Clear 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' with 'A' certificate: FCAT to CBFC

Feminist drama -Lipstick Under My Burkha- is cleared for a theatrical release in India after the country's Film Certification Appellate Tribunal overruled the censor board's refusal to issue the film a certificate.

The board had earlier refused certification to the film, saying that it was "lady oriented" and had "sexual scenes, abusive words".

The appeals board has given the film an adult certification and asked the directors to make some cuts. When I first read the CBFC's decision and their wordings and the way they had seen the film, I really laughed!

"In a culture where female actors do 'item-songs' - in which they dance among crowds of ogling men and the camera mindlessly moves up and down their bodies - a small, independent, spirited films like Lipstick Under My Burkha threatens to challenge the status quo". That organization has now said in a statement that the CBFC "misdirected themselves in denying certification on the ground that the story of the film is women oriented".

"There can not be any embargo on a women-oriented film or one containing sexual fantasies and expression of the inner desires of women", the FCAT said, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.

It also asked the filmmaker to mute a few Hindi words - including one referring to prostitutes - from a couple of scenes, a report said. In addition to the above, some cuts, which the FCAT felt were necessary particularly in the length of the scenes were so directed.

"As a matter of general approach if the aspect of sexual desires and their expression is sensitively handled without bringing coarseness, vulgarity or obscenity, pandering prurient tendencies, then it is not to be disallowed", the statement read, adding, "We can not lose sight that there is a thin line between creative and artistic expression being depicted in a natural sex scene".

"It essentially would mean not showing a prolonged sex act which is even otherwise not in conformity with the guidelines requiring such scenes to be kept the minimum", it said. Find us on Facebook too!