Last month Prakash Jha‘s film Lipstick Under My Burkha was screened for the Censor Board Examining Committee and he was told that his film will not be certified. The reasons behind the refusal were stated in a letter that mentioned,

“The story is lady oriented, their fantasy above life. There are contentious se*ual scenes, abusive words, and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society, hence film refused under guidelines 1(a), 2(vii), 2(ix), 2(x), 2(xi), 2(xii) and 3(i).”

When Jha was asked to comment over this, he said, “As a country we must encourage freedom of expression but the CBFC refusing to certify films that tell uncomfortable stories discourages filmmakers from pushing the envelope. Films should challenge the status quo which is what Lipstick Under My Burkha perhaps does and I believe our audience deserve to watch it.“

Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, the film is set in small town India and shows the lives of four women who are looking for freedom. The cast includes Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak Shah, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur.

The director, Shrivastava, looked into the matter and said, “It’s a feminist film with a strong female voice which challenges patriarchy. I think that’s why they don’t want to certify it. As a filmmaker, I stand by the story and will fight for it till the end”.

Well! Let’s see what happens to the film  Lipstick Under My Burkha.