beyond imagination. The three girls who suffer the torment of those rogue guys could very well be your neighbours or even from your own family. Their response to the situations forced on them are so realistic that its almost like watching a LIVE proceedings on the happening of the life of some one near and dear. Their pain, helplessness, struggle to live a normal life, the stigma associated with imprisonment least of all the nonsense looks that they've to endure the moment they step out of their doors, none of them are fiction.
When i saw the tamil movie "Soodhu Kavvum" the title took a whole two hours running time of the movie to hit on me, when the only good guy of the movie, is asked to relinquish his post for his corrupt son, who as the end credits rolls by, comes up successful in that post. It justified the title that crime eventually wins and pays, making a mockery of goodness which was in minority. Similarly, with Amitabh being the old crusader in a rusted and broken armour to rescue the damsels in distress, that was the only part which felt cinematic. The reactions bordering from callousness to sheer ignorance of the plight of the girls sounded logical and infact shamelessly normal, as compared to the intentions of Amitabh to help. Needless to say the old chap has done a marvelous job. How one wishes that Rajini sticks to his rise to stardom formulae of redoing Amitabh’s hits in tamil in current era too. Would pay big bucks to watch Rajini do this role. Nevertheless, Tapsee Pannu, the “Aadukalam” girl is a million bucks worthy selection for the role of the uber modern girl who is both vulnerable and strong, free willed yet locked down by society, soars up to enjoy her life on her own terms and gets bogged down by bullies. Couldn’t imagine anyone else in that role. Rest of the cast are also picture perfect. The success for the director lies in that fact that, some might even root for the inspector who refuses to take their case first hand and admonishes them for roaming around in the night, wearing skimpy clothes. Honestly, it would be an almost similar response from any normal guy to a gal if she comes and complaints to him about any trouble. But is that what he is supposed to do and is that the right response in this sickeningly bad society? Should one dig the hole deeper and push their head in it to avoid such issues? Is embarrassment the biggest bane of women who want to have a life on their own terms? The movie doesn’t answer, but sets these questions on.
Gils verdict: As a society, we react only when the issue occurs at our door step. That too, the valiant of the lot, at best, may take a single step towards getting justice, only to falter and fall at the first hurdle. Despite all this, if people still doesn’t take law on their hands it’s because of what little belief they’ve on the judiciary. In an ideal world, I would want this movie to flop like hell. But in current world, it requires a 100 day run, tax free and probably shown across all and any medium possible. Not because it’s the best movie ever. Just to scare more people like me, into thinking. Be scared. Be very very scared.
Have been hearing and reading rave reviews about this movie. The title suggested it could be yet-another-feminist flick, hell bent on painting all men bad and how miserable and suffering women folk are. But the positive reviews aroused curiosity on the movie. More than being feminist, the movie scared the heck out of me is an understatement. To rephrase, its one of the scariest movies i've ever seen.
It doesn't have any jump out of your skin kind of horror or make your spine chill kind of bgm's and sudden heart stopping twists on screen play. What makes the skin crawly moments of the movie is its candidness. When people watch horror flicks, they kind of know what to expect, the least of which being getting scared. They may jump at the shadows for a while, till the after effects of the movie passes by. But movies like PINK would surely give you sleepless nights, more so if you care for the women in your family. More than a story involving protagonist and antagonist, it brings to light any unfortunate day in the life of women in any metro, when their stars shine down and make them cross path with those in power. To me the scariest part of the plot was the ease with which people bend law to their will. Even with crores of cases pending and with corruption ruling roost, the good people of this country, still have an inkling of belief in the justice system. When the corrupt takes control of the court and write their own judgement, that's when it hits real hard. More than their act, its the ease at which the system surrenders to their beck and call, that makes the movie scary beyond imagination. The three girls who suffer the torment of those rogue guys could very well be your neighbours or even from your own family. Their response to the situations forced on them are so realistic that its almost like watching a LIVE proceedings on the happening of the life of some one near and dear. Their pain, helplessness, struggle to live a normal life, the stigma associated with imprisonment least of all the nonsense looks that they've to endure the moment they step out of their doors, none of them are fiction.
When i saw the tamil movie "Soodhu Kavvum" the title took a whole two hours running time of the movie to hit on me, when the only good guy of the movie, is asked to relinquish his post for his corrupt son, who as the end credits rolls by, comes up successful in that post. It justified the title that crime eventually wins and pays, making a mockery of goodness which was in minority. Similarly, with Amitabh being the old crusader in a rusted and broken armour to rescue the damsels in distress, that was the only part which felt cinematic. The reactions bordering from callousness to sheer ignorance of the plight of the girls sounded logical and infact shamelessly normal, as compared to the intentions of Amitabh to help. Needless to say the old chap has done a marvelous job. How one wishes that Rajini sticks to his rise to stardom formulae of redoing Amitabh’s hits in tamil in current era too. Would pay big bucks to watch Rajini do this role. Nevertheless, Tapsee Pannu, the “Aadukalam” girl is a million bucks worthy selection for the role of the uber modern girl who is both vulnerable and strong, free willed yet locked down by society, soars up to enjoy her life on her own terms and gets bogged down by bullies. Couldn’t imagine anyone else in that role. Rest of the cast are also picture perfect. The success for the director lies in that fact that, some might even root for the inspector who refuses to take their case first hand and admonishes them for roaming around in the night, wearing skimpy clothes. Honestly, it would be an almost similar response from any normal guy to a gal if she comes and complaints to him about any trouble. But is that what he is supposed to do and is that the right response in this sickeningly bad society? Should one dig the hole deeper and push their head in it to avoid such issues? Is embarrassment the biggest bane of women who want to have a life on their own terms? The movie doesn’t answer, but sets these questions on.
Gils verdict: As a society, we react only when the issue occurs at our door step. That too, the valiant of the lot, at best, may take a single step towards getting justice, only to falter and fall at the first hurdle. Despite all this, if people still doesn’t take law on their hands it’s because of what little belief they’ve on the judiciary. In an ideal world, I would want this movie to flop like hell. But in current world, it requires a 100 day run, tax free and probably shown across all and any medium possible. Not because it’s the best movie ever. Just to scare more people like me, into thinking. Be scared. Be very very scared.
Comments
There is much that is wrong with Indian society and culture. Movies such as these help raise awareness, but the sheer apathy until an issues comes to our doorstep makes us somehow less human.