After my millionth web page refresh and a bunch of desperate tweets, it dawned upon me that Alankrita Shrivastava’s Lipstick Under My Burkha (LUMB) was not getting the opening it deserved in Chennai. Last Friday was a big day for cinema in the city. Audiences were looking forward to three films — Vikram Vedha (VV), Dunkirk and Lipstick Under my Burkha (LUMB). In both language and genre, the films were each different from the other, but I bet it’s no accident that the former two opened to several shows across the city, while LUMB had just two shows — just two…and even that was not the most convenient
of timings.
I am no economist but there’s one thing I understand about business — the seller must profit and make the buyer feel good while at it. But it continues to dumbfound me why LUMB, with the controversies and the awards around it, did not get the same footing as the other films. If one were to consider the different factors, LUMB has both the star cast and a strong story. Of course, that it’s an ‘A’ rated film could be a deterrent, but then there have been others with the same censor certificate that had celebrated openings. It cannot be the language — knowing that the Khans’ release to multiple shows in the city throws out the Hindi vs Tamil debate.
That leaves me to wonder if this discrimination is but another way of shutting down women’s voices. Here is a movie that is seeing the light of day after several cuts (literally) and we are adding shows after testing waters to see how well it’s doing. Compare that with the films that fill screens through opening weekend to make back the investment and then slowly disappear as word gets out on how terrible they are. Double standards?
We know by now that sexism, misogyny and the male gaze are sure shot sellers. But when theatre owners don’t use their platforms to showcase films that come without the above and packaged just as well, how will we know if the tides are changing? If we can watch only the films releasing in theatres, how do we ensure what we should watch is not being decided for us in the name of business? Or is it just that we don’t want to make the audiences uncomfortable with a film on women’s desires in their dire everyday lives and instead only feed them star-spoken apologetic feminism that revolves around rape? (Pink and Mom)
Now don’t get me wrong.
I am glad Vikram Vedha released to a stunning number of shows and got great reviews. To have a woman at the helm about a story of two leading men makes all the difference. It’s in the way men reach out for each other, touch, have fun without fantasising, and fully written women characters... LUMB is a story of four women familiar to each of us, peeling away from dual lives to embrace their desires. The difference here too, is that a woman tells it, instead of a man telling it. Till both such movies get equally pushed by the big theatre platforms and are watched with the same awe by the audience, I’m going to get that red lipstick on and keep my mouth open..
(The writer is a city-based activist, in-your-face feminist and a media glutton)