Pink

Story:

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. 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. Pink features an ensemble cast, which includes Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari, Andrea Tariang, Angad Bedi, Tushar Pandey, Piyush Mishra, and Dhritiman Chatterjee.

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Three young women — Minal, Falak and Andrea — meet three affluent men, Raunak, Vishwajyoti, and Rajveer Singh, 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 apartment in a taxi. They look disoriented, and it is implied that they have something to do with the incident.

The three women are independent and live together in New Delhi. They try to move on from what happened that night. During Minal’s morning run, she is observed by an old man in her neighbourhood, Deepak, who senses there is something wrong. Threats arise from Rajveer’s friend Ankit, who pushes for revenge for the injury Minal caused Rajveer. The threats result in Falak losing her job. They 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. Minal goes to a higher-standing police officer and files a complaint.

The next day, she is kidnapped by Rajveer’s friends. Deepak witnesses the abduction but is unable to help. Minal is threatened, blackmailed, and molested in the moving car and dropped back home, leaving her shaken. 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 the 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 ensue in the following days. Toward the end of the trial, Rajveer becomes enraged and, provoked by Deepak, reveals the truth, stating that the women “got what they deserved”.

Deepak criticises the regressive views of society, where women are stereotyped as prostitutes if they come home late, move out, want to be independent, drink alcohol and so on, but none of these constraints apply to men. 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 reveal 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 defense.