Vikrant Massey says CBFC rejection of Lipstick Under My Burkha baffling

Mumbai: After the censor board refused to certify 'Lipstick Under My Burkha' for being 'lady oriented', its lead actor Vikrant Massey said the irony is the movie received its first award for gender equality and not for best actor or director.

While talking to the ANI, Vikrant said, "Previously, issues like cutting some scenes from a movie were raised, but here, they are not certifying our movie. So, this is a far more grave situation. This situation is far more serious."

"Yes, this is an award-winning film, but the irony is that it received its first award in Mumbai in the MAMI Film Festival and that too for gender equality. It did not get any award for best actor or director, but for gender equality and the second award, the movie got was in Tokyo," the actor added.

Expressing his anger, the 29-year-old said being a 'women oriented' film is not bad and if the Central Board of Film Certification is saying ' Lipstick Under My Burkha' is abusive, then they should know that these words are being used daily.

The notice of the CBFC stated, "The story is lady oriented, their fantasy about life. There are contentious sexual scenes, abusive words, audio pornography and a bit sensitive touch about one particular section of society, hence the film refused under our guidelines."

The film won the Spirit of Asia Award at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Oxfam Award for Best Film on Gender Equality at the Mumbai Film Festival. It will be screened in Glasgow on Friday.

This is not the first time the CBFC has refused to certify a film. Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer 'Haraamkhor' was refused certification for depicting an illicit relationship between a school teacher and his teenager student.