Pink has been running to packed theatres since its release on September 16, but on September 29, INOX (Quest) was truly #Pinked when 1,087 girls from J.D. Birla Institute turned up for a special show of the Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury-Shoojit Sircar film.

They went in a sea of pink, festive in mood, popcorn and cola in hand. But as the story of Falak, Minal and Andrea unfolded, not a soul moved, the popcorn lay untouched and the girls perched on the edge of their seats. 

Post-show, some of them shared with t2 their takeaways from the film that had visibly moved each one of them. Pink, for them, was not just a film anymore. It was anger transformed into joy... a sense of optimism that times are ripe for change, that one day a woman’s place in the world will not be defined by the rules men set for her. 

“The movie had everything that a girl must watch, as well as a boy. Certain rights and rules that I got to know is that there is something like a zero FIR and that a girl can get bail on a Saturday too. I would tell my students to avert a situation where they find themselves drinking with strangers, and to be sensible. But they should not be bogged down by chauvinistic mindsets in society. To the boys I would say, don’t have different standards and values for your sister and someone who is not your sister. Every woman has a sixth sense and when she says ‘No’, she means it,” said Deepali Singhee, the principal of J.D. Birla Institute, who organised the special screening and wore pink along with her teachers and students to mark the occasion.  

DIRECTOR SPEAK

When we told Pink director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury about this special show for the JDBI girls, he said the way people have come forward and taken ownership of the film makes the Pink journey even more fulfilling. 

“Amazing! This film is about them, this film is for them. We made Pink with real moments, real reactions and the real voice of women. The way people are taking others to watch this film, be it a principal taking her students or a daughter taking her father or a father taking his daughter — that is the success of our film,” he said. 

Text: Shubham Chakrabarty
Pictures: B. Halder