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In order for this petition campaign to be successful, and for a real change to happen for all Indians, the filmmaker seeks support from everyone who believes in freedom of speech. India is a democracy and we all have freedom of speech. We are all taught about our democratic composition from our school days. However, the real question is, how much of it do we exercise and...

After 'Unfreedom' was banned from releasing in India, its director Raj Amit Kumar has released a video appealing to everyone to sign a petition addressed to the prime minister, to protect the freedom of expression of all Indian citizens. The video, which was uploaded on Youtube on April 9, questions the functioning of Central Board of Certification (CBFC) and the way it ...

His movie Unfreedom got banned in India by the censor board and that is why director Raj Amit Kumar is asking support from all citizens. He is asking them to voice their opinions about their choices. The director made a video which shows that he is asking the citizens to sign a petition addressing to the prime minister of India about their choices. He also has some advices ...

Unfreedom: Blemished Light (Hindi: Dagh Ujala) is a 2014 English/Hindi socio-political drama film by Raj Amit Kumar which will be released in North America on May 29, 2015. Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s poem, “Ye Dagh Dagh Ujala”, is the inspiration behind the film. The story revolves around a Muslim fundamentalist in New York who kidnaps a liberal Muslim scholar with an intent to k...

During the Q&A session on Jai Ho , a film on music director A. R. Rahman, at the Stein Auditorium of India Habitat Centre earlier this week, a quiet man could be seen signing autographs and posing for selfies. Not many realised who he was till Rahman called Resul Pookutty’s name from the stage. Pookutty won an Oscar for sound mixing in Slumdog Millionaire . Rahman ba...

San Leandro, Calif. — A debutant Indian American filmmaker is drumming up scandal over his feature film, “Unfreedom.” Set to open in the U.S. May 29, the film was banned in India for its inflammatory content. In “Unfreedom” (previously known as “Blemished Light”), director Raj Amit Kumar addresses the topic of freedom by telling two stories side by side — in one, a l...

If wishes were horses, then we would be given a little more time to celebrate the sublime before we are forced to once again condemn the ludicrous. But that is clearly not to be, and less that five days after the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Shreya Singhal case striking own Section 66A of the IT Act, we are gifted the latest act of farcical banning by the cent...

The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) recently banned the release of Unfreedom, a film which features a lesbian relationship, on the grounds that it will ignite ‘unnatural passions’. It also follows a parallel track where a liberal Muslim girl is kidnapped by terrorists, apparently something which the board objected to. Besides knocking on the doors of High Court, ...

The ban on 'Unfreedom' shows us that India has only become more regressive in the two decades since 'Fire' released. India must be the only country where economic progress is inversely proportional to liberalism. Depressingly, this is reflected in our laws, drawn from the antiquated British penal code - from the Victorian era - and applied with few amendments today. Homosex...

“We will soon be living in a world where everybody is frightened to say anything truthful” Rattling many cages and waking up silenced skeletons, Unfreedom is India’s banned film. Boldly provoked are issues of honour, shame, being Indian and LGBTQ, terrorism, violence and control. The film powerfully portrays a number of different lives that may seem very different ...