India’s censor bans ‘lady oriented’ film ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ for ‘sexual scenes’, ‘abusive words’, ‘audio pornography’
India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has refused to certify the film ‘Lipstick Under My Burkha’ for what it says are its “continuous sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography, and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society.”
The film follows the secret lives of four women—Shirin, Leela, Rehana, and Auntie Usha—in a small town in India seeking more from life than domesticity.
Thank you for all your support for #LipstickUnderMyBurkha against this ridiculous regressiveness. We won't be silenced. #CensorTheCensors pic.twitter.com/sBSSbx5FRy
— ?? Under My Burkha (@LipstickMovie) February 23, 2017
Writing in British newspaper The Guardian, the film’s director Alankrita Shrivastava said, "I never imagined that my feminist politics would rattle the board so much that they would refuse to let the film be shown. It came as a shock – and yet, when viewed in the context of the status of women in India and the representation of women in popular Indian culture, it perhaps shouldn’t have done."
She added,"The popular Indian cinema narrative is dominated by the male gaze. Women are objectified, there to fulfil the desires of men, or they play simply peripheral, subservient parts … There is very little space for realistic portrayals of ordinary women who laugh and cry, who are flawed and funny, who have desires and dreams of their own. Women who are struggling to gain agency over their own lives and bodies. In short, real women."
Shrivastava said she will fight to ensure the film is released in cinemas in India, and make “lady-oriented” films as long as she can.
The film won the third annual Audience Award at the recent Glasgow Film Festival and The Spirit of Asia Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival in November 2016.
And thankyou @glasgowfilmfest. The only award goes to #lipstickundermuyburkha. Thankyou universe! @LipstickMovie pic.twitter.com/h1Q0t9VJJ8
— ?? Under My Burkha (@LipstickMovie) February 27, 2017
Film director Alankrita Shrivastava after winning the Audience Award at the Glasgow Film Festival
MUSLIM IRE
The Hindustan Times reported that chairman of the All India Muslim Tehwar Committee, Ausaf Shahmeeri Khurram, has plans to take legal action against the movie. The Committee is a national organisation of Indian Muslims in India, according to its website.
The Hindustan Times cited Khurram as saying that "nobody has the right to comment on 'sensitive issues' like the burkha, which is worn out of choice by Muslim women."
"If somebody peeps into the burkha worn by our sisters and daughters, we won't remain silent. Burkha is an Islamic tradition, and nobody has the right to talk about it in a negative way," Khurram was quoted as saying.
The Committee's majilis-e-shura also calls on India's Muslims to boycott the movie.
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