Naseeruddin Shah has said that he is not sure why Lipstick Under My Burka had trouble with the CBFC, but thinks it’s because the Censor Board has problems with the portrayal of women’s sexuality.
A report in the Hindustan Times quotes the actor saying, “I really don’t know what problem they had with the film. I think they have a problem with female sexuality being portrayed on screen. What the film’s success has done is that it has shown the Censor Board up, and what they thought about the film. I have seen the film twice, and it’s a wonderfully made film that talks about what’s going on in society. I don’t know why the Censor Board had a problem with that.”
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Naseeruddin’s wife, Ratna Pathak Shah, is one of the stars of the film. Commenting on the delay in certification for the film, and Nihalani’s remarks that the film was “lady oriented”, Naseeruddin Shah said, “One has to ask a psychiatrist as to why they are afraid of female sexuality on screen. It’s very frightening to see that the Censor Board can do whatever it wants and practise its biases openly and ban films that it doesn’t like.”
“For starters, they are supposed to give a film a certificate; they are no authority to ban a film, or stay its release. But then they claim to be someone who can do that. Their narrow-minded approach affects the film industry. But nothing has been done about it,” he added.