Pink is a 2016 Indian courtroom drama film directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, written by Ritesh Shah, and produced by Rashmi Sharma and Shoojit Sircar.[4][5][6]
It stars Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Angad Bedi, Andrea Tariang, Piyush Mishra, and Dhritiman Chatterjee.[7][8][9][10] It was released on 16 September 2016.[11][12][13][14][15] The Central Board of Film Certification(CBFC) granted the film a U/A certificate with four verbal cuts.[16]
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.[17]
The film was a clear winner at the Indian box office, [18] and received a very positive response from both the audience and critics. On November 4, 2016 the movie completed a lucrative 50 day run at the movie theatres.[19]
Pink movie has been considered as the most successful film for Amitabh Bachchan in recent times.[20]
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Plot[edit]
Three girls – Minal Arora(Taapsee Pannu), Falak Ali(Kirti Kulhari) and Andrea(Andrea Tariang) are staying together as tenants in a posh South Delhi locality and are working professionals in their respective fields. One night, after a rock concert they accept a dinner invitation from Rajvir(Angad Bedi), who is the nephew of a powerful politician from South Delhi, and two others to a resort in Surajkund, Faridabad district, Haryana. Rajvir is known to Minal through a common friend. Rajvir and his friends get drunk, and so do Minal and her friends. Seeking the opportunity, the three men separate the three girls from each other. Rajvir then tries to molest Minal, despite her telling him no. Minal picks up a bottle and smashes it on Rajvir’s eye, leaving him bleeding.
Seeking revenge, Rajvir and his friends try to vacate the girls from their houses by threatening them and the landlord. Minal is even kidnapped and molested by Rajvir’s friends in a moving car. Minal(with the support of her friend) is finally forced to approach the police with the intention of filing an FIR against Rajvir and his friends. However, knowing Rajvir and his family, the female police officer on duty does not register the complaint. Upon realisation, Rajvir lodges a false FIR against the girls, labelling them as prostitutes, using his powerful contacts. Minal is then charged for attempted murder and for soliciting, where she could face imprisonment for more than 10 years, if convicted. The other girls are labelled as co-accused.
Deepak Sehgal(Amitabh Bachchan) is a retired lawyer suffering from bipolar disorder who experiences frequent mood swings and has an ailing wife(Mamata Shankar). He is also a neighbour of Minal, Falak and Andrea. He witnesses their troubles and after consultation with his wife, represents the girls in the court as their defence counsel. The film revolves around how Deepak fights and wins the girls’ case against the influential boys.
Cast[edit]
Amitabh Bachchan as Deepak Sehgal
Taapsee Pannu as Minal Arora
Kirti Kulhari as Falak Ali
Andrea Tariang as Andrea Tariang
Angad Bedi as Rajvir Singh
Raashul Tandon as Dumpy a.k.a. Raunak Anand
Tushar Pandey as Vishwa a.k.a Vishwajyoti Ghosh
Mamta Malik as Haryanvi cop Sarla Premchand
Dhritiman Chatterjee as Judge Satyajit Dutt
Piyush Mishra as Prashant Mehra
Vijay Verma as Ankit Malhotra
Mamta Shankar as Sara(Sehgal’s wife)
Vinod Nagpal as Kasturilal
Sudhanva Deshpande as Javed
Pawan Mahendroo as Minal’s Helpless Father
Jogi as Police Inspector Shaukeen
Swaroopa Ghosh as Uma Di
Arjun Chakraborty as Ritwik
Vinod Rai as Andrea’s Father
S.K. Batra as Neighbour Sinha
Alka Chatwal as The Female Constable In Court
Rajeev Pandey as Manager Ramakant Vijay
Ritesh Shah as Falak’s Boss
Radha Khandelwal as The Female Constable
Sushil Dahiya as Ranjit Sherawat
Savita Sharma as Falak’s Mother
Rita Kapoor as Mrs. Sinha
Johar Kango as Neighbour Gupta
Sakshi Mehta as Suman
Amit Basoya as Waiter Mukesh
Arun Poorie as Andrea’s Boss
Production[edit]
In early March 2016 Amitabh Bachchan revealed that he was shooting a film in Delhi. It was rumoured that the film was titled "Eve".[21] On 13 March Bachchan denied the rumours and announced through Twitter that the film is titled Pink.[22]
Director-producer Shoojit Sircar informed that Amitabh Bachchan accepted the role and Tapsee Pannu was their first choice.[23] Andrea Tariang was also selected to play the role of one of the girls in the film.[24][25] Tushar Pandey, Raashul Tandon and Vijay Verma are making their debut with this film.[26]
Filming[edit]
The shooting of the film began in New Delhi on International Women’s Day, 2016.[12] The looks of Amitabh Bachchan in the movie was created by Shoojit Sircar however the idea of wearing the mask was suggested by Amitabh Bachchan since Delhi is very polluted.[27]
During the shoot, Amitabh Bachchan wandered the streets of New Delhi while wearing a costume in which public cannot recognise him.[28] Amitabh Bachchan finished filming his scenes in April 2016.[29]
Taapsee often broke down on the shooting sets as she felt her character was very strong and challenging.[30] She suffered from viral infection during the court scenes and wanted to dub later, however Shoojit felt that her illness would add more authenticity to the scenes.[31] Despite the hardships Taapsee enjoyed and had lots of fun while filming the scenes.[32]
The original climax of Rajvir and his friends winning the case was modified so as not to hurt the sentiments of the audience.[33]
A special screening of the film was held for Amitabh Bachchan’s co stars and the leading ladies of Bollywood.[34] However Amitabh Bachchan could not attend the screening due to health issues.[35] Taapsee also arranged a special screening of the film for the Telugu film industry at Hyderabad.[36]
Bishan Singh Bedi, father of Angad Bedi, arranged a special screening of the film in Delhi which was attended by cricketers like Kapil Dev, Virender Sehwag and Yuvraj Singh.[37]
Marketing[edit]
The poster of the film was unveiled by Amitabh Bachchan [38] and the trailer was released on 9 August 2016. It was praised by many people including Ajay Devgan, Samantha Ruth Prabhu, Riteish Deshmukh, Gauhar Khan and Dia Mirza.[39][40][41] Producer Rashmi Sharma informed that due to Amitabh Bachchan’s presence it would be easier to promote her film.[42]
Shoojit Sircar and Amitabh Bachchan questioned their fans on twitter as to what they think the film title "Pink" is all about.[43] Times of India had opened a contest in which 5 lucky winners would get a chance to meet Amitabh Bachchan and other 10 winners would get free movie tickets of the movie -Pink.[44] The winners were announced on 15-September-2016.[45]
The film was promoted by the lead actors in popular TV shows like Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa and Savdhaan India.[46][47] [48]
The world television premier was held on 23-October 2016 on Star Gold and to commemorate the same, Amitabh Bachchan’s house Jalsa, Carter Road Promenade and SNDT Women’s University were illuminated in pink colour.[49]
The title of the film has no relationship as being the favourite colour of girls but rather conveys that, women should have the freedom to speak and walk freely at night.