Lipstick Under My Burkha – Not A Review

Posted: December 29, 2020

The four characters belong to the same locality. Each having their own issues. Each thinking the other is having a fun-filled life. Until they decide to cross the boundaries set by the society.

I may not be a movie buff who watches a first-day-first show film, taking a day off from office. But I do love cinema. Being a product of the 80s, I grew up on movies of Big B, Govinda, David Dhawan and remakes of South Indian film ‘hits’. Somewhere along came a Rudaali, a Fire or a Daman.

Sometime back I succumbed to the Netflix and Amazon Prime mania. When you can watch movies within the comforts of your four walls, why bother to drive to a multiplex, pay an obnoxious amount for parking and insipid popcorns?

Lipstick under my Burkha

This was the movie banned by Pahlaj Nahlani, who claimed it was too progressive. I think it was something on those lines. Huh!! As the 2 hour movie came to an end, I wondered – What is the hullabaloo all about?

And then it hit me ! Rehana, while protesting about the ban on jeans, yells at the camera – ” Darte hai yeh hamari aazaadi se.” You hit the nail on the head, gal. Here was a film, with neither nudity nor vulgar gyrations nor suggestive lyrics like ‘Sarkai lo khatiya jhaada lage’.

Reasons why some people have a problem with this movie

.. Women from small towns dare to dream. (This movie is set in a lower-middle class locality in Bhopal).

.. Women want to get rid of their Burkhas and sing like Miley Cyrus.

.. Women do not want to get lost amidst identities like ‘Bua ji’.

.. Women want to pursue their dreams and not just procreate.

.. Women want to travel the world and have fun.

The four characters belong to the same locality. Each having their own issues. Each thinking the other is having a fun-filled life. Until they decide to cross the boundaries set by the society. And down they come, crashing !

Pity !? Heck, no !! The women rise up from the ashes of ‘ignominy’ dictated by the patriarchal society, rally around each other, find support in each other and refuse to get shamed for being themselves.

And therein lies the beauty of this movie.

” I am She.

I am a free bird, yet I want to return to my nest.

I have a name, I take your name, but yes, I need love.

I have desires, yet I need a family.

I have wrinkles, yet I look back at my younger self.

I cover my face in a veil, yet I want to dance around in a little dress.

I am She, yet she is so different.

But what I do NOT want is my lipstick hidden under my Burkha.”

Picture Credits: Still from the movie trailer

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