Award winning film by woman director rejected by Censor board

“Lipstick under my burqha,” by Alankrita Shrivastava, has been denied a certificate on the ground that it contains deeply objectionable material. The reasons specified by the CBFC have shocked the film community– “the story is lady-oriented, their fantasy above life, there are contanious( spelling by CBFC) sexual scenes, abusive words, audio-pornography and a bit sensitive touch to one section of society,” are the reasons for refusal of certificate.

The film explores the life of four women in a small town. It stars acclaimed actresses like Ratna Pathak Singh and Konkana Sen Sharma.it has won many awards too- Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality at the Mumbai Film Festival and the Spirit of Asia Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival, both in 2016. The movie was shown in the competition section at the Glasgow Film Festival and will be screened at the Miami International Film Festival, the International Women’s Film Festival in Paris, and the London Asian Film Festival in coming weeks.

The CBFC’s Chairman, Pankaj Nihalani and its CEO, Anurag Shrivastava have defended their action of not passing the film at all, even though the film makers have requested for an adult certificate.

The movie’s frank look at sexuality may have scandalised the committee members. Prakash Jha, the producer of the film had this to say at the unexpected turn of events – “The film is going to festivals around the world, and people are loving it and women are loving it. But our CBFC thinks otherwise, they have their own morality and their own rules. This is a very beautiful story, but it doesn’t suit the board’s sensibilities and programme. We will do what we have to do to get it passed.”