Lipstick 'Not-Under' Burkha anymore, gets an 'A-certificate' for India release

The much talked about film 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' is all set to witness it's India release as finally the makers of the film have received a thumbs up from the Indian Film Board.

Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) has recommended the Central Board Film Certification (CBFC) to let the film release with an A certificate equivalent to an NC-17 rating (not for person below 17).

Although, the Chairperson of the Censor Board Pahlaj Nihalani has claimed that they are yet to receive any such instruction from FCAT.

Earlier the board went ahead rejecting to grant certificate to the film saying that the film being a women oriented had sexual scenes and abusive words.

Now the tribunal have agreed to grant A-certificate to the film to which Director Alankrita Shrivastava said “I am very happy and thrilled that the point we had raised against the CBFC, the FCAT has agreed with us. They understood the intent of the film and haven’t questioned the very basis of why women should have desires. They didn’t ask me to remove any scenes.They have just asked us to reduce a few seconds here and there,” Alankrita told PTI.

Talking about the censoring the scenes Alankrita replied “Ideally, they should have just passed the film without any cuts but considering how bad the situation was with the board, it’s okay. I’ll sit with my editor and figure it out. Personally, I am always against any kind of tampering with the film. But considering the situation where we were not getting any certification at all, I think I can live with what they have asked for. But credit where it is due, the FCAT has been very reasonable.” 

Also Read: Konkona Sen Sharma slams censor board for denying certificate to 'Lipstick under my Burkha'

At a recent press conference the producer of the film Prakash Jha too expressed his happiness for the clearance of the film. When asked about the CBFC putting a ban on the movie, Jha replied "I really laughed when I heard the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification) decision and the way they had interpreted the whole film. It was ridiculous to interpret a story like that. Our society and all other societies have stereotyped women's existence. Women should look, think, behave, dream or do anything in a particular way which is entirely male oriented. They (women) will be part of our life but the way we (men) want them to be. Women cannot think, dream or talk about their career or satisfaction."

Also the speculations followed that the makers of the film submitted two different versions to the CBFC and FCAT, Alankrita cleared the airs about the news that their must be an internal issue. She says “It is not true. We submitted the same film to both the certification bodies. And after FCAT asked us to make certain voluntary cuts, we resubmitted the film to them. We did exactly what they wanted. In fact, we just reduced some sexually intimate scenes by few seconds. But CBFC never asked for any cuts—they just refused to certify the film. Had they asked us, we would have done it for them as well. So what he (Pahlaj Nihalani) is saying is not true.”

The FCAT on Wednesday directed the board to clear the film with some voluntary and additional cuts, while some of the intimate scenes were crucial to the storyline.

"Lipstick Under My Burkha" stars Konkana Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak Shah, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur.