The 'Sanskari' Censor Board is back in news. This time for refusing to certify a film called Lipstick Under My Burkha, terming it to be 'lady oriented'.
Listing the number of problems with the film, a letter drafted by the board has gone viral online. And apart from the erroneous spellings, the letter states bizarre reasons for not passing the film.
Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava and produced by Prakash Jha, the film has four female leads with the story set in Lucknow.
Despite a committee headed by Shyam Benegal which suggested changes in the way Board gives certifications, the film has faced objections. Speaking to CNN News18, filmmaker Shyam Benegal stated that while he hasn't seen the film and doesn't know what the film is about but no film can be denied a certification by the board.
"There was a committee that the government had set to look into the way certification is done. Films need to be classified not censored. There's no question of censoring. We are talking of classification according to suitability of age and maturity. No idea if the said the suggestions have been implemented by CBFC."
Benegal stated that the report was submitted in April and October 2016. The committee was set up after the film industry appealed for correction in which the CBFC certifies films. Abhishek Chaubey’s Udta Punjab, in June, had faced major roadblocks prior to its release as CBFC had demanded more than 90 cuts. The film was later released after the Bombay High Court intervened.
Ashok Pandit, a member of the CBFC, called the censoring of Lipstick Under My Burkha, unnecessary. "I am myself quite shocked to see these kind of words been used in the letter. Tragedy is that a filmmaker like Prakash Jha, who has won so many award, his intelligence is being questioned. This films is not going to create riot in any case."
Central Board of Film Certification, CEO, Anurag Srivastava, said, "If a film maker don't agree to what we say they can go to the tribunal."
Criticizing CBFC's decision, director of 'Lipstick Under My Burkha', Alankrita Shrivastava said, "It is unfair that women are not given space in society."
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