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PINK: The Inside Story
'Pink: The Inside Story' is a riveting account of how one of the most important films of our times came to be made.
Released in September 2016, the film began to trend immediately. Over the next few months, as it became a phenomenal box-office success, it also became the subject of social and cultural debates on the rights of women, and the justice and penal system in India. Not only did it manage to capture the zeitgeist but also established itself as a yardstick by which future films making a socio-political statement would be judged. The film became a tool for organizations to sensitize people about crimes against women.
For a Hindi film to be able to do that is unheard-of.
With inputs from its principal cast and crew, Gautam Chintamani tracks the journey of the film from its inception to the writing of its numerous drafts that kept being shaped by real-life events and personal experiences of the people connected with it, to its toils to wangle a producer within Bollywood as the big studios refused to come on board, and from its spot-on casting to the immediacy with which it endeared itself to its audience. Includes the much-feted screenplay of the film.
Released in September 2016, the film began to trend immediately. Over the next few months, as it became a phenomenal box-office success, it also became the subject of social and cultural debates on the rights of women, and the justice and penal system in India. Not only did it manage to capture the zeitgeist but also established itself as a yardstick by which future films making a socio-political statement would be judged. The film became a tool for organizations to sensitize people about crimes against women.
For a Hindi film to be able to do that is unheard-of.
With inputs from its principal cast and crew, Gautam Chintamani tracks the journey of the film from its inception to the writing of its numerous drafts that kept being shaped by real-life events and personal experiences of the people connected with it, to its toils to wangle a producer within Bollywood as the big studios refused to come on board, and from its spot-on casting to the immediacy with which it endeared itself to its audience. Includes the much-feted screenplay of the film.
224 pages, Paperback
Published September 25, 2017
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80 people want to read
About the author
Gautam Chintamani
8 books22 followersAuthor of 'Dark Star: The Loneliness of Being Rajesh Khanna' (2014) and 'Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak: The Film That Revived Hindi Cinema' (2016) and 'Pink The Inside Story' (2017).
Gautam's writing has featured in national publications, including a compilation on Dadasaheb Phalke awardees published by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Legends of Indian Silver Screen. He was on the National Film Awards jury for Best Writing on Cinema in 2016.
Gautam is the great-grandson of literarian Sir C.Y. Chintamani and the grandchild of Telugu poet laureate Arudra and noted feminist writer K. Ramalakshmi. He and his wife, Amrita, along with their dog, Buddy, live in Gurgaon and in the hills of Himachal.
Gautam's writing has featured in national publications, including a compilation on Dadasaheb Phalke awardees published by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Legends of Indian Silver Screen. He was on the National Film Awards jury for Best Writing on Cinema in 2016.
Gautam is the great-grandson of literarian Sir C.Y. Chintamani and the grandchild of Telugu poet laureate Arudra and noted feminist writer K. Ramalakshmi. He and his wife, Amrita, along with their dog, Buddy, live in Gurgaon and in the hills of Himachal.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 21, 2017
Pink was certainly a remarkable movie - bringing alive the situations women face and attitudes men hold about them. The movie was brave and tackled the subject in a way which made it clear that the last excuse which shifts blame away from the crimes of men must be brushed aside to see the truth as it is. And yes - the movie laid bare such attitudes which continue to be widely prevalent.
The book covers the history behind the movie - how it was conceptualized, actors cast, and funding arranged. It has some interesting material on the movie story and screenplay evolved and the thinking behind some of the most impactful court scenes in the movie.
Though there is a good amount of interesting material, it still falls short in my opinion of deeper insight and opinions of all involved. There is also a good amount of public information included. The later part of the book has the screen play of the movie (in transliterated Hindi). There is little purpose served in this inclusion.
While there are sections of interest, this book could possibly have been packaged along with the movie DVD without the screenplay portion.
The book covers the history behind the movie - how it was conceptualized, actors cast, and funding arranged. It has some interesting material on the movie story and screenplay evolved and the thinking behind some of the most impactful court scenes in the movie.
Though there is a good amount of interesting material, it still falls short in my opinion of deeper insight and opinions of all involved. There is also a good amount of public information included. The later part of the book has the screen play of the movie (in transliterated Hindi). There is little purpose served in this inclusion.
While there are sections of interest, this book could possibly have been packaged along with the movie DVD without the screenplay portion.
October 26, 2017
The movie PINK which was released in the year 2016 was known for various reasons. It was a critically acclaimed movie which got mixed response - both the Positive and Negative. This book is about the movie PINK and what all went into its making.
Usually, it is easy for us to criticise a movie by viewing it. I always had a strong belief that there is nothing called as a good or a bad movie and the reviews are usually biased which is either based on the reviewer's inclination towards the cast and crew of the movie or otherwise. For those who usually criticise a movie since there is no proper yardstick which defines which is a good movie and which one is not, this book comes as an eye opener.
The book recollects the events from the past that happened between the Ritesh Shah, Jitesh Shah, Shoojit Sircar, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and Ronnie Lahiri as to what made them come up with a unique concept like this and eventually ended up making the movie. The movie was actually not on cards when it was initially proposed but when couple of incidents happened in the life of Shoojit Sircar, he decided to go ahead with it.
The selection of cast and crew including the iconic Big B for his revered role and roping in the lead which included Tapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang has been beautifully mentioned in the book which itself looked like watching a movie for me. Most of us wouldn't have forgotten the picture of Big B walking on the roads of Dehi without being identified when this movie was shot. The classic way of his approach towards his role in the film is a learning point for many youngsters who usually let the success go up on their head.
The co-operation extended by the stars and the way the movie took its shape is a real inspiring one. Read this book to know as to how it went ahead to become a commercially successful movie as well despite having such a strong message which was very much unlikely to be seen or portrayed in a bollywood movie.
Usually, it is easy for us to criticise a movie by viewing it. I always had a strong belief that there is nothing called as a good or a bad movie and the reviews are usually biased which is either based on the reviewer's inclination towards the cast and crew of the movie or otherwise. For those who usually criticise a movie since there is no proper yardstick which defines which is a good movie and which one is not, this book comes as an eye opener.
The book recollects the events from the past that happened between the Ritesh Shah, Jitesh Shah, Shoojit Sircar, Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury and Ronnie Lahiri as to what made them come up with a unique concept like this and eventually ended up making the movie. The movie was actually not on cards when it was initially proposed but when couple of incidents happened in the life of Shoojit Sircar, he decided to go ahead with it.
The selection of cast and crew including the iconic Big B for his revered role and roping in the lead which included Tapsee Pannu, Kirti Kulhari and Andrea Tariang has been beautifully mentioned in the book which itself looked like watching a movie for me. Most of us wouldn't have forgotten the picture of Big B walking on the roads of Dehi without being identified when this movie was shot. The classic way of his approach towards his role in the film is a learning point for many youngsters who usually let the success go up on their head.
The co-operation extended by the stars and the way the movie took its shape is a real inspiring one. Read this book to know as to how it went ahead to become a commercially successful movie as well despite having such a strong message which was very much unlikely to be seen or portrayed in a bollywood movie.
August 5, 2018
It has been an interesting read. A book for movie buffs, certainly.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews