Film

Lipstick Under My Burkha

Name: Lipstick Under My Burkha
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Released: 2017
Cast: Aahana Kumra, Ratna Pathak Shah, Plabita Borthakur, Konkona Sen Sharma, Shashank Arora

Social drama

A sharp, funny film about four women in contemporary India navigating desire, ambition and identity under the weight of family and social expectation. Each character—a widow, a housewife, a young professional, a sex worker—finds small rebellions and large truths. It's warm and human, never preachy, with real bite beneath the humour.

TMDb rating

3.4

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy bold, bawdy comedy that stays sharp about women's private longings, and you like films where frank humour and social anger share the same scene without apology.

Skip it if you want a tidy, feel-good comedy; this one gets raw and uncomfortable in places, and its frankness and bluntness may feel abrasive rather than charming.

What it asks of you: Around two hours, with a shifting tone that swings between sly laughter and sharper moments of frustration, so it rewards attention to the small domestic details that carry each woman's story.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

English Vinglish2012

Gauri Shinde's film about a housewife finding her voice through English lessons. Like Lipstick, it's tender and funny about women reclaiming agency, with Sridevi luminous in a role that lets her be flawed and dignified at once.

But The tone can feel slight if you're looking for harder edges; some moments skew toward the sentimental rather than the satirical.

Raees2017

Vikrant Massey (Lipstick's Arshad) in a gripping crime drama. If you want to see him inhabit a completely different register—morally compromised, intense—this shows real range. Different film entirely, same year of energy.

But It's a conventional gangster story with less character depth. Massey is good but the film doesn't have Lipstick's warmth or intelligence.

Margarita with a Straw2015

Kalki Koechlin in a fierce, unsentimental story about a young woman with cerebral palsy claiming sexuality and independence. Shares Lipstick's refusal to make women's desires into tragedy or inspiration porn.

But Smaller film, less polish. Some viewers find the sexual frankness confronting; the pacing is uneven in places.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Lipstick Under My Burkha

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Chungking Express1994

Both films find emotional truth in the small, overlooked moments of daily life—a transaction, a hesitation, an unspoken glance—and trust the audience to feel the weight of what isn't said.

Wong Kar-wai's kaleidoscopic Hong Kong film about loneliness and connection, shot in neon and rain. Like Lipstick, it captures the texture of ordinary life—waiting, desire, the gap between what people show and what they feel—but in a completely different register: dreamy, fragmentary, visually intoxicating.

But It's formally experimental and elliptical. The plot is deliberately thin; if you want narrative clarity and character arcs, this will frustrate you deeply.

Courage Under Fire1996

Deepa Mehta's radical film about desire between two sisters-in-law. It pioneered the territory Lipstick walks—women's sexuality, family duty, the costs of suppression—with enormous courage and beauty.

But Made in 1996 and it shows; some technical choices feel dated. The emotional intensity is sustained and unrelenting, which some find draining.

Parched2015

Four women in rural Rajasthan, bound by silence, find solidarity and resistance. Like Lipstick, it's about the specific ways patriarchy polices women's bodies and desires, shot with real visual flair.

But It's darker and more brutal than Lipstick. The rural setting and caste dimensions make it weightier; less comedy to lighten the mood.

Kahaani2012

Vidya Balan as a pregnant woman navigating Kolkata alone, searching for her missing husband. It's thriller architecture, but what matters is watching her move through the world with wit and resilience. Different genre, same spirit.

But It's a genre film first. If you're coming for intimate character study, the plot mechanics sometimes override the character moments.

Natrang2010

A Marathi film about a man's obsession with classical theatre. Not about women, but shares Lipstick's fascination with how people create identity against social constraint, with real humour woven through.

But It's in Marathi with subtitles. The pacing is deliberate and could feel slow if you want something more propulsive.

Dear Zindagi2016

Alia Bhatt as a woman in her twenties figuring out who she is. Lighter than Lipstick but operating in similar space—the small permissions women have to give themselves, the friendships that sustain.

But It can feel a bit musing and slight. The therapy framework wears thin; some find it less sharp about power dynamics than Lipstick manages.

Nil Battey Sannata2016

Swara Bhaskar as a single mother determined to educate herself and her daughter. Earnest, funny, genuinely about the mathematics of survival. A film about quiet determination and the dignity of small choices.

But The emotional beats are fairly predictable. It wears its heart extremely openly; if you want subtlety, the sincerity can feel heavy-handed.

Mustang2015

Both trace the specific architecture of control that shapes women's lives—not as backdrop but as the actual subject—and show how women find agency in the margins.

A Turkish-French film about five sisters confined to their home after a scandal, communicating in whispers and coded gestures. Claustrophobic and urgent where Lipstick is expansive, but it's the same urgent question: how do women survive when their world is designed to contain them?

But It's much darker and more pessimistic. The atmosphere of confinement is relentless; it offers no comedy, very little relief. Emotionally exhausting.