“Lipstick Under My Burkha” is an upcoming Indian film made in Hindi. The film is directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and produced by Prakash Jha. The movie stars Ratna Pathak Shah, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aahana Kumra in the lead along with Sushant Singh and Vikram Massey. In January 2017, the Central Board of Film Certification refused to certify the film, stating that “The story is lady oriented, their fantasy above life.”
On this producer Ekta Kapoor said,”I have no issue with CBFC. My problem is with the society, which talks about the same thing but in its own way. So, CBFC is mirroring the society. We will trivialize this whole thing if we make it about CBFC. It’s a larger issue. If you talk to a woman she will give you at least five incidents in a day, 5-10 in a month for sure where she had to give proofs of being a ‘woman’, maybe at a male-dominated workplace or when she has to try to come across as a smarter because she is good looking. There are many such instances and women learn to combat them from a very young age. So, this finger, this lipstick is for the society that doesn’t allow us to come out and curbing our voice. So, it’s not about CBFC. It’s about an ideology, it’s not about men again. I am going to do a campaign ‘lipstick for men’. There are a lot of men who have made us the women we are today, like my father. There are many women who want a son to be born and hence put their daughter-in-law through abortion. So, it’s about the ideology, not men and women.”
She added,” When I went to watch it, I thought it would be pretentious, very arty… But after I saw it, I felt it was a stark entertaining film. It was right there, staring me in the face and I never had a more honest conversation with myself then I had after watching the film. We are so scared to feel, that now it is our second nature to be shy about our sexual fantasies and sexual desires. The film stared at me and asked me a question. As a producer, you have made a financial decision but it’s time that as a woman you made a decision from your heart and I did that.”
“Lipstick Under My Burkha” is all et to release on the 21st of July.