When ‘PINK’ emerged from the stereotypes of feminism, and stated, NO means NO

Of late, many women-centric movies have been making it to the big screens. But, not all are fortunate enough to be commercially successful. Also, many turn out to be preachy and fail to get the message across. However, amongst a galore of directionless plots that we were being served in the name of feminism, last year, on this day, one story hit the screens, and stood out. We are talking about ‘PINK’.
Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Piyush Mishra, and others, ‘PINK’ was a courtroom drama. The plotline revolved around three girls, one of who injured the son of a politician while saving herself from getting molested, at a party. A retired lawyer (Amitabh Bachchan) comes to defend her (Taapsee Pannu), and from there starts a court game, by which we get to know how hypocritical and gender-biased our society is.

That one thing which ‘PINK’ managed to put across firmly, was the concept of consent, irrespective of relation and situation. The way Amitabh Bachchan’s character of Deepak Sehgal peels down layers of society to unearth the filth within, the way he interrogates Rajvir Singh, the son of the politician, and brings out the deep-rooted patriarchal mindset of his, makes one shudder. It scares one, for these are the characters that exist amongst us, and are not larger than life.
It unnerved us how the characters of Minal (Taapsee), Falak (Kirti), and Andrea (Andrea), were stripped of all dignity, despite being normal working women who were just living their lives, just on the basis of allegations by the powerful. We were jolted as to how the police and the authorities were pocketed by these few rich and powerful people. We were stunned by how quickly the society judged a woman. Just because she was drinking, was laughing with a man, enjoying herself like a normal metropolitan woman, she was labelled a sl*t.
The plight of the women, their helplessness, shakes you, and makes you fear for yourself. But the end, even though fit for an utopian society, makes you believe that there is hope; hope for a better life, hope for freedom from the shackles of patriarchy, hope of wiping out the hypocrisy embedded in minds.
‘PINK’ gave us the motto of ‘NO means NO’, it told us that consent is the only thing that matters, for two individuals to get involved, nothing else, and it successfully did so. The day of September 16 will forever be remembered for bringing about a movie which explained a simple concept in the most amazing way possible, with brilliant performances to back it up.
September 16, is a PINK day.