''Who Said Boys Can't Wear Makeup?'' is a 2018 English-Manipuri film written, produced and directed by

Priyakanta Laishram Priyakanta Laishram (born 7 November 1998) is an Indian actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, and film editor from the Meitei ethnicity of Imphal, Manipur who predominantly works in Manipuri films. Known for his socially relevant a ...

under the banner, Priyakanta Productions. It is the first

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n film to discuss the subject of men's makeup and

gender-neutral Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, Gender-neutral language, language, and other social institutions (social structures or gender roles) ...

fashion Fashion is a term used interchangeably to describe the creation of clothing, footwear, Fashion accessory, accessories, cosmetics, and jewellery of different cultural aesthetics and their mix and match into Clothing, outfits that depict distinct ...

. The film stars Laishram, Inder Bajwa, Thounaojam Strela Luwang,

Nimrit Kaur Ahluwalia Nimrit Kaur Ahluwalia (born 11 December 1994), also known as Nimrit Ahluwalia, is an Indian actress who primarily works in Hindi television. She won the title of Femina Miss Manipur (2018) and was among the top 12 of Femina Miss India 2018. She ...

and

Bala Hijam Surja Bala Hijam (9 Jun 1991, Imphal) better known as Bala Hijam ( Meitei pronunciation: /ba-lā hī-jam/) is an Indian actress, who predominantly appears in Manipuri films. She is known for her roles in ''Boong'', '' Neelakasham Pachakadal ...

. At the Lifestyle Young Influencer Awards 2018, the film won the Best Multimedia Influencer Award. The film was premiered at St. Regis,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

on 7 April 2018.

Cast

* Inder Bajwa *

* Thounaojam Strela Luwang * Rajkumari Linthoisana * John Oinam

Production

Development

In an interview with ''

Scroll.in Scroll.in, simply referred to as Scroll, is an Indian digital news publication. Founded in 2014, it is owned by SCSN Pvt Ltd. History Background Samir Patil, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumnus and McKinsey & Company associate wa ...

'',

said that the film was inspired by his own experiences as a boy who wears makeup and gender-neutral clothing, as well as the prejudice, mistreatment, and disparaging remarks he encountered. In ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'', Laishram stated that it was through his films that he began to accept himself, after having struggled with bullying and discrimination in school and college for his penchant for wearing makeup.

Filming

The film's

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

started on 29 January 2018. The majority of the movie was filmed in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

Garden City University Garden City University, formally known as Garden City College is a private university located in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Established in the year 1992, Garden City University was formed by Dr. Joseph V.G with other contemporaries like Pr ...

and

. The film wrapped up its shoot on 5 February 2018. Inder Bajwa, a former top model in India, said of working on the movie, "It is an incredibly sensible and essential initiative".

Post-production and release

''Who Said Boys Can't Wear Makeup?'' was edited by Priyakanta Laishram and the music was composed by Isaac. The film had its premiere on 7 April 2018 at St. Regis in

, and in

Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the royal seat of the former Kingdom of Manipur, surrounded by a ...

on 11 May 2018. The film was later released on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

on 28 October 2018 for online streaming.

Reception

Upon release, the film received critical acclaim for its theme and narrative. ''

The Sangai Express ''The Sangai Express'' is a daily newspaper based in Imphal Imphal (; , ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Manipur. The metropolitan centre of the city contains the ruins of Kangla Palace (officially known as Kangla Fort), the ro ...

'' wrote, "Who Said Boys Can't Wear Makeup: A film way ahead of its time". ''Signpost News'' wrote, "Who Said Boys Can't Wear Makeup? succeeds in conveying its intended message in a very slick and straightforward narrative style that writer and director Priyakanta Laishram had adopted. The film has the power to make anyone reevaluate every small error and slur we make inadvertently when speaking to others daily without giving it a second thought". ''Imphal Times'' wrote, "Who Said Boys Can't Wear Makeup is no less than a revolution".

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 15387918, Who Said Boys Can't Wear Makeup 2010s Meitei-language films 2018 short films 2010s Indian films Cosmetics