#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 .
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