Yes, I am a citizen of India and the fundamental rights endow me with freedom of speech and expression but can I depict reality in my thoughts and expressions through words or any other medium? Unfortunately NO! I cannot talk on issues based on actual instances. Not only this, I cannot even use media and art to illustrate what people of my nation actually witness.
I recently watched Unfreedom Movie. A friend suggested it to me and the minute the movie got over, tears rolled down my cheeks. It definitely left me awe stricken. I knew that religious terrorism and the LGBT rights are the biggest topics of deliberation everywhere but somebody could portray them in such an exquisite manner… was never conventional!
In spite of the brilliant storyline, award winning script, critically acclaimed acting, Cinematography by national award winning Cinematographer Hari Nair and Sound Designing by Oscar winning Resul Pookutty, the movie has been banned in India. Our censor board simply refused to pass the film thinking it’s too much for our audiences to handle. Can someone please get an answer from them what about kid’s movies in India that use absurd languages? What about the clearance given to item numbers that objectify women? Isn’t it the hypocrisy of Indian Censor Board?
It is even more distressing to imagine yourself in the shoes of the director of this movie, who wanted to depict sheer facts. Who wanted to showcase the truth through the powerful medium of cinema. But the freedom has been brutally curbed.
Well it’s hard to decide without watching, but if you want to watch this film or think this movie should release in India then you can sign the petition against censorship and also to reverse ban on Unfreedom…
According to a leading website Unfreedom is amongst the top 15 movies that is a must watch but banned.
Even after all these high hurdles the team is working towards conducting screenings at colleges, art spaces and parallel venues so that this important story reaches out exponentially to more and more people. They are also specifically working towards screening at law colleges so that the students can understand the legal aspect of it and maybe someday fight for absolute freedom of speech & expressions.
In all the screenings so far, especially at IIT Mumbai the movie received tremendous response. To make it more interesting, Raj Amit Kumar does a question answer session with the viewers after every screening so that the perspective is more clear plus it’s rare for audience to know the movie and story from the person who actually put in his heart in making it.
It’s not about what be released or what is culturally right or wrong. For me as a human it’s all about personal happiness with equality being the most important concern. Commencing hatred or war is not a solution for every distress. Restraining people from not being themselves is not the outcome. All we need is a little sense of equality for all. I’m not forcing anyone to watch this movie right now but just think why stop somebody if there’s no guilt attached to it.
Yes, we belong to a country where being a Muslim means direct connection to terrorism. We live in a country where loving the person of the same sex or different caste is considered a crime. When at one point our so called representatives say they have no roles to play in personal lives of individuals why take life changing decisions for them.
UNFREEDOM, indeed is a must watch movie and a film that perhaps shook the Censor board to its limits of being adamantine, resulting a ban!
And for those of you who need a glimpse, here is the trailer of the movie.
By: Ashna JD
