Alankrita Shrivastava on how she tried to explore modernity, tradition, desire and ambition in Lipstick Under My Burkha

Lipstick Under My Burkha was a film that did not shy away from touching upon some important themes of repression, desire and more though its unapologetic story of womanhood. Even six years after its release, the film remains a memorable taboo breaker in Indian cinema. Writer-director Alankrita Shrivastava opened up about the film and what she wanted to explore through its story.

In conversation with The Indian Express, Alankrita spoke of how the four central protagonists were women with different kinds of desires, which they tried to suppress. The filmmaker had tried to depict how women tried to be there for each other in small, real and practical ways. She said that she had tried to represent the same through a ‘more lived in lens’. “The aim was to just constantly explore modernity and tradition, and desire and ambition; how that kind of plays out between these women”, she said.

The film featured Ratna Pathak portraying a widowed middle aged woman who starts to have feelings for a swimming instructor. In order to get close to him, Ratna’s character decides to take up swimming lessons. Alankrita opened up about the scene, speaking of how stressful it was as they had to finish it within two days before they lost access to the pool. Saying that Ratna’s character was not inspired by any one person, Alankrita said that lots of elderly people still held on to the stereotype that they are not to have any sense of sexuality.

Recounting the film’s premiere in Japan, the filmmaker spoke of a moving experience where a woman had approached her after the screening. She had touched her heart, put her hands on Alankrita and started sobbing. The filmmaker said that had lovely memories of shooting the film despite the hectic schedule. She added that she was eternally grateful to Ratna, Konkona Sen Sharma, Aahana Kumra and Plabita Borthakur, for making the film happen.

Lipstick Under My Burkha is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.