Lipstick Under My Burkha Archives

Growing Up to Be Gazal Dhaliwal, the Transwoman Writer of Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga

This week, screenwriter Gazal Dhaliwal will introduce to the world her most anticipated heroine in Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, the first mainstream lesbian romance poised to go down in Bollywood history as a watershed moment. It marks the end of her decade-long struggle to be “seen”.

Poulomi Das April 15, 2016

Pop Culture

The Secret Sex Lives of our Buajis

More than being an incisive account of the inner lives of four women, Lipstick Under My Burkha is an unflinching commentary on the existence of sexual lives of the elderly.

Poulomi Das April 7, 2016

Pop Culture

How to Get Sex Past the Censor Board

Mirza Juuliet has been lucky where Lipstick Under My Burkha and Begum Jaan have not. Have we entered a parallel dimension or has Pahlaj Nihalani been kidnapped by aliens?

Poulomi Das April 5, 2016

Love and Sex

Buddha Mil Gaya… Why Does the Thought of Old People With Sex Lives Make Us Cringe?

In our movies like in real life, we expect lovers to be young and restless. Indian psyche tutors us that men and women beyond 50 do not need a sexual dialogue or depiction. Aged people and their desires, as a Made in Heaven episode showed us, make us cringe.

Aarti Shetty March 22, 2016

Bollywood

Selection Day: The Brilliant Ratna Pathak Shah Won’t Allow Ageist Bollywood to Slow Her Down

Ratna Pathak Shah is synonymous with layered, evocative performances that acquire a fandom of their own. In the last two years alone, with stellar roles in Love Per Square Foot and Lipstick Under My Burkha, Shah has had a more envious acting resume than any of her younger peers.

Poulomi Das March 13, 2016