After working with Prakash Jha as an executive producer and associate director,
Alankrita Shrivastava set out as an independent filmmaker and directed 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' starring Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur. While the makers applied for a censor certificate in December, the film was denied a certification by the CBFC owing to its bold content.
What followed was public mud-slinging as the makers and the CBFC came at loggerheads. However, the film has been certified 'A' and is finally all set to release.
In an exclusive interview with team Misskyra, Alankrita opens up about her feminism, the society and her fight CBFC.
'Lipstick Under My Burkha' was to release in January, but the film was denied a certificate by CBFC... I just feel that there should be no censorship in a free and democratic country. We applied for the censor certificate at the end of December, and I finally got a certificate at the end of June this year. I don't think it should take half a year to get a censor certificate. It makes you feel that gender equality and women's freedom of expression is not something that you can take for granted in our country. We, as women, really need to claim that freedom of expression. I think it's really important for stories to be told by women about women, especially with a female point of view. It is a real wake-up call for all the citizens of India to realise that a film can be banned in your country because it's telling a story from the female point of view. It is problematic, and we can't live with these kinds of restrictions.
Who according to you does the problem lie with - CBFC or the society?
I don't know about the society, but I have a problem with the CBFC. I don't think CBFC represents all of India's citizens. I feel the CBFC is a very patriarchal, regressive board. I don't think they have any idea about cinema, and they are just misusing their power to clamp down on films. They misuse the power for the fact that has been vested with a power. CBFC shouldn't exist at all.
You stated that CBFC banned the film because it tells a story from the female point of view. The board also comprises of women.
Women themselves perpetuate patriarchy. I don't think that just being a woman biologically ensures that your mind is more open. The way society socialises women also to continue to tone the language, while women themselves suppress other women. Women themselves go on to feed in that cycle of patriarchy. That is why patriarchy is so deep rooted because women enable it to stay. There are also women who woke up to the fact that they are living in a society which is so unequal and decided to fight so that things would change faster.
Is 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' made with an idea to promote feminism?
My idea is to tell the story of those four women, and I want people who come to the theatres for those two hours to get a feel of the lives of these women. Their hopes, their dreams, their laughter, their disappointments... by the end of the film people should believe that they know those four women. I don't have any message that promotes feminism, but of course, I am very clear about the fact that I am a feminist. And I hope that everything thing that I write or I direct and I create should be feminist in its politics.
Do you think that the title of the film has been understood in its truest sense?'Lipstick Under Mu Burkha' - the title is a metaphor. Women will always have the pulsating desire to dream, and they will always have the desire for freedom, they will want many things. No matter how much you try to box a woman into a particular space, you can't stop her from dreaming or wanting more. People will get the meaning of it when they watch the film. Women always will secretly steal their moments of freedom from the claustrophobia of their lives. I want people to interpret the title the way they want to.
Now that you have been issued a certificate are you still at loggerheads with the CBFC? I am not angry with the CBFC, but I think I have got a wake-up call now of how the society is in India. I realise that this censorship has been staring us in the face and we really need to get rid of it. I will always be against censorship. And this is not just because my film didn't get a release earlier. Just because my film is releasing now doesn't mean that the battle of freedom for women to tell their stories is over. We will have to continue to make films which have an alternative point of views, and we really do need to work at getting rid of censorship in our country.
Why is it important for you to tell this tale of four women?
I wanted to show the world which is different from mine. I wanted to explore the lives of these women in a world where there are external restrictions to freedom. I wanted to explore my own yearning for freedom as I feel that I'm not fully free. I wanted to portray how we have an inherent desire for freedom, but there are always external factors and restrictions.
Is the trailer of the film edited in a manner that people will interpret it as a slap on CBFC's face?The trailer of the film documents the journey that the film has undergone and also shows what the film is about.
When asked CBFC Chief Pahlaj Nihalani about the backlash that follows post censorship, he said that the censor board is only abiding by the laws stated...
It is true! We have the 1952 Cinematograph Act, and Pahlaj Nihalani is working according to his interpretation of that law. The law does need to change for sure as anyone can interpret it in their own ways. The problem is not Pahlaj Nihalani, the problem is that just because he is the chief he shouldn't think he can do anything he wants because he has that power. We should not have that body, nobody should have that power. Artists should be able to make the kind of films they want without anyone telling them what to do and what not to do.
Pahlaj Nihalani recently asked a leading news channel to collect one lakh votes to allow the use of word 'intercourse' in the 'Jab Harry Met Sejal' trailer...I don't think the CBFC Chief has the power to change the laws and guidelines according to his whims and fancies. As far as I know, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting will have to pass this law as I don't think it's in the hands of CBFC. I don't know how does he have the authority to make new laws.