Lipstick Under My Burkha
ブルカの中の口紅
Storyline
The whole story, ending included.
Four women in Bhopal and the erotic paperback that narrates their secret lives; the censor board refused it a certificate for being 'lady-oriented'.
In Hawai Manzil, an old building in the crowded lanes of Bhopal, four women lead double lives. Their stories are threaded through a pulp erotic novel, Lipstick Dreams, whose heroine, Rosy, is read in secret by Usha, a fifty-five-year-old widow whom the whole neighbourhood calls Buaji, aunt.
Rehana, a college student, stitches burkhas in her family's shop, then takes hers off at college, where she steals make-up and clothes, sings, and joins a protest against a ban on jeans. Leela, a young beautician, is sleeping with Arshad, a photographer, and wants to leave town with him, but her mother, who poses nude for art students to make a living, has arranged her marriage to Manoj. Shireen, a mother of three, works secretly as a door-to-door saleswoman; her husband, Rahim, uses her for sex, forbids contraception and is having an affair. Usha, nearly drowned by a prank at a swimming pool, begins lessons with the instructor, Jaspal, and starts erotic phone calls with him under the name Rosy.
Every secret is found out. Rehana is arrested for shoplifting, the boy she likes walks away, and her father takes her out of college to look for a husband. Manoj finds the video Leela made of herself with Arshad and breaks off the engagement. On the day Shireen is promoted, Rahim learns about her job, rapes her as punishment and tells her to quit. Jaspal discovers that Rosy is Usha and denounces her to her family, who throw her novels and her swimsuit into the street while the neighbourhood watches.
Rehana, Leela and Shireen help Usha gather her things from the road. Usha asks Rehana to read her the last pages of Lipstick Dreams, and the four women pass a cigarette between them, their lives in pieces and their futures unanswered.
Starring
Ratna Pathak Shahas Usha Parmar (Buaji)
A fifty-five-year-old widow and respected matriarch who secretly reads erotic pulp and calls her swimming instructor as Rosy.
Usha Parmar (Buaji)’s story
Usha owns the building, and to the lanes around it she is Buaji, the devout elder who arranges other people's marriages. Nearly drowned by a prank at a swimming pool, she is rescued by the instructor, Jaspal, and signs up for his lessons, and when she must give her name she says it: Usha Parmar, not Buaji. She buys a swimsuit and begins phone sex with Jaspal as Rosy, the heroine of the pulp novel she reads in secret. She has Leela wax her and dyes her grey hair black. When Jaspal finds out who Rosy is, he denounces her to her family, who throw her books and swimsuit into the street as the neighbourhood watches. Gathering her things with the other three women, she asks Rehana to read her the novel's last pages.
Konkona Sen Sharmaas Shireen Aslam
A mother of three who works secretly as a saleswoman while her husband controls her body and cheats on her.
Shireen Aslam’s story
Shireen puts on her burkha and goes out selling door to door, so well that her company wants to promote her. At home her husband, Rahim, rapes her whenever he chooses and forbids contraception, so she has had abortions in secret; when a doctor finds an infection and tells her to use only condoms, he still refuses. Meaning to tell him about the job, she discovers instead that he is having an affair, follows the woman home and introduces herself as his wife. On the day she is promoted, Rahim walks in, congratulates her coldly, takes her home and rapes her as punishment, then tells her to quit and stay at home. At the end she helps gather Usha's things from the street, and the four women share a cigarette.
Aahana Kumraas Leela
A young beautician who wants to leave Bhopal with her lover, Arshad, while her mother arranges her marriage to another man.
Leela’s story
Leela runs her own beauty parlour and pitches her make-up, and her lover Arshad's photography, to destination-wedding businesses, hoping the work will take the two of them round the world. Her mother, who makes a living posing nude for art students, has Usha arrange her marriage to Manoj. On the day of her engagement Leela sleeps with Arshad and films it on her phone, and her mother catches her. She begs Arshad to elope; he refuses. At a Diwali fair she kisses Manoj in front of Arshad to make him jealous, and Arshad promises to run away with her, but she tries to get over him and makes a move on Manoj, who wants to wait for their wedding night. Then Manoj finds the video and breaks off the engagement. She ends with the other three women, sharing a cigarette.
Plabita Borthakuras Rehana Abidi
A college student who sews burkhas in her family's shop and, out of her parents' sight, sings, protests and shoplifts.
Rehana Abidi’s story
Rehana stitches burkhas in her family's shop, wears one to college and takes it off there, where she is a jeans-wearing singer who loves Miley Cyrus. To keep up with a popular crowd she steals make-up, then a dress and boots from a mall; she joins a protest against a ban on jeans, and grows close to Dhruv. Arrested at a second protest, she escapes with a warning from her strict father. Then the mall's cameras show her stealing, and she is arrested again; Dhruv walks away, and she learns he got Namrata, the girl who brought her into the crowd, pregnant. Her father bails her out, takes her out of college and has her mother start looking for a husband. At the end, at Usha's request, she reads aloud the last pages of Lipstick Dreams.
Sushant Singhas Rahim Aslam
Shireen's husband, who treats her as his property, forbids contraception and punishes her for having a job.
Vikrant Masseyas Arshad
Leela's secret lover, a photographer with a small studio, who wavers over whether to run away with her.
Why it matters
Lipstick Under My Burkha is about four women who can only want things in secret: a student's jeans and songs, a beautician's escape, a wife's paid work and her say over her own body, a widow's late desire. What it shows is how swiftly each secret is punished once it is found, and how completely the punishment is left to husbands, fathers and neighbours. Its release became part of its subject. India's Central Board of Film Certification refused it a certificate in 2017, saying, as the Guardian reported, that 'the story is lady-oriented, their fantasy above life'; an appeals tribunal cleared it for adults, with cuts, ruling that there could be no embargo on a film being women-oriented. It had already won the Spirit of Asia Prize at the Tokyo International Film Festival. The ending leaves only one thing standing: four women, together, sharing a cigarette.