Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; July 4, 2017)

Alankrita Shrivastava’s Lipstick Under My Burkha has won accolades in festival circuits, but back home, it has been mired in controversy since it first began hitting headlines. Unimpressed by the bold storyline, which follows four women across age groups, who rediscover themselves, as they search for freedom, the Censor Board chief Pahlaj Nihalani had refused to certify the film.

Chronicling her journey of attempting to get her film in theatres, Shrivastava describes Nihalani’s behaviour as strange. “The Examining Committee was divided in its opinion, so, we approached the Revising Committee. Nihalani, who was present at the screening, made me feel like a criminal. Ideally, the CBFC committee and the director should sit across the table and discuss the concerns objectively. But, in India, your fate is declared like a judgment,” she tells mid-day, adding that the chief even refused to exchange pleasantries with her when she greeted him.

Nihalani left little scope for negotiation when he announced that it was ‘not a scene, but the whole film’ that concerned the committee, Shrivastava says. “He simply said, ‘we have made a unanimous decision that we won't certify it.’ His secretary slyly asked if I had anything to say, as though I must beg or plead with them. This cannot be how a free country functions.”

Pointing out that a director musn’t need to defend a film before the committee, Srivastava says, “The CBFC power structure is lopsided. Why do they get so personal and vindictive?” The filmmaker finds little merit in the reason that drives the committee’s decision. She claims that Nihalani refused to certify the Ekta Kapoor production because it expresses a “female point of view”, but adds that Indian cinema objectifies women anyway. “There’s enough sexualised content in Indian cinema, but it passes because it caters to men. Skimpily-clad women dance for men as the cameras follow their bodies, like the male gaze would. That’s the sort of content that’s a hit here. The culture we are creating is obnoxious. Even women are beginning to think as per patriarchal norms. Cinema and society work in a vicious cycle.”

Alankrita Shrivastava on the long struggle to get her film, Lipstick Under My Burkha, certified, and what it means to be a firebrand filmmaker in India
Snigdha Hasan (MID-DAY; May 26, 2017)

Looking back at the ordeal you went through, what trends do you feel have emerged that will continue to affect other filmmakers?
There is a deep and systematic discrimination vis à vis the rights of women to be able to express themselves. I will continue to call the Censor Board out on the hypocrisy of censorship in India. You can’t have double standards for the content created by the male gaze for the fulfillment of male desire and discriminate against alternative points of view.

What do you believe may have unsettled the Censor Board?
The fact that it is a female’s point of view. The female gaze is so rare in Indian cinema that it threatens patriarchy. Also, often, we still look at the female protagonist through male eyes. Even in Pink (2016) and Dangal (2016), though they have strong female protagonists, ultimately it is the superstar male hero who saves the women.

What challenges are unique to a woman filmmaker?
Personally, my content makes it challenging for me. To the system at large, I feel like I am expected to apologize for not making films with big male stars. I feel I will always have to struggle

What kept you going when the release seemed uncertain in India, even as it received international recognition?
Lipstick has already won nine awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for the Best Feature Film at Films de Femmes in France. We have been encouraged to campaign for the Golden Globes. The fact that film has been travelling and being appreciated gave me hope. What also encouraged me was the response from the Indian women, and men. I felt everyone was supporting me.