Have you ever wondered why our society throw weight behind gangs of men, wrangling the wills of women?
At a time when gang rape has gone to the extremes releases Sujith Sircar’s Pink, a variation from the "I want the truth" "You can’t handle the truth" courtroom procedural. There are "A Few Good Men, " making an inquest for truth, which is reminiscent of real life occurrences in Delhi. And a couple of savage men, firing on all cylinders, in a bid to malign the feminine dignity.
When the vultures bump up in nocturnal Delhi, Delhi police preempts the worst possible outcome in real life. Unfortunately, the same rationale doesn’t quite save the leading ladies in Pink of a trial. The makers rationalize molestation minus graphical violence by showing the characters bereft of solace.
Soon after the triumvirate in Pink sue a rape attempt and hire the best barrister in Delhi, they realize the joke is on themselves. Most of the power lies with elitists with influence. Which is to say, it is no rape anymore but solicitation cum murder attempt. And, Deepak Sehgal’s(Amitabh Bachan) baritone can only bring home sobriety through hours of mongering.
Like in that scene where Sehgal intervenes the prosecution heroically to confuse the witness: "Ache Actor hain Aap"(You are a good actor).
That evoked laughter initially, but there is nothing to laugh about. Its for a reason woman choose not to hobnob in pubs, wearing shorts. It is for a reason working woman don’t wan’t to come home late anymore. And, it is for a reason Sehgal is not happy for woman are constantly tagged amoral for that type of behavior, while men aren’t. What does psychology say? - "Personality is a third party perception; character is the actual self."
The prosecutor in this film character assassinate constantly to get a raise out of the victims, turning psychology into psychedelics. Piyush Mishra’s cliched prosecutor make us cringe the moment he is on screen. And, it doesn’t help when the script holds aboard cringe-worthy exchanges as the following:
"Kya apne paisa manga?"(Which is to say - Did you bribe to get raped?).
"Haan maine manga hain. Uske bawajood bhi ladke ne Jhedkhani ki."
Two minutes of pin drop silence followed by an afterthought from the barrister - "For argument sake, you admit that? It was brave, young lady."
Pity the makers explicitly convey the nuance in dialogue, instead of letting the audience infer it. Pity they haven’t commend Delhi police’s efforts either to thwart this perennial issue.
Its a docile zone which Big B and Co gets into, as docile as the men who wrangle the woman and the woman seeking justice. The movie has minor issues, but the subtlety of the message will linger on even after hours of watching it. The performances are adequately creepy, from the actors especially Kirti Kulhari. The direction by A.R Chowdhury is undramatic, and nigh one dimensional. Truth is one dimensional, after all and Pink is an inquest masuqerading a courtroom drama.