On Saturday, away from the paternalistic gaze of Pahlaj Nihalani, I went to see Alankrita Shrivastava’s film, Lipstick Under My Burkha. The laughter during the film, which tells the story of four women in Bhopal, was spontaneous, and when the film ended, the applause was generous. Nihalani had found the idea of concealing lipstick under the burkha subversive, as though the lipstick was perhaps a concealed grenade. Like most men shown in the film, Nihalani seems troubled by the assertive identity of the women in the film. They use their strength to hide their inadequacies and wield their power to subjugate the women around them.

Source: Mint March 22, 2017 22:41 UTC