AmarSharma-Sensible Nonsense

At last, Lipstick Under My Burkha has been watched. And what a disappointment it has been! The film’s director and producer(s) must thank Censor Board chief, Pahlaj Nihalani for providing the oxygen of publicity to a mediocre and regressive film which came to be hailed by feminists et al as a pro-women progressive film being stifled by archaic value systems held dear by Nihalani and his employers. In fact, that’s one reason I decided to watch it…as a form of protest against this stifling. People’s right to freely express themselves is paramount regardless of the quality of the thoughts & feelings expressed.   The film undoubtedly touches upon a topic that has been a taboo in Indian society – female sexuality. It uses 4 protagonists to drive home the point that like men, women too have sexual desires and feelings which need to be satisfied. Fair enough! It also tells you that these desires and feelings of theirs are suppressed by our patriarchal and feudal value s...

Dear Woman, Today is International Women’s Day. I’m sure you couldn’t have missed it even if you wanted to – with scores of in-your-face  newspaper ads placed by stores of all hues & shades, luring you with so-called discounts on jewellery, sarees, readymade garments, undergarments, food, fun & frolic including a free & `safe’ drop back home once you get yourself drunk at a pub tonight. The same ads are also exhorting the men in your life to splurge on you, shower you with gifts & everything material that’s available for a price. In corners of the same newspaper, you would also come across horrifying reports about women being raped, murdered, molested, sexually harassed at workplaces, beaten inside the four walls of their homes & being driven to suicide for one reason or the other. It’s just that unlike the ads, these reports do not hijack your attention. I also know that listening to the so-called feminists, you’ve come to believe that women’s wo...