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| Pink: A Bollywood film about India's 'rape culture' | Pink: A Bollywood film about India's 'rape culture' |
| (3 days later) | |
| Last year, a 32-year-old Indian security guard in Australia accused of stalking two women was let off by a court after he argued that Bollywood films had led him to believe that it was "quite normal behaviour" for Indian men to obsessively target women. | Last year, a 32-year-old Indian security guard in Australia accused of stalking two women was let off by a court after he argued that Bollywood films had led him to believe that it was "quite normal behaviour" for Indian men to obsessively target women. |
| He was being perversely honest. In Bollywood movies, the hero will often pursue the heroine with a vengeance. He will stare at her, wolf-whistle and stalk her relentlessly. Spurned lovers will chase and harass women. A critic once wrote that the Bollywood stalker had evolved from a "nominal villain to an outright hero". | He was being perversely honest. In Bollywood movies, the hero will often pursue the heroine with a vengeance. He will stare at her, wolf-whistle and stalk her relentlessly. Spurned lovers will chase and harass women. A critic once wrote that the Bollywood stalker had evolved from a "nominal villain to an outright hero". |
| Now a new Bollywood film, Pink, challenges many of the industry's cringe-worthy, misogynistic tropes including stalking and rape threats as romantic moves. | Now a new Bollywood film, Pink, challenges many of the industry's cringe-worthy, misogynistic tropes including stalking and rape threats as romantic moves. |
| The film, directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, revolves around three young women who are flatmates in the capital, Delhi, which is also one of India's most unsafe cities for women. | The film, directed by Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, revolves around three young women who are flatmates in the capital, Delhi, which is also one of India's most unsafe cities for women. |
| 'Teach her a lesson' | 'Teach her a lesson' |
| While Minal (played by Taapsee Pannu) is from Delhi, her mates are Falak, a Muslim from Lucknow, and Andrea, who is from to Meghalaya in the north-east of India. | |
| The three attend a rock concert in the outskirts of the capital and hang out with a male friend, who brings along his friends. An offer to drinks and dinner turns sour when Minal is molested. | The three attend a rock concert in the outskirts of the capital and hang out with a male friend, who brings along his friends. An offer to drinks and dinner turns sour when Minal is molested. |
| In a bid to protect herself, Minal swings a beer bottle at her molester, leaving him grievously injured. | In a bid to protect herself, Minal swings a beer bottle at her molester, leaving him grievously injured. |
| Why India gang-rape film row is extraordinary | Why India gang-rape film row is extraordinary |
| How India treats its women | How India treats its women |
| Has India reached a turning point in tackling rape? | Has India reached a turning point in tackling rape? |
| Explaining India's news anti-rape laws | Explaining India's news anti-rape laws |
| The women flee the scene and try to put the unpleasantness behind them and get on with their lives. | The women flee the scene and try to put the unpleasantness behind them and get on with their lives. |
| However the three men, who have political connections in the capital, begin to stalk and terrorise the girls. One of the men says, "It will be fun to teach her a lesson". | However the three men, who have political connections in the capital, begin to stalk and terrorise the girls. One of the men says, "It will be fun to teach her a lesson". |
| The film is then played out as a courtroom drama that shows how Indian women often keep away from reaching out to police or the courts for help, fearing the shame they could be further subjected to. | The film is then played out as a courtroom drama that shows how Indian women often keep away from reaching out to police or the courts for help, fearing the shame they could be further subjected to. |
| The three women are shown breaking down repeatedly in court when subjected to the prosecutor's sexist line of questioning. | The three women are shown breaking down repeatedly in court when subjected to the prosecutor's sexist line of questioning. |
| Pyrrhic victory | Pyrrhic victory |
| Pink ends on a note of pyrrhic victory for the girls, but the patriarchal menace that threatens Indian women from leading their independent lives lingers to its end. | Pink ends on a note of pyrrhic victory for the girls, but the patriarchal menace that threatens Indian women from leading their independent lives lingers to its end. |
| Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan plays the defence attorney who seeks justice for the wronged girls. He's the elder patriarch who rebukes the moral hypocrisy and ineptitude in India regarding women. | Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan plays the defence attorney who seeks justice for the wronged girls. He's the elder patriarch who rebukes the moral hypocrisy and ineptitude in India regarding women. |
| "A woman's no means no, be it a sex worker, a casual acquaintance or even a wife," Bachchan tells the court. This dialogue has been repeated on social media threads, with many women endorsing it. | "A woman's no means no, be it a sex worker, a casual acquaintance or even a wife," Bachchan tells the court. This dialogue has been repeated on social media threads, with many women endorsing it. |
| The three female leads in Pink don't dance, sing or play coy around the heroes like the characters in most Bollywood movies. | The three female leads in Pink don't dance, sing or play coy around the heroes like the characters in most Bollywood movies. |
| They are threatened with the terror of assault. They are bullied for the crime of not consenting and being unapologetic about saying no to sexual advances, a situation that is all too familiar for many women in Indian cities. | They are threatened with the terror of assault. They are bullied for the crime of not consenting and being unapologetic about saying no to sexual advances, a situation that is all too familiar for many women in Indian cities. |
| The women are angry and indignant at the hurt caused by a ruthless patriarchal system. | The women are angry and indignant at the hurt caused by a ruthless patriarchal system. |
| They stand up and fight a cult of masculinity that keeps women repressed and wants to "teach a lesson" to women who dare to stand up for themselves. | They stand up and fight a cult of masculinity that keeps women repressed and wants to "teach a lesson" to women who dare to stand up for themselves. |
| Pink has won rave reviews from Indian critics and is having a successful run at the box office. | Pink has won rave reviews from Indian critics and is having a successful run at the box office. |
| 'Response to atrocities' | 'Response to atrocities' |
| The Times of India said "Pink is a powerful statement on the existing feudal mindset of a majority of India". And The Guardian called it "a naturalistic drama that forms a serious attempt to grapple with India's rape culture". | The Times of India said "Pink is a powerful statement on the existing feudal mindset of a majority of India". And The Guardian called it "a naturalistic drama that forms a serious attempt to grapple with India's rape culture". |
| Script writer Ritesh Shah says Pink "has become much more than a film". | Script writer Ritesh Shah says Pink "has become much more than a film". |
| The film has opened a much-needed debate about female consent, patriarchy and respect for women in India. | The film has opened a much-needed debate about female consent, patriarchy and respect for women in India. |
| "My film is a response to all the atrocities and moral policing that we read about in India almost daily," director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury told the BBC. | "My film is a response to all the atrocities and moral policing that we read about in India almost daily," director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury told the BBC. |
| "Pink is a protest call to not judge women. A woman who drinks, parties and has male friends over to her house is branded as a 'woman of low character'. A democratic society must be intolerant to a culture that brands women like this." | "Pink is a protest call to not judge women. A woman who drinks, parties and has male friends over to her house is branded as a 'woman of low character'. A democratic society must be intolerant to a culture that brands women like this." |