Tribunal overturns decision to ban ‘lady-oriented’ film exploring women’s sexuality – though length of sex scenes must be cut

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

An award-winning Hindi film that was blocked by India’s film censor for being too “lady-oriented” has been cleared for release by an appeals tribunal.

Lipstick Under My Burkha, a drama that explores the sexual awakenings and personal struggles of four small-town Indian women, was initially denied classification in January, a decision the film’s director, Alankrita Shrivastava, described as “an assault on women’s rights”.

In a letter riddled with spelling and grammatical errors, the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) said the movie had “abusive words, audio pornography, and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society”, implying it might offend Indian Muslims.

“The story is lady-oriented, their fantasy above life,” the censor board said.

💄 Under My Burkha (@LipstickMovie) Thank you for all your support for #LipstickUnderMyBurkha against this ridiculous regressiveness. We won't be silenced. #CensorTheCensors pic.twitter.com/sBSSbx5FRy

On Wednesday an appeals board overturned that decision, saying the CBFC “misdirected themselves in denying certification on the ground that the story of the film is women oriented”.

“There cannot be any embargo on a film being women oriented or containing sexual fantasies and expression of the inner desires of women,” the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) said.

“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.”

It ruled that Lipstick Under My Burkha was suitable for anyone aged 18 and over and gave the film an adult certificate.

The FCAT accepted some cuts offered by the film-makers, ordered that the length of some sex scenes be reduced, and asked for a reference to “prostitutes” to be removed.

Shrivastava told Agence-France Presse: “Of course I would have loved no cuts, but the FCAT has been very fair and clear. I feel that we will be able to release the film without hampering the narrative or diluting its essence.”

The film won a prize at the Tokyo international film festival last year and was screened at a film festival in Los Angeles this month.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lipstick Under My Burkha has been given an adult rating. Photograph: Jignesh Panchal

Writing in the Guardian in February, Shrivastava said: “There is very little space [in Indian cinema] for realistic portrayals of ordinary women who laugh and cry, who are flawed and funny, who have desires and dreams of their own. Women who are struggling to gain agency over their own lives and bodies. In short, real women.

I’m fighting the ban on my film Lipstick Under My Burkha. Ordinary Indian women need a voice | Alankrita Shrivastava Read more

“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.

“How dare women tell stories from their own points of view? How dare women strive for agency over their own bodies? How dare women share their intimate dreams? How dare an older woman express her sexuality? How dare these women exist?”

India’s film censor frequently orders cuts to films it believes are too racy, gratuitous or risk offending religious sentiments. Its chair, Pahlaj Nihalani, has previously spoken of his objections to films that depict homosexuality and once tried to issue a list of expletives he wanted banned from Indian films.

Kissing scenes were ordered to be removed from the latest James Bond film, Spectre, and Fifty Shades of Grey was banned.

In 2016 the censor ordered 94 cuts to a Hindi film, Udta Punjab, that dealt with drug abuse in Punjab state, including the removal of any reference to Punjab or drug use.

The director Anurag Kashyup and a coalition of film-makers challenged the order in a Mumbai court, which overruled the censor.