Pink: No simply means No!!

No simply means no! No is not just a word, but it is a full sentence! That seems to be the core message the film Pink attempts to impart. If a girl – be it girlfriend, wife or even a sex worker – does not wish to be taken advantage of physically, then the man must respect her decision. When lawyer Deepak Sehgal (Amitabh Bachchan) argues the case in the court on these lines, the judge cannot but nod in agreement, and his judgement states that a ‘new beginning has been made in this case’.

Director: Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury

Film Clip

The film Pink could not have been more relevant for our times. It comes at a time when women’s security is at an all time low in this country. Our country raises the womanhood to the pedestals, even as it writes newer moral codes for them to follow in the public and the private.

The film has been scripted brilliantly. It narrates how Indian legal system works and how easy it is to fabricate ‘evidences’ and get justice, provided you have the money power to employ the best of lawyers who make a killing in such adventures through their garrulousness. At the same time, it strengthens our confidence in the judiciary and the justice system especially when we take recourse to lawyers who are passionate about securing justice to the victims who have been wronged in the legal quagmire. Amitabh Bachchan’s performance in the court will be etched in the memories of the audience for long, especially for debunking the Indian psyche which has caged the woman into perfectly drawn boundaries.

- Melwyn Pinto SJ

PK: In search of God!

Controversies about the film PK are yet to settle down. Meanwhile, the film has gone on to be the highest grosser ever in India’s film history with a whopping collection of over 280 crore rupess and might even cross the 300-crore mark. One wonders if all the negative publicity the film earned actually worked in its favour. Could be. However, one cannot ignore the meticulously hewn script and strong performances of the actors.

Director: Rajkumar Hirani

PK: Behind the scene

Rajkumar Hirani, the director, is a master craftsman. All his films till date have been massive hits. And it is not so much due to extensive publicity, as painstaking efforts while making the film. He is a creative genius and knows what works in the Indian ethos and what doesn’t. To that extent, he is perhaps well entrenched in India’s cultural heritage more than the infamous rightwing hooligans.

Coming to the film, PK raises several questions about institutional religions and, of course, God. Not so much the God who is the master artisan of the universe, but god, or rather many gods, that his so called ‘custodians’ have created. It seems very funny that a godman in the film asserts that he would go to any extent to ‘save his god’. Who should save whom?

The film has come at the right time with several self-styled godmen being arrested in India for their crimes and the frenzy of people’s superstitions being exposed. PK perhaps could serve in helping people come out of their illusions and delusions. Rather than seeing the film from that angle, the fanatics are yet again out to prove that they are pontificators of all religious superstitions in India.

As always, dialogues are another strength of Hirani’s films. The class performance of Amir Khan, Anushka Sharma and others has only added to the flavour. Long live Hirani’s tribe and bad luck to the rightwing fanatics!!

- Melwyn Pinto SJ

Guzaarish: Seeking right to die!

If someone has a right to life under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution, does that person also have a right to die? That is the issue around which the film Guzaarish (2010) revolves. The film seems to be dealing with the subject of euthanasia. However, it is much more than that. It raises several issues such as a person’s dignity to life, which also involves dignity to die; not to mention the issue of putting an end to the prolonged suffering. 

Director: Sanjay Leela Bansali

Film Clip

The protagonist of the film Ethan Mascarenhas in his earlier days used to be a magician. However, a near fatal accident de-capacitated him completely. He became paralysed, save for his head. A dedicated nurse Sofia (Aishwarya Rai), just now makes sure that Ethan lives with dignity. However, she is not able to reduce his mental agony of being a vegetable from a state of country’s topmost magician. And this leads him to make that tough decision to appeal for euthanasia. Heated discussions within and outside court take place as regards the validity of the appeal and the uniqueness of the case. All of that indeed makes for some very exciting debating, besides stimulating the mind with nuanced insights. However, the court cannot really break from the law of the land. Can it?

The film has some very high octave performances by Hrithik Roshan, Aishwarya Rai, besides others. While the film itself is quite moving, making us see the point of the protagonist, it sure leads us to some serious reflection. Of course only if we go beyond the film’s exquisite embellishments of sets and costumes. Full marks to Sanjay Leela Bansali!

- Melwyn Pinto SJ

OMG: Waging war against God!

There have been very few films in the history of Indian cinema that have critiqued religion. In fact, critiquing religion would be a sacrilege in the Indian religious context. In such a scenario, Oh My God (OMG) is a very bold attempt by director Umesh Shukla. The film not only critiques religion as practised today in India, but demonstrates that the Divine is beyond all religious practices and belief systems.

Director: Umesh Shukla

Film Clip

OMG is a story of a simple middle class man Kanji Lal who wages a war with God, as the insurance company tells him that he cannot be given compensation for the ruin of his shop in the earth quake, as it was the ‘act of God’. And Kanji Lal has to defend his case himself since no lawyer dares fight God. Of course, Kanji Lal has the strength to fight, ironically through the help and grace of the same God whom he does not believe.

The film has been successful for more than one reason. First of all, it treads the untrodden path and boldly tries to expose the hypocrisy and exploitative structures in every religion as practised today. Further, it also makes a bold statement that even if religion (all religions for that matter) may be good in itself, the so called ‘custodians’ of these religions have turned them into a trade. In the bargain, religion today has unfortunately metamorphosed into a mere business with the visible absence of the divine.

The victory of Kanji Lal in the court of law is a victory for the Divine as well, as shown in the film. This is because, God reveals to Kanji Lal, and through him to everyone, that even if humans do not need religion, they need the Divine.

The success of the film is also because of the brilliant role of Kanji Lal played by Paresh Rawal, who embodies true nastic and fighter instincts into his rendering.

 - Melwyn Pinto SJ