Movie Review - Lipstick Under My Burkha by Suhel Johar

Lipstick Under My Burkha Is Bold And Beautiful

Alankrita Shrivastava's Lipstick Under My Burkha promised to be stereotype-defying, genre-smashing, and nothing short of revolutionary. The whole country rallied behind it when it almost got banned from a theatrical release. But, was all that worth it? Well, it may not exactly be revolutionary, but it definitely was worth the wait.

Alankrita Srivastava’s Lipstick Under My Burkha is a story of four women from a small Indian city (Bhopal), stuck at different stages of life, struggling to snatch away a little slice of their own freedom. The four women have been living dual lives exploring their hidden desires of independence, love, sexuality, and passion. Each woman respectively represents four different generations and the shackles that have had her enslaved.

Lipstick Under My Burkha is about Usha Parmar (Ratna Pathak Shah), a responsible widow, in her late 50s, who handles her family business and spends her days looking after her extended family in the twisty lanes of Hawai Manzil. Addressed as ‘Buaji’, Usha, has suffered such a loss of identity, despite being treated as a matriarch (only as long as she performs according to the patriarchy-sanctioned moral codes), that when asked her name, she can barely whisper it.

It is also about  Shirin Aslam  (Konkona Sen Sharma), a woman who is used to living a dual life because the alternative is never even offered to her as an option. Shirin sneakily alternates between creatively selling various home products from the company she works at in secret, to portraying to be a naïve mother of three who’s nothing but a submissive cow to her Saudi return husband (Sushant Singh).

Apart from Shirin and Usha we have a middle aged woman named Leela Mishra (Aahana Kumra), a no-nonsense sexually liberated woman, who alternates between running her beauty parlour to working on a business plan that’ll ensure her life further on will be spent relaxing at a honeymooners paradise. Meanwhile she is being forced to marry a man of her mother’s choice but she is madly in love with her boyfriend Arshad (Vikrant Massey) and the two plan to elope.

Finally, LUMB  is also about Rehana Abidi (Plabita Borthakur), a student who has been breeding dreams of being a rock/pop star just like Miley Cyrus. She is living a secret life while struggling with her religious shackles, desperately trying to break free, but who is never quite allowed to start a revolution.

The plot revolves around the lives of these women simply trying to live. The film is an engaging story which tends to mirror the harsh reality of women in our society. The entire narrative in Lipstick Under My Burkha is beautifully stitched together. The beautiful thing about the way the story is told shows Shrivastava's prowess as a filmmaker. Nothing is overtly dramatised, yet nothing is lost on subtlety. Even when there is an erotic scene, the camera refuses to objectify the female body. The oppressive atmosphere of the film is palpable, but so are the moments of joy because all of it is our honest reality.

In its comical approach, the film talks about the regressive, disturbing and self-worth crushing customs our society indulges in aptly without letting us experience a downward spiral. The narrative very cleverly uplifts our perspective and helps us address the problems women in our current society face every single day.

And the best part of it all is that the women aren’t innocent or raw, they all play a character within a character that shows hints of naivety. However, the women will make you root for them, their revelations will make you laugh, blush and even bite your lip out of excitement.

The film moves fast, despite the slow paced small town suburban life.  It brings a lot of elements that even urban women have rarely addressed – treatment of elderly women, the need of a sexual partner, indulging in a hobby, self-worth, etc.

What’s Good: Script, direction, performance, cinematography

Alankrita Shrivastava’s direction is sound and  impresses as a storyteller. She previously told a story of three girls in Turning 30, proves her mettle with this one and is a director to watch out for. Her writing (story and screenplay) is uplifting. Dialogue by Gazal Dhaliwal is according to the mood of the film. Cinematography by Akshay Singh is good and editing by Charu Shree Roy is crisp. Music by Zebunnisa Bangash is good. Jiggy jiggy and Le lee Jaan are the two outstanding tracks. Background score by Mangesh Dhakde is effective.

 

Performances of all the actors is a major asset. Ratna Pathak Shah and Konkona Sen Sharma’s performance is outstanding. Plabita Borthakur and Aahana Kumra make their mark with impressive acts. Even the male characters are spot on, whether it is Vikrant Massey,  Sushant Singh, Shashank Arora and Jagat Singh Solanki, each one of them is simply superb.

On the whole, LUMB is an outstanding film that is driven by some wonderful performances and a must watch for people who like sensible cinema.