'LUMB' ultimately falls well short on this aspect and the climax has the feel of an under-cooked dish (symbolic of one of those 'shredded novellas'). That's when you feel a sense of genuine gratification.
Is it so hard to make a feminist film without depicting the men as scoundrels (cheating husbands, jealous and instantly-dumping boyfriends, daddies who believe their daughters should be hidden away in boxes)? I think a feminist masterpiece would take shape only when women are portrayed (holistically) on/above par with their strong-willed (and well- written) better halves. Or are they not? While the film raises valid points on freedom of expression (in terms of occupational aspirations, dressing styles, sexual interests or taste in music even) when it comes to womenfolk, it does so at by portraying most of the men characters as vile/rotten/insecure. Wait, all these characters are actually different shades of 'Rosy' - the fictitious heroine of an erotic novel, read by Buaji. She secretly engages in a horny phone- romance with a young swimming coach. Usha Buaji (Ratna Pathak Shah) is in her mid 50s, a matriarch known for her uprightness. Shirin (Konkona Sen Sharma) is a saleswoman by day (which her husband doesn't know of) and sex-object for her husband by night. Rehana (Plabita Borthakur) gets to portray a character that resembles the film's title - a college student who loves to wear bold designer dresses, jeans and sneakers (and of course, lipstick) under the dark burkha she dons while leaving/returning her home (her folks are in the tailoring business).
Leela (Aahana Kumra) wants to run a honeymoon-management venture with photographer (and sexual partner) Arshad (Vikrant Massey) around the same time that she gets engaged to Manoj (the typical groom with 90s Bollywood sensibilities) leaving her in a dilemma on who to choose while going forward in life. The film narrates the tale of four women in a neighborhood in Bhopal. There's more to like than dislike when it comes to the film 'Lipstick Under My Burkha'.