A movie that slaps everyone – Lipstick under my burkha | Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak, Aahana Kumra

Two characters from the movie \”Lipstick under my burkha\” speak about their respective problems and one says a dialogue.

\”Do you know what is our problem?

We dream too much\”

This dream these two talk about, along with two other protestants dreams forms the crux of the story.

The dreams of these lead four are as below,

55-year-old widow Usha aunty (Ratna Pathak), after a long life of loneliness, craves for a proper company and so, she dreams of carnal pleasures by reading third-rate romance books (similar to Mills & Boon) and also, she has a phone sex-talk with her swimming coach.
Rehana Abidi (Plabita Borthakur), a conservative Muslim teenager who desperately wishes a life of partying and social company with a huge aspiration to become a western singer instead of being trapped in a tailor shop.
Shireen Aslam (Konkona Sen Sharma). A saleswoman in secrecy, as her hard-hearted husband, who just wants his sex flames satisfied and also, having an affair, doesn\’t want her to work and earn.
Leela (Aahana Kumra), a girl with dreams to be an entrepreneur, forced to marry someone she doesn\’t love and torn between her actual lover and her engaged fiance.

As the movie moves on, we realize we are actually looking at the mirror of our society without any exaggerations and what these ladies call as their dreams are something, they should get as humans born in this time of earth. But, they do not. And the reason behind? We. Our society.

Our society undoubtedly is made up of patriarchal ideas and all that we now call as culture and fundamentals of religions were laid by men with a great insight. To keep women where they belong. And men decided, where women belong.

To start with, our society irrespective of religious or caste segregations has a belief that the honor of the family lives in a women\’s vagina and this honor is upheld, when the women of the family follow the unsaid rules of the society.

These rules changes with time and from a girl who talks with no stranger to a girl who marries the guy their family chooses to the girl who never drinks or smokes to the girl who never parties or has friends who are boys to the girl who never wears clothes considered to be indecent, even if it is jeans or just tight t-shirts to the girl who is virgin until their family decides the wait is over for her.

Be it Usha Aunty who is deprived of sexual pleasure at early age and wants a company in life but never gets to see her \”Raj Kumar\” in her whole life or Shireen Aslam, who daily gets enough dosage of sex but, with no love or romance or Leela, who gets love and sex both but, no freedom to lead a life of her own, every girl in the society is judged by us, and us includes not just men but women too.

As I was watching the movie, few questions occurred to me. To the guys reading this, when was the last time you have asked your partner if they were satisfied in bed when you actually moaned and grunted? Because your left-out questions and concerns make Usha Aunties and Shireen Aslams.

Also, to the girls here, how many of you here have back-talked about a girl, who is open-minded and has a free spirit? because your small back-talks and judgments are actually clipping the wings of someone who tried their best to break the barriers and you make Rehanas and Leelas out of them.

Finally, you realize this movie isn\’t just a movie but a tight slap to every one of us to bring up a change and cut the crap about women-equality already in place. Because we know well that we live in a society where a girl is scared about keeping a profile picture in the social media account and keeps flowers and babies instead.

Lipstick under my Burkha – Not a question to religious fundamentalists but, a slap to the society which we are part of.

\”Why are you scared about women\’s freedom?\”