Gulabi Gang

The instances were revolting, the tall talks about women's morality – a sham and the despite the distressing situations – Gulabi Gang is a ray of hope, brimming with optimism to change the stringent attitudes with galvanizing ferociousness. I am going with a 3.5/5 and a big thumbs up to the Gulabi Ladies. This movie made a part of your movement in spirit!

...it is a sincere attempt to highlight the bravery and guts of a woman, who took action, in spite of the extremely adverse circumstances that she was brought up in. In a world where women are burnt and killed so casually, and where complaints by a woman are not even considered by cops, it is truly amazing to see the gumption and confidence with which Pal and her gang go about their duties.

I doubt you will see a more important film this year. Gulabi Gang is an ideology, a searing exercise in awareness, which is why you must make this your mandatory watch this weekend.

The film is genuinely entertaining, shot through with wry humour and an unblinkered view of life in rural India...

Gulabi Gang looks into the women's movement, in one of the most rural parts of the country, with microscopic detail. These women are old, poor and from backward castes, who are shunned by the society and humiliated, raped and murdered by their own fathers, brothers and husbands. Born out of the atrocities is this gang, whose courage and resilience is worth documenting. Nishtha Jain deserves a standing ovation for her work but for that she first needs an audience. Go for it!

Gulabi Gang is a documentary that you should watch with Google at hand. It's not comprehensive because Jain doesn't delve into either Pal's own history or the beginnings of Gulabi Gang. Neither does it provide a particularly in-depth understand of Bundelkhand's social hierarchies. The villages in the documentary could have been in any part of north or central India. But Gulabi Gang does an offer a glimpse into why Pal, with her ego and her confidence, is such a hero to those who commit to the pink sari: she's one of the few women who are committed to fighting for other women and the oppressed.

Jain largely focuses on the case of a teenaged woman whose in-laws and husband claim set herself on fire. But Pal, certain that the husband killed her, decides to poke around...Also, not all the women of the Gulabi Gang share Pal's emancipatory ideals. It's these contradictions that make the gang a fascinating, many layered phenomenon, one that a Bollywood movie would no doubt iron out into a flat piece of fiction.

At 97 minutes the film is powerful, engrossing and completely captivating. And it's all because the central character is so completely assured of her ability to get women to become more proactive in their own defense. It's inspiring and truthful and even manages to question Sampat Pal's own beliefs on testy matters that involve her family members. Sampat pal of course, comes out smelling like roses and why not? She is after all the queen of the Pink Brigade!