Lipstick Under My Burkha 2017
By
Alankrita shrivastava
Males have
always looked to control female bodies and hence their
sexuality.There might be any number of reasons for that.They have always found
willing accomplices in this systematic exploitation .Whenever the question is of an individual
female’s freedom,almost everyone around her ,all males and most females gang up
to stifle her.Society makes laws and conventions that discriminate against
women.I wonder why women dunt make common cause against this kind of male
tyranny.Its easy to brush such talk aside as old-fashioned and belonging to
twentieth century,but this is the reality of modern india (as well as the
subcontinent ,Arab Africa and the Middle east).Only IF females unite and assert themselves , can they hope
to establish parity between sexes. A lot has happened ,especially
in cities,but a lot of ground needs to be covered in the rural areas.
That said ,I wud not rate the film very highly.It is the story
of four women who seek freedom and control
over their own lives .A 55 year old widow fantasises about her swimming instructor and has telephone
romance with him ,as he mistakes her for a younger woman.
A Muslim saleswoman ,mother of three,tries to stand up
against her husband who refuses to use protection while having intercourse.A
two-timing beautician wants to escape the claustrophobia of her local
community.A college girl just wants to live her life as she wants .All of these were stories with great
potential,but somewhere the director manages to lose her way.
She almost suggests that it was unfair on the part of swimming coach to reject the overtures of
Ratna Pathak shah,the free will of the man be damned. Konkona ,playing the
salesgirl ,is the strongest character of the lot but she didn’t need the prop
of ‘another woman’ and husband’s unemployment to take the story forward.All
this managed was to put the two main
issues-her health (use of pills because her husband didn’t like using
contraception ,and unwanted pregnancies
and abortions) and her quest to work ,on the backburner.
Sushant singh is a fabulous actor.He flowers when he plays
such mean and villaneous roles.The college girl aspires for high life,incommensurate with resources at
her disposal.Here again the director suggests as if its cool to steal clothes
from a mall .Then again,the use of cigarettes and beer pints as symbols of
freedom is ridiculous.This just trivialises the whole issue.
The fourth story of
the two-timing beautician never quite makes sense.I dunt see why she has to
waste the time of her fiancée when obviously she is not interested in him.She
plays a selfish,conniving bitch who seeks security in this naïve guy,while she
screws around a photographer .I dunt quite know why the director’s lens was
directed at her.
The faults of the film are compensated by the climax.The last ten minutes convey a
sense of euphoria as freedom is secured in rejection by society.Once they throw
you out,life offers you a shot.The symbolic ciggarettes appear again .Their
fogs signify freedom for the director.I dunt quite relate to this shallow and
convenient assumption that smoke and alcohol are instruments of freedom.It is
true that society judges males and females differently on this count.Yet I also
feel that when they are used cinematically,then somehow the message that comes
across is the quest to be ‘cool’rather than to be ‘free’.
I would not say if this film is good or bad,just that it is
a VITAL film.AS to what problems censor board had with it,I dunt know.Maybe
pahlaj nihalani is a sexist and was offended by the storyline.Maybe he is just
an idiot.Anyway,I watched the film today and he is history.Cheers !!
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