Tag Archives: shantanu moitra

Pink (2016)

Pink review

written by Souranath Banerjee

Powerful message in Bollywood style, and yet very entertaining!

My Ratings: 4/5.

‘Perfect film for our society boss, aise film aur banne chahiye yaar’ – these were the exact words of a man sitting in front of me in the cinema hall right after the end titles of the film Pink.

According to an Indian Express Article dated at the beginning of this damini-posteryear, the number of rape and molestation cases in India were recently at it’s peak. Unfortunately it’s a known fact.

Inspite of maximum cases not being reported, in Delhi alone last year (2015) there were six cases of rape and 15 cases of molestation registered every day!

Indian filmmakers have been tackling such grave and challenging social issues for a long time now; portraying them in a sensible manner and creating awareness through films like Ankush (1986), Insaf Ka Tarazu (1980), Damini (1993), Dahan (1998), Bawandar (2000), Grahan (2001) and more.

But then, coming back to the latest release Pink, this movie has somehow managed to sum up all the significant problems of our current Indian society and put them raw on a platter. And furthermore the film also succeeds in reminding us that the solution to these problems are very much within us (basically our mind-set) and can be countered only if we realise and act on it.

The story-line doesn’t seem too complicated at the first glance – three independent working-girls Minal, Falak and Andrea (Tapsee PannuKirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang) get mixed up in a brawl pink-poster1with a group of rich influential guys (Angad BediVijay VarmaRaashul Tandon and Tushar Pandey) who had the intention to sexually harass them. The girls did protest but can they eventually fight back against the corruption and the feudal mentality of our current male-dominated society?

Who will help these girls win their battle for justice? (Hint: an actor named Amitabh Bachchan)

Superb performances by Mr.Bachchan as the cranky lawyer Deepak Sehgal wearing his spooky mask and all, probably one of his best roles in the recent times!

Tapsee Pannu and Kriti Kulhari have also displayed such amazing acting capabilities, subtle yet so natural!

Then of course we have Piyush Mishra as the challenging lawyer
pink-posteragainst Amitabh Bachchan in the dramatic court scenes, always a delight to watch him perform!

Also we have acting stalwarts like Dhritiman Chatterjee and Mamta Shankar in brief yet important roles.

But according to me the true success of Pink is not because of the film’s overall brilliance in the acting department; the real heroes are the writer Ritesh Shah and of course the director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury who has managed to balance such a sensitive topic so well. 

Shantanu Moitra‘s music perfectly complements the film while Shoojit Sircar rocks the show as the creative producer.

A few unnecessary dramatisations and distractions here and there, but overall pink is a film that connects to the audience and shoots it’s message across from a point blank range.

Go watch it.

Poster courtesy: www.bollywoodmdb.com

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Bobby Jasoos (2014)

My Ratings: 2.5/5

Bobby Jasoos can be enjoyed as a film only if you don’t take it too seriously.

Check out Bidya Balan’s effortless acting, get tickled by the innumerable disguises she puts on, have a feel of Hyderabad and its cuisines, some funny moments here and there, a dose of family drama and the predictable romance.

If somehow the film has given the idea that there will be an actual detective drama or some kind of logical mystery/suspense to be solved by Bobby Jasoos, let me burst the bubble for you – there isn’t.

The story line is as simple and uncomplicated as the cases of Bobby Jasoos.

Bilqis aka Bobby (Vidya Balan) aspires to become the best detective in Mughalpura area (old city of Hyderabad). She has a supportive mother (Supriya Pathak), a non-cooperative father (Rajendra Gupta) and no success in her profession.

Then enters the mysterious Anees Khan (Kiran Kumar). He offers Bobby Jasoos loads of money to track down two young girls and a not-so-young boy for him.

Though Bobby Jasoos with her innovative ideas succeeds in finding the girls but soon she becomes suspicious of Anees Khan. Why is he in search of these young souls and more importantly why are these girls missing right after he has found them?

And why does Anees Khan need to carry a gun? (this is one of the many mysteries I am still trying to solve).

Never mind, I feel the ideal target audience for Bobby Jasoos should be the kids (although the film is not marketed keeping them in mind).

The funny title of the film, the cartoonish title track, the protagonist (Vidya Balan) being a caricature of a prototype detective who unnecessarily fiddles with magnifying glasses and binoculars and then the surprisingly sugar-coated climax –  undoubtedly it’s made for the little innocent hearts who still believes in happy-happy endings.

Vidya Balan obviously taking the spot light but there are many other good performances in the film. Ali Fazal, Tanvi Azmi, Arjan Bajwa, Prasad Barve, Akash Dahiya, Benaf Dadachanji  have all done justice to their characters.

Debutant director Samar Shaikh has tried his best to make a perfect family entertainment. Vishal Sinha did a good job with the camera. But the music (the unnecessary song sequences) doesn’t help the film at all – we expect much better from Shantanu Moitra.

I sincerely hope that the kids enjoy Bobby Jasoos and for the adults – watch your favorite Vidya Balan (that’ your only option).

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHTTNn_XEtE

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