Give A certificate to ‘Lipstick...’, tribunal directs censor board
The Film Certification Appelate Tribunal (FCAT) has directed the Central Board Film Certification to grant an “A” certificate to the Hindi film Lipstick Under My Burkha with voluntary and some additional cuts.
FCAT was of the view that the examining committee and revising committee of the CBFC have “misdirected themselves in denying certification” on the ground that the story of the film is women-oriented.
“After the voluntary cuts and additional cuts as directed, the The FCAT directed the CBFC to grant an ‘A’ certificate to the Hindi film Lipstick Under My Burkha,” sources said.
There cannot be any embargo on a film being women-oriented or containing sexual fantasies and expression of the inner desires of women.” The appeal
Tribunal says examining and revising committees of the CBFC have ‘misdirected themselves in denying certification’ to the film Lipstick Under My Burkha on the ground that the story of the film is women-oriented
against denial of certificate for the film by the CBFC was filed by Alankrita Srivastava and Prakash Jha, the director of and the producer of the film.
“In addition to the voluntary cuts offered by the appellant, the FCAT suggested reductions or deletions to be carried out to reduce the sex scenes without affecting in any manner the projection and substance of the scene or in any manner affecting the basic film. It essentially would mean not showing a prolonged sex act which is even otherwise not in conformity with the guidelines requiring such scenes to be kept the minimum,” sources added.
The FCAT, headed by Justice Manmohan Sarin (Retd), has found merit in the submissions made by them against the orders of the CBFC’s examining and revising committees.
The FCAT found that there was no violation of guideline No. 2(xii) as neither the visuals nor the dialogues are contemptuous of racial, religious or other groups.
There was no targeting of women of certain community or religion, the statement added. The FCAT observed that it is undoubtedly true that in this film, the script contains certain abusive and cuss words. It also has depiction of sexual acts. However, the same are integral and germane to the characters and the story.