Wikipedia

Pink (2016 film)

Pink is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language legal thriller film directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and written by Shoojit Sircar, Ritesh Shah and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury.[1] The film is produced by Rising Sun Films on a total budget of ₹30 crore, with screenplay by Shah and music composition by Shantanu Moitra and Anupam Roy.[4] Pink features an ensemble cast, which includes Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Angad Bedi, Tushar Pandey, Piyush Mishra, and Dhritiman Chatterjee.[5]

Pink
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAniruddha Roy Chowdhury
Written byRitesh Shah
Story byShoojit Sircar
Ritesh Shah
Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
Produced by
  • Ronnie Lahiri
  • Rashmi Sharma
  • Sheel Kumar
Starring
CinematographyAbhik Mukhopadhyay
Edited byBodhaditya Banerjee
Music by
Production
company
Release date
  • 16 September 2016 (2016-09-16)
Running time
136 minutes[1]
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹30 crore[2]
Box officeest. ₹157.32 crore[3]

Pink was released in worldwide cinemas on 16 September 2016.[6] The film received widespread critical acclaim for the cast performances, execution, story, screenplay and direction.[2] Pink emerged as a surprising commercial success earning over ₹157.32 crore globally.[3] The film completed a 50-day run theatrically.[7]

At the 64th National Film Awards, Pink won the category of Best Film on Other Social Issues.[8] Pink received 5 nominations at the 62nd Filmfare Awards, including Best Film, Best Actor (Bachchan) and Best Supporting Actress (Kulhari), and won Best Dialogue (Ritesh Shah).

The film is remade in Tamil as Nerkonda Paarvai (2019) and in Telugu as Vakeel Saab (2021).[9]

Plot

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Minal, Falak and Andrea are introduced to Rajveer and Raunak by their mutual friend Vishwajyoti on a night out, and they have some drinks together. Suddenly, the men rush to the nearest hospital because Rajveer is bleeding from a heavy injury to his head. At the same time, the women return to their home in a taxi. They look shaken, and it is implied that they have something to do with the incident.

The three women share an apartment in New Delhi. They try to move on from what happened that night. During Minal's morning run, she is observed by an older man in her neighbourhood, Deepak, who senses there is something wrong. Threats arise from Rajveer's friend Ankit towards the women's landlord and the women themselves, as he is pushing for revenge for the injury that Minal caused Rajveer - the head injury he sustained. The threats include a sexually explicit troll post on social media, resulting in Falak losing her job as it would impact the image of her company. The women are discouraged from filing a complaint, being told it would make their daily lives more miserable. In reality, the local police are aware that the men are "well-connected" and backed by Rajveer's uncle Ranjit, an influential politician. With the help of her boss at work, Minal goes to a higher-standing police officer and files a complaint.

The next day, Minal is kidnapped by Rajveer's friends during her morning run. Deepak witnesses the abduction but is unable to help. Minal is threatened, blackmailed, and molested by the trio in a moving car and dropped back home in the evening, leaving her traumatized. A few days later, she is arrested based on a complaint from Rajveer labeling the women as prostitutes and charging Minal with attempted murder. At this point, Deepak becomes frustrated with the events and, after receiving advice from him, Andrea and Falak discover that he is actually a reputable and retired lawyer. He helps Falak and Andrea with the bail procedures and decides to represent Minal in court.

In the courtroom, Rajveer's lawyer, Prashant Mehra, presents the following version of events: Rajveer and his friends meet Minal and her friends at a rock concert. They invite the women for dinner at a resort, where they have drinks. The women provoke the men, become intimate, and thereafter demand money, all signs indicating that they are prostitutes. Rajveer refuses to pay, and an enraged Minal hits him on the head with a bottle and flees. Prashant's story tries to portray the women as having a poor moral character. He highlights the fact that Minal has family in Delhi but chooses to live away from them.

Minal and her friends present the following version of events: The men tried to sexually assault them. Rajveer tried to rape Minal, and she attacked him with a bottle in self-defense. Deepak's argument focuses on the issue of consent and a woman's right to say no. A series of chilling courtroom arguments ensued in the following days. Toward the end of the trial, Rajveer becomes enraged during questioning and, provoked by Deepak, reveals the truth, calling the women derogatory names and stating that they "got what they deserved" after agreeing to have dinner and drinks with strangers on a night out.

Deepak criticises the regressive views of society, where women are stereotyped as characterless if they come home late, move out, want to be independent, drink alcohol, and so on, but none of these constraints apply to men, and they are only treated as victims after they've been assaulted and killed. He closes with the fact that his client said, "No." No means no, and does not require further explanation.

The women are acquitted while Rajveer, Ankit, and Raunak are arrested and charged, with a new court date set to determine their prison sentences. Vishwajyoti is let off with a warning. The end credits scene confirm Minal's story is what actually happened: the men systematically isolated the women and Rajveer tried to force himself on Minal, who then attacked him with a bottle to his head in self-defence.

Cast

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Production

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In early March 2016 Amitabh Bachchan revealed that he was shooting a film in Delhi. It was rumoured that the film was titled "Eve".[10] On 13 March Bachchan denied the rumours and announced through Twitter that the film is titled Pink.[11]

Director-producer Shoojit Sircar informed that Amitabh Bachchan accepted the role and Taapsee Pannu was their first choice.[12] Andrea Tariang was also selected to play the role of one of the girls in the film.[13][14] Tushar Pandey, Raashul Tandon and Arjun Chakraborty are making their debut with this film.[15]

Filming

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The principal photography of the film began in New Delhi on International Women's Day, 2016.[16] 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.[17]

During the shoot, Amitabh Bachchan wandered the streets of New Delhi while wearing a costume in which the public could not recognise him.[18] Amitabh Bachchan finished filming his scenes in April 2016.[19]

Taapsee often broke down on the shooting sets as she felt her character was very strong and challenging.[20] 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.[21] Despite the hardships Taapsee enjoyed filming the scenes.[22]

The original climax of Rajvir and his friends winning the case was modified so as not to hurt the sentiments of the audience.[23]

A special screening of the film was held for Amitabh Bachchan's co stars and the leading ladies of Bollywood.[24] However Amitabh Bachchan could not attend the screening due to health issues.[25] Taapsee also arranged a special screening of the film for the Telugu film industry at Hyderabad.[26]

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.[27]

Marketing

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Shoojit Sircar and Amitabh Bachchan questioned their fans on Twitter as to what they think the film title "Pink" is all about.[28] Times of India had opened a contest in which 5 lucky winners got a chance to meet Amitabh Bachchan and other 10 winners got free movie tickets of the movie -Pink.[29] The winners were announced on 15-September-2016.[30]

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.[31]

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.[32]

Soundtrack

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Pink
No.TitleLyricsMusicSinger(s)Length
1."Jeenay De Mujhe"Faiza MujahidFaiza MujahidFaiza Mujahid03:58
2."Kaari Kaari"Tanveer GhaziShantanu MoitraQurat-ul-Ain Balouch06:27
3."Tujhse Hi Hai Roshni"Anupam RoyAnupam RoyAnupam Roy04:28
4."Pink Anthem"Irshad KamilAnupam RoyJonita Gandhi, EPR Iyer03:47
5."Tu Chal"Tanveer GhaziShantanu MoitraAmitabh Bachchan03:08
Total length:21:48

Release

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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.[33] The film was also specially screened at Rashtrapati Bhavan[34] and invited for a screening at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.[35][36]

Critical reception

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Meena Iye of The Times of India and Shubha Shetty Saha of Indiatimes gave the film 4.5 stars.[37] Mayank Shekhar from Mid-Day gave the film 4/5 stars, saying, "The film, up until the closing credits, does not even visually describe the said incident. It grips you still with a gently piercing background score, moments of silence and dialogue, building up the tension, while the audience wonders what really could have happened one unfortunate night when three girls found themselves in a Surajkund resort with three guys."[38]

Anna M.M. Vetticad of Firstpost called Pink a powerful film.[39] Filmfare, India Today, Mumbai Mirror, Hindustan Times, The Statesman, and DNA have given 4/5 stars, highly appreciating the superlative performances, especially of Amitabh Bachchan. Critics like Anusha Iyengar and Mayank Shekhar called it movie of the year. Namrata Joshi of The Hindu also praised the film.[6] Shubhra Gupta of Indian Express gave the film 3.5 stars.[40]

Rajeev Masand from News18 rated the movie as 4.5/5 mentioning that "I left the cinema, my mouth dry at the end of Pink. This isn't just an important film, but also excellently made. It's a giant leap for Hindi cinema, and easily the best film this year".[41]

Box office

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Pink grossed approximately ₹4.32 crore on first day in India.[42][43] The first weekend collection was ₹21.51 crore.[44][45]

At the end of 7 days the domestic box office collection was ₹35.91 crore.[46] Pink grossed ₹50 crore in first 10 days in India.[47][48]

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) and nominee(s) Result Ref.
National Film Awards 7 April 2017 Best Film on Social Issues Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
Producer: Rashmi Sharma Films		 Won [49]
Indian Film Festival of Melbourne August 2017 Best Film Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury
Producer: Rashmi Sharma Films		 Won [50]
Filmfare Awards 14 January 2017 Best Film Rashmi Sharma, Pawan Kumar, Shoojit Sircar and Sheel Kumar Nominated [51][52]
Best Actor Amitabh Bachchan Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Kirti Kulhari Nominated
Best Female Playback Singer Qurat-ul-Ain Balouch for song "Kaari Kaari" Nominated
Best Dialogue Ritesh Shah Won
Star Screen Awards 4 December 2016 Best Film Pawan Kumar and Rashmi Sharma Won [53]
Best Actor Amitabh Bachchan Won
Best Dialogue Ritesh Shah Won
Best Editing Bodhaditya Banerjee Won
Stardust Awards 19 December 2016 Best Film Rashmi Sharma
Pawan Kumar		 Nominated [54][55]
Best Director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury Nominated
Best Actor (Male) Amitabh Bachchan Won
Best Screenplay Ritesh Shah Nominated
Best Debutant (Female) Andrea Tariang Nominated
Zee Cine Awards 11 March 2017 Best Film (Critics) Pink Won [56][57]
Best Film Nominated
Best Director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury Nominated
Best Actor - Male (Critics) Amitabh Bachchan Won
Best Actor (Male) Nominated
Best Story Ritesh Shah Nominated
Best Dialogue Won
Best Female Debut Andrea Tariang Nominated
Best Directorial Debut Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury Nominated
Mirchi Music Awards 16 February 2017 Female Vocalist of The Year Qurat-ul-Ain Balouch for "Kaari Kaari" Nominated [58]
Upcoming Female Vocalist of The Year Nominated
Best Background Score Shantanu Moitra Nominated
International Indian Film Academy Awards 14–15 July 2017 Best Film Rashmi Sharma, Pawan Kumar, Shoojit Sircar and Sheel Kumar Nominated [59]
Best Director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury Won
Best Actor Amitabh Bachchan Nominated
Best Actress Taapsee Pannu Nominated
Best Supporting Actress Kirti Kulhari Nominated
Andrea Tariang Nominated
Best Lyricist Tanveer Ghazi for "Tu Chal" Nominated
Best Screenplay Ritesh Shah Won
Best Dialogue Won
Best Editing Bodhaditya Bandyopadhyay Won
AACTA Awards 6 December 2017 Best Asian Film Rashmi Sharma, Pawan Kumar, Shoojit Sircar and Sheel Kumar Nominated

Remakes

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Language Movie Name Actors Director Release Year
Tamil language Nerkonda Paarvai[60][61] Ajith Kumar H. Vinoth 2019
Telugu language Vakeel Saab[62] Pawan Kalyan Venu Sriram 2021

Bibliography

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  • Gautam, Chintamani (2017). Pink : The Inside Story. Harper Collins. ISBN 978-9352770397.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Pink (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Pink Box Office: Amitabh Bachchan film records impressive opening weekend". catchnews.com. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Special Features: Box Office: Worldwide Collections and Day wise breakup of Pink — Box Office". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016.
  4. ^ "Pink is a social thriller: Amitabh Bachchan". 11 September 2016.
  5. ^ Groves, Don (14 September 2016). "Amitabh Bachchan Thriller Set To Clash With Horror Movie Starring Emraan Hashmi". Forbes. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  6. ^ a b Joshi, Namrata (15 September 2016). "Pink: The girls are alright, but the boys?". The Hindu.
  7. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan starrer Pink completes 50 days in theatres". indiablooms.com. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  8. ^ "64 th National Film Awards, 2016" (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals. 7 April 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2017. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  9. ^ "'Pink is not a film, it is like a movement' – Amitabh Bachchan". Deccan Chronicle. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  10. ^ "Pink not Eve: Amitabh Bachchan reveals the name of Shoojit Sircar movie". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  11. ^ "It's 'PINK' not 'EVE', Amitabh Bachchan confirms title of Shoojit Sircar's next". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 March 2016.[dead link]
  12. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan is an intelligent actor, says Shoojit Sircar". The Indian Express. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Women of 'Pink': Meet Amitabh Bachchan's co-stars Taapsee Pannu, Andrea Tariang, Kirti Kulhari". 16 September 2016.
  14. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan jams with co-star Andrea Tariang — Times of India". The Times of India. 28 January 2017.
  15. ^ "Four young male actors set to make their mark with 'Pink'". The Times of India. 28 January 2017.
  16. ^ "Taapsee Pannu joins Amitabh Bachchan in Delhi for their next film 'Pink'". The Indian Express. New Delhi, India. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  17. ^ "Even I'm still confused: Amitabh Bachchan". asianage.com. 10 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  18. ^ Prashar, Chandani (13 March 2016). "Amitabh Bachchan Painted Delhi PINK. No One Noticed?". NDTV Movies. New Delhi, India. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  19. ^ "Big B wraps 'Pink' shoot, bids emotional goodbye to team". mid-day.com. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2016.
  20. ^ "Revealed: Why did Taapsee Pannu break down while shooting for 'Pink'?". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 11 August 2016.
  21. ^ "Taapsee Pannu shot for 'Pink' with a cold". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  22. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: Watch 'Pink' actress Taapsee Pannu had a blast shooting for the film". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  23. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan – Taapsee Pannu starrer Pink's original climax was changed for viewers". The Times of India. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  24. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan to screen Pink for veteran actresses". Deccan Chronicle. 11 September 2016. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  25. ^ "No Amitabh Bachchan in 'Pink' screening for Bollywood ladies". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  26. ^ "Taapsee's special date with Tollywood's biggies". The Times of India. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
  27. ^ "Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh attend Amitabh Bachchan starrer Pink's special screening". cricketcountry.com. 15 September 2016. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  28. ^ "Pink: Amitabh Bachchan, Shoojit Sircar ask people to guess What is Pink". The Indian Express. 8 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  29. ^ "Meet Amitabh Bachchan: Participate in the contest now". The Times of India. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
  30. ^ "Meet and greet Amitabh Bachchan: Winners announced". The Times of India. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  31. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan's house turns pink to announce 'Pink' televison [sic] premiere". Deccan Chronicle. 23 October 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2016.
  32. ^ "Why was movie 'Pink' called 'Pink'? Amitabh Bachchan explains the relevance". indiatvnews.com. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  33. ^ "Big B's Pink to be screened to Rajasthan police to sensitise them towards women". Deccan Chronicle. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2016.
  34. ^ "Big B, Taapsee thank President for special screening of Pink at Rashtrapati Bhavan". India Today. 26 February 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2017.
  35. ^ "Amitabh Bachchan's PINK to have a special screening at United Nations". The Indian Express. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  36. ^ "Big B starrer 'Pink' to have special screening at UN". Deccan Herald. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  37. ^ "Pink Movie Review, Trailer, & Show timings at Times of India". The Times of India.
  38. ^ "'Pink' – Movie Review". mid-day.com. 13 September 2016. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  39. ^ "Pink review: Amitabh Bachchan teams up with a smashing young ensemble in this powerful film". 16 September 2016.
  40. ^ "Pink movie review: A blazing indictment of all that's wrong with us". 15 September 2016.
  41. ^ "Pink Movie Review: Stinging Indictment of Deep-Set Prejudices". News18.com. 16 September 2016. Retrieved 18 September 2016.
  42. ^ "Pink Has Low First Day". Retrieved 17 September 2016. Pink had a low start on day one grossing around 4 crore nett
  43. ^ "Pink box office collection day 1: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu starrer earns Rs. 4.32 crore". 16 September 2016.
  44. ^ "Pink Has Decent Weekend — Strong Trend".
  45. ^ "Pink box office collection day 3: Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu-starrer collects Rs 21.51 cr". The Indian Express. 19 September 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  46. ^ "Banjo, Parched box office collection day 1: Amitabh Bachchan's Pink rules over new releases". The Indian Express. 23 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  47. ^ "Pink Hits 50 Crore in Ten Days – Box Office India".
  48. ^ "The Alternative HITS – Pink Fifth – Box Office India".
  49. ^ "64th National Film Awards" (PDF) (Press release). Directorate of Film Festivals. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  50. ^ "Bollywood Stars Shine at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne 2017 Awards Night". News18. 12 August 2017.
  51. ^ "62nd Jio Filmfare Awards 2017 Nominations". 10 January 2017.
  52. ^ "62nd Jio Filmfare Awards 2017: Complete winners list".
  53. ^ "Star Screen Awards 2016 winners list: Pink wins big, Big B-Alia get best actor and actress award". 5 December 2016. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  54. ^ "Nominations for Stardust Awards 2016". Bollywood Hungama. 19 December 2017.
  55. ^ "Winners of Stardust Awards 2016". Bollywood Hungama. 19 December 2017.
  56. ^ "Nominations for Zee Cine Awards 2017". Bollywood Hungama. 11 March 2017.
  57. ^ "Zee Cine Awards 2017 complete winners list: Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan bag top honours". 11 March 2017.
  58. ^ "MMA Mirchi Music Awards". MMAMirchiMusicAwards. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
  59. ^ "IIFA Awards 2017 Winners". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  60. ^ "Ajith's Pink remake titled Nerkonda Paarvai; first look out". The Times of India. 4 March 2019.
  61. ^ Taran Adarsh [@taran_adarsh] (25 March 2019). "Release date confirmed... #Tamil remake of #Pink, titled #NerkondaPaarvai, starring Ajith Kumar, to release on 08 Aug 2019... Vidya Balan in special appearance... Currently being filmed in #Hyderabad... Directed by H Vinoth... Produced by Boney Kapoor. The trailer of the movie was released on June 12, 2019" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  62. ^ "Pink to be remade in Telugu with Pawan Kalyan, as Boney Kapoor collaborates with producer Dil Raju". 2 November 2019.
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