Now the internet is no stranger to the new Big B starrer film, Pink, and as you may already know, everyone is flipping their tops and gushing over it and I'm not sure what to think.
And while it's a perfectly fine film- checks the boxes- a decent plot, good acting, it is, at best, mediocre in terms of everything else.
So here's why I think you shouldn't bother watching it. And if you haven't and do plan on, then SPOILER ALERT. Well, not here but I'm sure I'll ruin it somewhere along the way.
The other reason being that it is talked about waaaay more than it needs to be. To put it crudely, sexism and female oppression have been around forever and everyone's been dealing with the issue, trying to rectify it on an individual level- in a picking their battles, fending for themselves sort of way. What I'm trying to say, and this may come as a bit of a shock, is that the problem CAN be solved without being so over the top about it.
And while it's a perfectly fine film- checks the boxes- a decent plot, good acting, it is, at best, mediocre in terms of everything else.
Also, before I get into all that, know that I am not a primitive sexist potato from the 1800s; I'm all for women empowerment and all that jazz.
My main issue is why is everyone obsessing over it, and why is everyone suddenly so concerned with women's rights, safety, empowerment and everything that it entails including, but not limited to, rape culture and our "flawed justice system".
Where is this new age activism coming from?
Bollywood has reached this place where every godforsaken film with a strong female role, lead or otherwise, is put on a pedestal and sweeps all the awards and viewers' adoration.
Films like Piku, Kahaani, heck even Bajirao Mastani have been straight up hogging the public attention just because they're built around female characters.
Where was all this when films like Laaga Chunari Mein Daag were released. I didn't hear anyone talk about Alia Bhatt's character in Udta Punjab, or even Kareena Kapoor's, for that matter.
And while I completely understand that the majority of the audience still sees women as fragile creatures, victimized in every situation; and that these films are helping to break that, I don't see why a woman is only considered powerful if she goes on a maniacal blood hunt seeking revenge for her husband's death. Honestly, we've seen it been done so many times, it literally goes as far back as the goddamned Mahabharata.
And let's be real, we know how films work- the butler did it, the women win the case, the victims triumph or whatever.
The root of the problem is that everybody, not just women, is desensitized to sexual harassment / assault now. There's two reasons, the more troubling of which is that it's just so sheerly rampant in the world. We see it everyday.
The other reason being that it is talked about waaaay more than it needs to be. To put it crudely, sexism and female oppression have been around forever and everyone's been dealing with the issue, trying to rectify it on an individual level- in a picking their battles, fending for themselves sort of way. What I'm trying to say, and this may come as a bit of a shock, is that the problem CAN be solved without being so over the top about it.
Everything isn't a battle to be won.
You know exactly what I'm saying, everybody has one or two of those loud and melodramatic, for the lack of a better word, feminazis on their Facebook friend list. The ones with the ridiculously long pseudo-activist posts, the ones whose favorite phrases are "misogynistic pig" and "girl power" or something along the same lines.
You KNOW you're about two posts away from stabbing them in the face with rusty nails, don't even bother denying it.
It's sort of like walking around with a neon sign and a megaphone saying "LOOK AT ME, I TRIED TO FIX THE PROBLEM BUT IT DIDN'T WORK SO NOW I'M GOING TO USE ALL THE TOOLS AT MY DISPOSAL TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IT. AND YOU WILL LISTEN BECAUSE I HAVE SOME GODDAMN RIGHTS THAT I FOUGHT FOR."
And I just want you to shut up like "Yes, alright. Good for you, now just try again." And maybe we can actually accomplish something this time. Just because you can be overly vocal, doesn't mean that you should. As a consequence of everyone making such a big deal about everything, nobody cares because it just happens and it oops it's happened again somewhere. It means so much lesser because it's being talked about all the time.
I mean, it's overkill at this point. We're just compensating for the fact that we can't actually do anything about it. But we still have this crippling need to be validated.
All that being said, Pink addresses some very important issues in the way society expects women to behave, how ridiculous the standards are, and in a broad sense, the film's outright absurd quality of dialog is pretty much exactly how things go down.
It is an important film, no doubt, and the fact that it's Bollywood A-list approved only validates its message further.
I just don't think it's the biggest step that the Bollywood has taken towards gender equality.
Written by Jyotsna Shiv Kumar
Eater of the cupcakes. Art nerd. Lov...er, reeeally liker of psychological horror novels. Your friendly neighborhood tumblr expert.
Written by Jyotsna Shiv Kumar
Eater of the cupcakes. Art nerd. Lov...er, reeeally liker of psychological horror novels. Your friendly neighborhood tumblr expert.