Movie: Pink
Direction: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Angad Bedi, Dhritiman Chatterjee, Piyush Mishra
Music: Shantanu Moitra, Faiza Mujahid, Anupam Roy
Cinematographer: Abhik Mukhopadhyay
Editor: Bodhaditya Banerjee
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Rating: ∗∗∗∗½
What is it about: This is a court room drama, which revolves around an unfortunate incident involving 6 youngsters, who gets webbed in to the consequences of that incident. And that leads to a trial with accusation and character assassination. What happens there on, forms the crux of the story directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury.
Why it’s disappointing: This section definitely stays put, I hardly believe some other movie might top the intensity of this one.
What to watch out for: The film cuts deep in to the hypocrisy of one among our society which jumps to assumption based on the outlook of an individual. And the best part is, the character is judged by few lame excuses which when you pause and think about it, would definitely have a laugh.
Mostly these accusations and assumptions point towards the so called weaker sex, which is the brand name given by this society. But have you ever thought about, that this weaker sex is the strongest one. In spite the truth is in front of you, majority neglect to agree, mainly due to Feudal Mentality of the so called stronger sex and that’s Men.
PINK ponders the issue at many levels, and digs deep, that it starts to pick your conscience. The film is well scripted that it doesn’t dull out at any point. PINK is one of those films, which takes off right from the first frame briskly and keeps you on track wondering until the credits roll out.
Ritesh Shah, is the man who made the screenplay of PINK, which plays out so tight that you are haunted event after you leave the cinema hall. Director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury is the drive, which drove this amazing screenplay in to an extraordinary court room drama. The dialogues were exceptionally written, which were not too dramatized but syncs in with the realistic approach the film intends to.
Everyone is very well aware of Amitabh Bachchan’s talent in performing some great roles throughout his career and there are a few which stands out from the lot. And this film will be on top, among the list of his best works. He brings an amazing aura to that character, which plays out the age to the finest details. He astounds you in every frame and no matter how old he is, when he suits up, your hands automatically applaud in awe of his charisma. A screen presence yet to be matched, and most definitely will remain a treasure of Bollywood in coming years as well. Amitabh Ji, you’re a legend and nothing can change or replace it.
Then the surprise package as expected was Taapsee Pannu, most of us especially from South India, have seen her in illogical and meaningless roles in Kollywood and Tollywood. She presented a small teaser of her performance in Neeraj Pandey’s “Baby”. And most definitely she proved everyone wrong that she’s just not a glam doll, but a performer who was waiting for a creator like Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. Sometimes a right director can wake up the performer who has been forced to sleep. Taapsee did a fantastic job in dishing out an amazing performance, which she can count as a milestone in her acting career. A great respect to the artist, which was hidden inside this beautiful attire.
After which, the supporting character played by Kriti Kulhari (Falak Ali), she churns out a solid one, not just to support the ensemble but one which becomes a vital part of the ensemble. She demands attention in a scene inside the court, which kicks you hard. Commendable job by Kriti Kulhari. Her grit was followed by Andrea Tariang as Andrea. She may look the youngest among the lot, but she has a potential, which has been tapped well and will be seen in good roles in future.
Angad Bedi as Rajveer Singh, a perfect depiction of ignorance and man ego. Which makes you hate that character, which meant that he was convincingly cunning. And then Piyush Mishra, he was good. Even though his style is getting repetitive, he manages to nudge it with a great show.
The cinematography was at its best, Abhik Mukhopadhyay maintained the intensity throughout with great diligence that you get sucked in to it along with the characters. The camera holds the authentic appeal of the film. And that was precisely edited by Bodhaditya Banerjee.
Then it’s the music of the film. There were no unwanted tracks nor cheap item numbers. The film didn’t force anything on to the audience. The tracks featured were in sync with the flow and a background score which has a great class that you only find in Hollywood flicks. A score, which doesn’t deflect the focus of the audience from the film. In fact gets them engrossed with meticulously mixed sound, which mounts a great tension when required and goes mum when it is not. There are a few places in the film it goes dead silent and gives a pause for the audience to feel what the characters do on screen. Amazing job by Shantanu Moitra, Faiza Mujahid & Anupam Roy. And also a great job by the sound designers.
Finally PINK educates you on few legal aspects, which are tackled in the film. And that was quite informative and those were timed with crisp dialogues which hits you hard. Couple of my favourites are “Hamare Yahan, Ghadi ki Sui kisika character decide karti hai” and then there was “If we save our boys, our girls will be safe”.
Verdict: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, an amazing talent who was hidden under Bengali films. And now Bollywood has him, hope he continues to make films of this intensity and keep the cinema alive, for those who really respect it. The film had a cast which was perfectly matched with talents that made it more interesting, when it was played out. Amazing court room drama, and will be on shelves among the best of work for the entire team. Definitely worth a watch, don’t miss it for anything.
