Lipstick Under My Burkha : Rebel in Man's World !

#LipstickUnderMyBurkha :  Way back in 1942 ,Ismat Chughtai in her celebrated story “ Lihaf” scathingly  established  the identity of women  and her  existential realities ,while exploring the other dimensions of social complexity  in a patriarchal society where female sexual desire is repressed . And that landed her in court with charges of obscenity. If one goes by the reaction of censor board to Alankrita Srivastava’s coming off age film “Lipstick Under My Burkha” it seems nothing much has changed in last 75 years. Ours is a beautiful society. A society that is buried deep under a labyrinth of hypocrisies, presented in the guise of values. Peel that layer off and you will discover a scary feudal, myopic mindset with deep rooted rudimentary ideologies.

Lipstick Under My Burkha dares to strip that layer off and goes onto hold a mirror to the society. While on the surface the film explores the life of four women, of different age group who belong to Bhopal, a city on the brink of modernization, their suppressed craving, their aspiration, deep within it talks about their indomitable desire to live, to dream without any inhibition, to enjoy without the fear of being judged or labelled to live an apologetic life .  While Shirin ( Konkana) is not allowed to fulfill her aspiration of being a working women by her infidel husband who uses  her just to fulfill his carnal instincts , Buaji ( an excellent Ratna Pathak Shah) a 55 year lady who has almost forgotten her name has been humiliated as she discreetly expresses her sexual desires and fantasies  . So it is the society that decides who can have a sexual urge and at what age. Rihana had to hide her desires of becoming a singer under a Burkha , while Leela had  to struggle hard to escape from the small city to give wings to her dream. And in all of them the desire to free themselves from the clutches of stereotype is burning. The lipstick is symbolic of their rebellion, their free spirit.

The performances are uniform and the female leads have given a stupendous performance. The narration is engaging and the screen play is smooth. It is only the contrived ending that fails to do justice to an otherwise terrific and bold film. There is a scene where Buaji says how quickly our eyes adjust to darkness. And that‘s telling scene. May be we all have adjusted to the darkness. May be someone needs to light a match. I would highly recommend Lipstick under My Burkha as your weekend watch. It’s an evolved film, a rebellion in a man’s world ! And if you still need a rating to watch a film then 3.5 out of 5 it is . 

Jagga Jasoos : Its a dreamy World

#JaggaJasoos : It’s a fairy-tale world . A world where Katrina’s acting doesn’t stick out like sore thumb has to be a fantasy world. Ravi Varman’s exquisite camerawork and Anurag Basu’s heady imagination transports one to the land of thousand fables.  But to keep one engrossed for 170 odd minutes the least one requires is an enchanting story.  Unfortunately Basu absorbed in his craft and spirit of experimentation makes the cardinal mistake of being over indulgent. And that is where the film suffers.

Make no mistakes; Jagga Jasoos is a passionate and unapologetic attempt to take us back to the days of child like curiosity and innocence.  Influenced by the story of Feluda, Hitchcock & Sherlock Jagga goes out on a quest to find Badal Bagchi, the man who had adopted him and had discovered the teenage sleuth in him. Their bond has been beautifully exploited.  However Basu stuffs Jagga’s adventurous trip with too many repetitive narratives and that drags the pace of the film and makes it extremely predictable. The film also lacks humour.  Most of the films dialogues are in lyrics form and Pritam and Amitabh Bhattacharya get ample scope to flex their creativity.Ranbir as usual is in top form creating a full bodied character that is smart, vulnerable and whimsical. Saswat Chattarjee, a fine actor, plays the role of Badal Bagchi with aplomb. The film’s music is engaging.

It is frustrating that while Basu transports one to the fairy-tale world , he fails to keep one there for long  or may be just he himself stays there for far too long ! It is a pity considering Jagga Jasoos  is otherwise a bold attempt to exploit a genre whose potential  hasn’t yet been tapped by bollywood . I will go out with 2.5 out of 5 for this Tintin-esque musical adventure. Go watch it, who knows it may rekindle the child hood memories in you. How I wish while Anurag Basu went on a hyper imaginative spree, someone should have focused on the basic essential of a film, the narrative. Taking three years to make a film doesn’t mean its length has to be three hours!