DT e-Paper Saturday 09 September 2017

22
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2017
DT
Showtime
Provocative, not empowering
A review of Lipstick under my Burkha
• Farhat Alam Brishty
If you want to see a film making
a statement about the society’s
repression of women, you will
not be disappointed by Alankrita
Shrivastava’s Lipstick Under
My Burkha. But if you want
to watch a film that sensibly
portrays women’s real struggles
in the society, if you want to see
a powerful womens’ uprising or
at least their rational efforts to
overcome the struggles, if you look
forward to something that will
motivate the women and move
the audience regardless of their
genders, then, sadly, you will be
fairly disappointed by the film.
I definitely do not intend to
belittle the makers’ efforts to raise
voice against the traditionally
male dominated society, especially
because of the fearless attempt
at portraying unorthodox women
characters and the brilliant
execution by the actors. However,
not all women dream of casual
sex as most of the characters in
the film suggest. Of the many
forms of repression women have
to suffer from, sexual repression
is definitely one; but the film
focuses on sex rather excessively
which makes the film lose its
authenticity.
Buaji, played by Ratna Pathak,
is a 56 year old widow, someone
the people of her society look up
to. She is so involved in playing
the role the society has assigned
to her, that when someone asks,
she struggles to remember her
real name for a second. But she is
also the same person who reads
erotic novels, hiding them behind
religious books, seeks sexual
pleasure from a younger man and
has clandestine phone flirtations
with him. A tricky character
as this is played by Pathak so
smoothly and realistically, that
it would force you to reconsider
your pre-set notions of elderly
women around you. Deciding
to play a “risky” character like
this in itself is brave, and Ratna
Pathak went on to make this role
one of the best performances of
her career.
Likewise, other protagonists of
the film like Leela, Rehana, and
Shireen are victims of societal
repression too. Except for Shireen,
the rest of the characters find
their comfort in casual sex,
smoking, drinking, cheating, and
stealing – all in secret. This could
be Alankrita Shrivastava’s way of
expressing the reality that women
have to do what they want to
do by unfair manipulation in a
society that constantly suppresses
them. That being said, this
statement cannot be appreciated
simply because of the means of
expressing it – violation of basic
human ethics.
I wish the makers would answer
a simple question: how does
smoking cigarettes actually make
any man or woman liberated?
Another important point to
note is, the film shows almost no
member of the male species to be
supportive of women, to be kind,
just or loyal. The most important
factor, though, is that none of the
women protagonists actually take
a fair, brave attempt to change
their fate. The film shows the
negative consequences of the
womens’ supposed rebellious
acts – which only demotivate the
female audience. The film could
have intended not to preach any
message but show what goes
on with the women behind the
curtains or “under the burkha” –
but this very fact makes the film
confusing in itself, though the
film is undoubtedly a courageous
piece of work. Lastly, the brilliant
performances by Konkona Sen
Sharma, Aahana Kumra, Plabita
Borthakur and most importantly,
Ratna Pathak make the film worth
a try. •
Jake Gyllenhaal to receive
Golden Icon Award at Zurich
• Showtime Desk
American actor Jake Gyllenhaal
will receive the Golden Icon Award
for lifetime achievement at the
Zurich International Film Festival
this year.
The Academy Awards
nominated actor will attend the
Zurich festival with his latest film
Stronger, in which he is playing the
role of Boston marathon bombing
survivor, Jeff Bauman. Directed
by David Gordon Green, Stronger
will have its world premiere in
Toronto, on September 8, and will
screen on October 3, in Zurich. The
13th Zurich Film Festival will run
from September 28 to October 8.
After his breakout performance
as “Donnie Darko” in 2001,
Gyllenhaal has been counted
as one of the greatest actors in
his generation. His embrace
of complicated and troubled
characters —a closet gay man
struggling with love and identity
in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain,
a psychotic ambulance chasing
video journalist in Dan Gilroy’s
Nightcrawler — has been rewarded
with both critical and commercial
acclaims.
Gyllenhaal recently wrapped up
shooting for Wildlife, Paul Dano’s
directorial debut, in which he stars
alongside Carey Mulligan. His
upcoming productions include The
Sister Brothers, and the Englishlanguage
debut of French director
Jacques Audiard, titled Rust and
Bone.•