“Lipstick Under My Burkha” was opposed heavily by the Central Board of Film Certification
(also known as the Censor Board). Censor board which is presided by Pahlaj Nihalani
criticized the movie as “too lady oriented” or “fantasy above life”. It is really confusing to
think how a movie can be rejected for being female oriented while all the other movie are
more or less male oriented. Censor board in its official report declared that the certification
was rejected not because it is lady oriented but because “sexual content, abusive words and
audio pornography”. The whole feminist group of India was enraged by this decision of
Censor Board and the director claimed this to be a direct hit of women’s right of expression
which seems legit.
The representatives of the film later moved to Film Certification Appellant Tribunal which is
tribunal to address the issues which arises out of decision by Central Board of Film
Certification. The FCAT instantly quashed the decision made by the CBFC and suggested
that the movie can be released but only which A certificate which is an Adult certificate
which was agreed the movie makers. The FCAT also suggested few voluntary and few
mandatory cuts of total length 1 minute and 58 seconds.
Pahlaj Nihlani protested against the movie and was later silenced when he witnessed the
aggression of the feminists around the world. This movie stood as a cult for the women and
also the men. The censor board conflict and the fact that they rose so high up after getting so
much stick from the Censor board gave more character to the movie. It intangibly creates a
links between the struggle shown in the movie and the struggle of the movie itself to create
the effect of bond through pain.
Another poster was later released of the movie which was a picture of a hand showing the
middle finger with lipstick in place of the middle finger. It is said that the poster was
designed in protest to the censor board and all those people who spoke against it. It is evident
that the film makers came out boldly about the movie and has achieved something out of a
movie which currently no one is trying to achieve. This act of censor board does not depict
the stand of just one person but depicts the stand of a lot of person in the society and a
collective thinking of actually majority of the audience. 3
3 IANS, Censor Board Refuses to certify Lipstick under my Burkha, The Hindu, Mumbai, February 14 th 2017.
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Women Empowerment
We shall go to the depth of understanding in what terms exactly “Lipstick Under My Burkha”
helps the idea of Women Empowerment or Feminism but before that we should know what
exactly do we mean by the terms “Women Empowerment” or “Feminism” in brief.
The topic on “Women Empowerment” is a burning issue all over the world. “Women
empowerment” and “women equality with men” is a universal issue.
What is the meaning of Women Empowerment?
Women Empowerment refers to the creation of an environment for women where they can
make decisions of their own for their personal benefits as well as for the society.
Women Empowerment refers to increasing and improving the social, economic, political
and legal strength of the women, to ensure equal-right to women, and to make them confident
enough to claim their rights, such as:
freely live their life with a sense of self-worth, respect and dignity,
have complete control of their life, both within and outside of their home and
workplace,
to make their own choices and decisions,
have equal rights to participate in social, religious and public activities,
have equal social status in the society,
have equal rights for social and economic justice,
determine financial and economic choices,
get equal opportunity for education,
get equal employment opportunity without any gender bias,
get safe and comfortable working environment.
Women have the rights to get their voices heard. 4
Why Women Empowerment is Important?
4 Argawal, Bina (1994). "Land Rights for Women: Making the Case". A Field of One's Own: Gender and Land
Rights in South Asia. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. pp. 1–50. ISBN 9780521429269.
12
1. Under-employed and unemployed: Women population constitutes around 50% of the
world population. A large number of women around the world are unemployed. The world
economy suffers a lot because of the unequal opportunity for women at workplaces. (Also
read: Paragraph on Women Employment)
2. Equally competent and intelligent: Women are equally competent. Nowadays, women
are even ahead of men in many socio-economic activities.
3. Talented: Women are as talented as men. Previously, women were not allowed
higher education like men and hence their talents were wasted. But nowadays, they are also
allowed to go for higher studies and it encourages women to show their talents which will not
only benefit her individually but to the whole world at large.
4. Overall development of society: The main advantage of Women Empowerment is that
there will be an overall development of the society. The money that women earn does not
only help them and or their family, but it also help develop the society.
5. Economic Benefits: Women Empowerment also leads to more economic benefits not to
the individuals but to the society as well. Unlike earlier days when they stayed at home only
and do only kitchen stuffs, nowadays, they roam outside and also earns money like the male
members of the society. Women empowerment helps women to stand on their own legs,
become independent and also to earn for their family which grows country’s economy.
6. Reduction in domestic violence: Women Empowerment leads to decrease in domestic
violence. Uneducated women are at higher risk for domestic violence than an educated
women.
7. Reduction in corruption: Women Empowerment is also advantageous in case of
corruption. Women empowerment helps women to get educated and know their rights and
duties and hence can stop corruption.
8. Reduce Poverty: Women Empowerment also reduces poverty. Sometimes, the money
earned by the male member of the family is not sufficient to meet the demands of the family.
The added earnings of women helps the family to come out of poverty trap.
9. National Development: Women are increasingly participating in the national development
process. They are making the nation proud by their outstanding performances almost every
spheres including medical science, social service, engineering, etc.
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10. Irreplaceable in some sectors: Women are considered irreplaceable for certain jobs. 5
Feminism
Feminism is a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a
common goal: to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and
social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish educational and professional
opportunities for women that are equal to such opportunities for men.
Feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women's rights,
including the right to vote, to hold public office, to work, to earn fair wages or equal pay,
to own property, to receive education, to enter contracts, to have equal rights within marriage,
and to have maternity leave. Feminists have also worked to promote
bodily autonomy and integrity, and to protect women and girls from rape, sexual harassment,
and domestic violence. Changes in dress and acceptable physical activity have often been part
of feminist movements. 6
Feminist campaigns are generally considered to be a main force behind major
historical societal changes for women's rights, particularly in the West, where they are near-
universally credited with achieving women's suffrage, gender neutrality in
English, reproductive rights for women (including access to contraceptives and abortion), and
the right to enter into contracts and own property. Although feminist advocacy is, and has
been, mainly focused on women's rights, some feminists, including bell hooks, argue for the
inclusion of men's liberation within its aims because men are also harmed by
traditional gender roles. Feminist theory, which emerged from feminist movements, aims to
understand the nature of gender inequality by examining women's social roles and lived
experience; it has developed theories in a variety of disciplines in order to respond to issues
concerning gender.
Numerous feminist movements and ideologies have developed over the years and represent
different viewpoints and aims. Some forms of feminism have been criticized for taking into
account only white, middle class, and college-educated perspectives.
Feminist movements in some part of the word and in some sections of the society has turned
from a movement for equality to a momvement for feminist monarchy which in itself is self-
5 Mathew, Adams; “Aspects of Women Empowerment”; 2009
6 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/feminisms
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contradictory. This changed or modified version of feminism in the modern scoeity has also
resulted in many true feminists to adondon the title of feminists and join a fairly old title of
equalists. 7
“Lipstick Under My Burkha and Women Empowerment: Character Wise
Study”
In this movie, one of the character very beautiful summarizes just before intermission the
actual cause of their suffering. Leela who is trying to escape the forceful marriage says, “Our
only problem is that we dare to dream”. This summarizer the condition of women in the
society and their daily struggle as they fail to get what they long for and what they deserve.
They are oppressed by men and this is so common in the Indian society that in some part of
the society it is even socially accepted. It is socially accepted for a guy to ask his wife to cook
for the whole family no matter she has a job to do professionally. A women has to wear
“appropriate” clothes or otherwise she’ll be called names. A women has to give in to her
husband’s wants. A women need not work if her husband is working and earning money.
This movie tries to break all of those societal norms but still stick strongly to the reality. The
movie itself revolves around four major characters and all of them are trying to get out of the
vicious circle of putting chains to a women’s freedom. The sexual frankeness in the movie is
amazing and also real. There is a central characters of Rosy which a character in an erotic
magazine. This story ties up the story of all the four women beautifully and is filled with
sexual fantasies of Rosy.
Co-written and directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, Lipstick Under My Burkha casts an honest,
unsparing look at what it means to be a woman in small-town India. This is a city on the cusp
of modernisation, where shiny new malls jostle for space with centuries-old apartment
blocks, but where mindsets have remained as narrow as the bylanes.We shall study four
characters individually and try to under which part of women empowerment are we looking
at.
Shirin- The Housewife
Shirin, a Muslim woman (Konkona Sen Sharma), has been discreetly working as a door-to-
door saleswoman, but hides this fact from her conservative, Saudi-returned husband. As far
7 Moran, Caitlin; How to Build a Girl, 2014.
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as he’s concerned, her only job is to raise their three children, and to satisfy his frequent and
frankly selfish sexual needs.
This shows the part of women empowerment in which a women’s right to work is infringed
by either her husband or her inlaws. In Indian society, majority of the married housewives do
not work outside because they’re not allowed to or sometimes they are not capable because of
all the work of the household solely being thrown upon them. This movie tries to fight with
that aspect of Indian society in which a housewife is often oppressed by her husband in terms
of financial freedom which in turn leads to the dependency of the wife on the husband.
Movie also deals with another aspect of a typical oppression faced by Indian housewives
which is often not talked out loud in the social spheres of Indian society. Wife has to give in
to the sexual demands of the husband even if she does not want to. There are many cases in
Indian household that wives are treated only as sex objects and maid with no respect to their
emotions and physical needs. It is also not socially accepted for a women to talk about these
things out in open as it is said that it is not respectful to do so and a women should maintain
her intergrity but the underlining statement is that society accepts male domination. This
movie though potrays the problem with utmost honesty but does not give a eutopic attitude or
a non-realistic climate. This movie grounds very deep in reality which is the most facinating
thing about this movie.
Leela- The Unwilling Bride
Leela, a feisty young Hindu woman (Aahana Kumra), works at a local beauty parlour
although she has a business plan with her Muslim lover whom she frequently enjoys sex with,
and with whom she’s plotting her escape from the arranged marriage her widowed mother is
forcing her into.
Her characters shows rebellion. She is fighting against her mother because her mother wants
her to marry soon as she does not want her daughter to face things she herself has. She has a
good intetion in getting her married but the freedom of Leela is compromised. This marrying
against will is something which is very common in Indian society as many girls are married
against their will just because their family wanted them to marry a particular person.
Thinking of this it is very obvious that opperssion lies here.
Also her sexual desires are fulfilled by her Muslim friend and it is very evident that her
mother would not let her marry that guy as he is not of equal status and neither of same
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religion. There is clear conflict in her interest and her fate. Her dreams of fleeing away is
quashed.
Rehana- The Rebelling Teen
For Rehana (Plabita Borthakur), who goes to great lengths to hide her Miley Cyrus hangover
and pop star ambitions from her strict Muslim parents, the burkha is many-layered. It’s the
armor that protects her when she shoplifts at malls. And at college, she stuffs it into her
backpack so she can fit in with the other students, agitating in their distressed denims for the
right to wear jeans on campus.
Rehana is oppressed by her parents as she is imposed the dressing code of her family which is
a Burkha. She is not allowed to go out or anything of such nature. Her family is very
conservative. Women empowerment deals very specifically with concept of freedom and in
Rehana’s case freedom is much compromised. She tries to fight it by doing shop-lifting to
dress in clothes she wants to and indentify as she wants to be. Her Burkha is not her and she
wants to tell the whole wide world that she is something else.
She aspires to be a Pop singer and wants to be famous by singing different pop songs. She
dances alone in her rooms. This is a beautiful depiction of oppression and shows very vividly
that how a woman can only do what she wants inside a closed door and not in the open. She
dances there and sings there but can not follow her passion in real life. She has to equip to
methods of creeping away at night to enjoy parties like normal teenagers and has to be back
before her parents wake up. This clearly shows how a woman is controlled by her family and
societal inhibitions and can not achieve what she really dreams to be.
Buaji- The Old Diva
Then there’s 55-year- old widow Usha Parmar (Ratna Pathak Shah), the respected ‘Buaji’
who runs the family business, but who covertly reads Hindi erotic fiction at night. When she
falls for a strapping swimming instructor, her repressed desires find an outlet in steamy phone
sex. As Buaji reads out the fantasies of Rosy, the protagonist of her pulpy romance novels,
the character becomes a symbol for everything that the four women long for.
This character does not revolve much around oppression but is more about societal norms and
indirect control of society on your actions. This old woman has a very astounding sexual
fantasy of a young swimming instructor. This is totally against societal norms and is really
looked down upon as she is not only old but she is also a widow and it is against the
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traditional Indian societal norms. It is common assumption that in old age all the sexual
fantasies die and at such age a woman can do nothing but to feel helpless with her sexual
desires with no way to satisfy it.
She goes out of the normal norms and talks to the young boy via phone and masturbates
while talking to him on the home. She also reads erotic magazines and indentifies herself as
Rosy which actually is one of the characters in the magazines.
As we saw, this movie deals with a good amount of issues related to women empowerment
but the forefront which this movies is trying to establish and fight against is not political or
economic but is very personal. It is more social non-conformity and going against the society
to have something which is rightfully yours or to express something which should be
expressed openly in front of everyone but such platform is only for men.
Personal liberty and accepting oneself is not always an option for the women. Accepting that
women might also have same sexual desires as men and they also have a need to be satisfied
is also an alien concept to the Indian society. This movie deals beautifully with all those
problems but somewhere loses the touch of reality.
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Critical Reception
Stutee Ghosh of The Quint gave 4.5/5 stars and said, "These women