Some films are meant to change the way we look at ourselves. Pink was one such rarity. Its impact was felt much through the year as it opened up old wounds that never healed. Women and their right to say no to sexual advances were so far considered subjects too prickly to be brought out into the arena of mainstream cinema.
8 years of Pink: Shoojit Sircar says, “We can see in Kolkata how relevant the film remains”
But then, when has Shoojit Sircar shied away from tackling taboo topics? Shoojit was on slippery ground determined not to make his sexually violated protagonists look like victims. It took Amitabh Bachchan’s baritone to remind us that when a woman says no, she means no. And yes, when moviegoers say yes to a film, they don’t hold back. Shoojit speaks to us on the eighth anniversary of Pink, which was directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury.
Pink could not have been an easy film to make. What was the most difficult aspect of its genesis?
The most difficult part for me and my writer Ritesh Shah was the second half of the narration, the court room interrogation. We did a lot of research. I would sometimes become lawyer and Ritesh victim or vice versa. And we asked any questions that came in our mind.
Weren’t the actors a part of the process?
Sometimes the actors did participate in the process. Taapsee Pannu came with her own anecdotes from her college days. So, all our collective experiences came to form the courtroom drama. Ritesh took all these materials and then he wrote the entire second-half in 3-4 days.
This was close to the shooting?
Just possibly a week before we entered the courtroom shooting. We were tense as Mr Bachchan was asking for the script and we hadn’t cracked the second half. But these kind of harassment cases were many when we did our research.
These incidents of sexual harassment are still common in Delhi
Placing the film in North India was easy as I grew up in Delhi and I have seen these kind of incidents. I almost had a first-hand experience when I witnessed something of this sort.
Even filming with all actors was also a process. Because we were asking some direct questions. In some scenes we didn’t do rehearsals. We went for spontaneous reactions. So, sometimes you will see actors are completely surprised by the responses. On the other hand, some sequences were thoroughly rehearsed like a play.
It must have been exhausting
Every day, the team would be teary eyed after every scene. Emotionally that was too much to take, what these three girls, Taapsee, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang were going through. Sometimes, we would feel so immersed that I started feeling shameful as we indirectly were part of this social system.
Why was one of the protagonists a North Eastern?
Ronnie Lahiri (the producer) my friend came up with this idea of bringing in a North Eastern character, as he grew up in Shillong… and I myself have seen how they treated them in Delhi. That character made the group look so real and authentic.
Where do you place Pink in your repertoire?
I am really proud of Pink. And I was fortunate enough that Mr Bachchan agreed to do the film just based on the idea that we narrated to him. We had many sessions with him too to crack the character. His character was actually written in parts. I remember when I came up with the idea of “No Means No” he was overwhelmed… and ‘no means no’ became a slogan.
The slogan is relevant even now as we speak
Some friends sent pics from Kolkata protest with “No Means No” banner. Pink did affect a lot of people, including us in the team. It is an important conversation that we should carry on till the society finds a course correction. We believed in what we were doing. We didn’t want to make just another film about women’s empowerment. We wanted to take the debate much deeper than that. And we’re very happy and relieved that we’ve succeeded in hitting home.
I remember after a private screening of Pink, a girl who must be 18-19 came to me and hugged me. She said she will bring her parents to see the film. ‘All my life they taught me to hold my head down while walking on the streets, to talk softly and not raise my voice, to not laugh loudly specially when boys are around. I want to tell them, they were wrong,’ that’s what the film has told me. It is a very proud moment for all of us. Pink was not a film; it was a movement. And we can see in Kolkata how relevant Pink remains.
Also Read: Taapsee Pannu reveals experiencing bitter-sweet emotions as Pink turns 8; says, “We can’t believe that we are still amidst the battle and struggle of security of women”
More Pages: Pink Box Office Collection
, Pink Movie Review
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