By Sharanya Gopinathan
Alankrita Shrivastava’s new movie Lipstick Under my Burqa has been denied certification from that apex body of idiocy, the Central Board of Film Certification. The reason they provided would be almost hilarious in a please-kill-me-now kind of way if it wasn’t out there is stark black and white for you to see: it’s because the movie is “lady oriented”.
The letter issued by the CBFC, full of disconnected phrases that either meant nothing or something painfully stupid, says that the movie is “lady oriented, their fantasy above life”, had “containious sex scenes” and a “bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society”. We’re assuming “their fantasy above life” means that it isn’t a realistic portrayal of women, since the film is about the sexual desires and lives of four women of diverse ages from small-town India. Which is ridiculous, because obviously, women have interesting sex lives too.
Shrivastava told the Huffington Post that she thinks the Board didn’t certify her movie because it’s a “feminist film with a strong female voice which challenges patriarchy.” The film, which stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak Shah, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur has already won the Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality at the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image, and the Spirit of Asia award at the Tokyo International Film Festival.
The trailer for the movie looks absolutely amazing, and is a great example of the kind of insight filmmakers should have when making movies about women.