When you have the brand name of Shoojit Sircar attached to
your film, it brings in an additional responsibility of living up to the sky
high standards set by Shoojit and writer Juhi Chaturvedi. So, does this
Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury directed film deliver on its promises? Let’s find out!
The first hour of the film is absolutely terrific. Without
delving much into the details of the storyline, let’s just say the makers do an
excellent job of sustaining a palpable sense of danger looming large and it’s
all so neatly captured in the characters’ quotidian activities with a rock-solid
screenplay, hard-hitting dialogues and a haunting background score (along the
lines of last year’s marginally superior NH10!!). Much of this credit goes to the spot-on casting
and gritty writing which creates real flesh and blood characters with
relatively lesser known faces whom each of us can instantly relate to. My
favourite scene is the one where Tapsee Pannu goes along with her friend to
register a complaint of molestation and the officer on duty cheekily advises her
against doing so. It’s a simple but effective scene and packs a punch with all
the dark humor and harsh truth wrapped inside it. Also, a loud shout-out to
Vijay Verma and Kirti Kulhari for their frighteningly fine performances!!
Alas, like so many other films, Pink, too, can’t seem to
escape "The Curse of the Second Half". The film, from here on, nosedives into a
humdrum courtroom drama where everyone from the hammy Piyush Mishra to the ostensibly
disinterested Amitabh Bachchan rely on theatrics to drive home the film’s
message. Perhaps, the makers were busy patting their own backs for not taking
the tried and tested sermonizing route of singling out women as the sole victim
in such cases and also be unapologetic and less moralistic about their
mannerisms such as dressing style, drinking habits, etc. Agreed, it’s a noble
thought, but it all comes off as so contrived, labored and bereft of the grit
and razor sharp dialogue witnessed in the first half, that you wonder if it was the same person directing the second half.
Amitabh Bachchan’s character is probably the weakest link in
the film and it’s not surprising that the maverick septuagenarian can’t seem to
get under the skin of advocate Deepak Sehgal, because of his inherently vague
nature. This is particularly unfortunate because Amitabh was so good as the eternally constipated Bhashkor Banerjee in last
year’s Piku, the brainchild of the same production house as Pink. Still,
we get a glimpse of the actor’s unmissable charisma in the final act of the
film where the perpetrators are finally brought to book.
I’m going with 3/5 for Pink. In color psychology, pink
refers to a sign of hope. Given the ordeals we have been put through over the
past few months, the film does, indeed, emerge as a ray of hope. It may not be
a fully satisfying film, but the merits definitely outweigh the flaws.
Recommended!
