FCAT directs CBFC to pass Lipstick Under My Burkha with A certificate

26 Apr 2017

After winning film festivals and many such accolades, the unconventional Lipstick Under My Burkha got axed by the CBFC over its sexual content. The film, further sparked controversy as the makers continued to fight for their film and approached the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal to take the certification process further. And now, Manmohan Sarin who heads the FCAT has found that there is indeed merit in the film and has asked the CBFC to pass the film with an A certificate. Prior to this, producer Prakash Jha even approached the Revising and Examining Committees for his film and since there was no result on the same, he decided to meet FCAT. It so happened that CBFC had rejected certification of Lipstick Under My Burkha claiming that the film focused on womens sexual fantasies. Now, the FCAT has observed that the CBFC has misdirected in denying permission for the film and also asserted that there is no embargo on women oriented films or portrayal of female fantasies. Their statement clarified that only expressions and sexual sequences that have coarseness, or are vulgar or obscene will face cuts. Adding that the thin line of creative and artistic expression must be maintained, the statement from FCAT also stated that long duration sexual scenes if not necessary will be kept to minimum as per the requirement in the film. Besides a couple of voluntary cuts and reduction in the length of a few sex scenes, the FCAT felt that some other cuts were necessary particularly in the length of scenes. Lipstick Under My Burkha stars Ratna Pathak Shah, Konkana Sen Sharma, Aahana Kumar and is directed by Alankrita Shrivastava.