Konkana Sen Sharma's Lipstick Under My Burkha to be screened at Stockholm

Women are no longer afraid to talk about sex, and have it too. As seen earlier in films like Angry Indian Goddesses (2015) and Parched (2016), Indian cinema, and, indeed, Indian society, seem to be in the throes of a sexual liberation. Joining the bandwagon is Prakash Jha's production Lipstick Under My Burkha.

Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava, Lipstick... premières at the Tokyo International Film Festival and the Mumbai International Film Festival on October 26 and at the Stockholm International Film Festival on November 10.

Starring Konkan Sen Sharma and Ratna Pathak Shah, the sexually liberating comedy will  feature in the Spotlight section at Stockholm, which has a special contemporary theme every year, this year’s being ‘Identity'.

The other films in this prestigious section include big and acclaimed international titles such as Bertrand Bonello’s Nocturama, Mahmoud Sabbagh’s Barakah Meets Barakah, and Garth Davis’s Oscar contender Lion starring Dev Patel, Rooney Mara and Nicole Kidman.

Producer Jha said, "The Stockholm festival is very prestigious and the fact that Lipstick Under My Burkha will be playing in the Spotlight section with the theme of identity just reinforces how global, contemporary and relevant the film is.”

Director Shrivastava added, “Across the world, issues of identity, especially for women, are becoming increasingly urgent. It means the complexity of female desire that the film explores has a universal resonance in today’s times.”

Ratna Pathak Shah believes the film’s theme and emotions are instantly relatable and that is its strength. She said, "Women’s identities are complex, and that's the central theme of our film. Clearly, going by the buzz the trailer has created, that theme seems to resonate deeply with the women of this country and the world!"