Alankrita Shrivastava’s controversial and A-rated Hindi film “Lipstick Under My Burkha” (2017) is now streaming on Jio Hotstar, giving the drama another shot at digital visibility.
The CBFC had initially refused to certify the film, objecting to how it dealt with sexuality and tagging it as “lady oriented.” The decision created a major stir, and the film eventually reached theatres only after an appeal, carrying an Adults Only rating. That censorship battle ended up shaping how the film was talked about both at home and internationally.
Its theatrical business was modest, but the film has lived on through festivals and repeat streaming cycles. Along with the Jio Hotstar release, the title is also available for free on Amazon Prime Video, which gives viewers another way to revisit it. A Telugu dubbed version has still not been added.
Set in Bhopal, the story looks at four women who try to carve out small pockets of freedom in an environment that constantly shuts them down. The performances by Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak Shah, Aahana Kumra, and Plabita Borthakur still hold up strongly, and the supporting cast, which includes Sushant Singh, Vikrant Massey, Shashank Arora, and Vaibhav Tatwawadi, gives the film additional texture. The project comes from Prakash Jha Productions, which backed it at a time when such stories were not common in mainstream Hindi cinema.