Prakash Jha hails Naseeruddin Shah's support to 'Lipstick Under My Burkha'

Prakash Jha and Naseeruddin Shah

Prakash Jha and Naseeruddin Shah

Filmmaker Prakash Jha has thanked actors Naseeruddin Shah and Arjun Kapoor for joining the '#MenForLipstick revolution' movement, which was kick-started as part of the promotions for his production, "Lipstick Under My Burkha".

"They (Shah and Arjun) did quite a lot by joining the lipstick revolution," Jha told reporters after the special screening of "Lipstick Under My Burkha" here.

"It is very important for men to understand and treat women as equals and respectfully."

Jha called "Lipstick Under My Burkha" a beautiful entertainer with an interesting story and praised its director, Alankrita Shrivastava.

"It was entirely the job of the director to do the casting," said Jha about the film, which stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Ratna Pathak Shah, Plabita Borthakur and Vikrant Massey. It releases tomorrow.

The film had run into trouble with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which had refused certification. When asked about the CBFC's questionable recommendations to films, Jha said the Union government should adopt the suggestions of the 'Shyam Benegal Committee' which has proposed additional categories for classification.

"I am encouraging the government to adopt the recommendations as early as possible. There should be a right classification for adult content and violent content in films, so that viewers can judge beforehand.

"What I see, what I want to eat, where I want to go - those are absolutely my right," he added.

On the issue of nepotism, Jha, without going into specifics said, "Nepotism cannot be liked by any. Nepotism can't be good. We should respect talent more."

To a question about why he was not making a Bengali film, Jha said, "I need to know and understand the language in order to work on a film."