Women-oriented films cannot be denied certification – Lipstick Under My Burkha gets ‘A’ certification [Read order and petition]

Controversial film Lipstick Under My Burkha was last week granted an ‘A’ certificate by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal..Chairperson Justice Manmohan Sarin, along with members Bina Gupta, Shekhar Iyer, Shazia Ilmi and Poonam Dhillon passed the order in an appeal by the film’s Executive Producer, Sudhir Mishra..In an order passed on January 25, this year, the Examining Committee of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) refused to grant certification because,.“The story is lady oriented, their fantasy above life. There are continuous sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society.”.The order also stated that six of the CBFC’s guidelines, which prohibit the screening of scenes depicting: 1(a) – glorification of violence, 2(ix) – degrading women, 2(x) – sexual violence against women, 2(xi) – sexual perversions, and 2(xii) – contempt towards racial/religious groups, among others, were violated..The CBFC’s Reviewing Committee dismissed the appeal on similar grounds, saying that the film depicted women in bad light and that it targeted women of a certain community, which might hurt sentiments..The story centres on the lives of four women, and touches upon the issues of women empowerment, female sexuality, patriarchal society, and marital rape, among others. In the words of the filmmakers,.“It seeks to liberate the women from the shackles, barriers, and constraints, which make them lead restricted lives. In other words, it is a film about emancipation and assertion of women rights, culminating in their liberation and empowerment.”.An appeal against the CBFC’s orders was filed on March 7, and it was heard by the FCAT on March 27. The filmmakers agreed to make certain cuts to the movie and submitted to the Tribunal for viewing on April 3..The appellants, represented by Ameet Naik of Naik and Naik, claimed in their appeal that the CBFC arbitrarily refused certification of the film, without showing how the guidelines were violated, and without suggesting any cuts to the film. This, despite the appellants seeking an Adult certification for the movie..After viewing the film, the Tribunal held that films could not be denied certification on the basis that they are women-oriented..“We are of the view that the Examining Committee and the Reviewing Committee of the CBFC have 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 Tribunal welcomed the appellants’ offer to voluntarily cut short some sex scenes, and directed them to cut short three other scenes. It also directed the deletion of certain cuss words in the movie. Justifying these cuts, the Tribunal held,.“Nevertheless, we cannot lose sight that there is a thin line between creative and artistic expression being depicted in a natural sex scene. The same can be obliterated if the sexual scenes are continued for a long duration which may not be necessary or integral to the film.”.Therefore, the film was awarded an ‘A’ certificate..It is interesting to note that one of the members of the Tribunal, Shazia Ilmi, was not in favour of enforcing the additional cuts. She opined,.“Keeping in mind that the film has been awarded with an ‘A’ certificate, I don’t feel any further reduction of these scenes by 10 to 15 seconds will matter either way.”.Read the order and the petition:.Image taken from here.