NEW YORK: ‘It’s the film they don’t want you to see’, the trailer of the film Unfreedom by director Raj Amit Kumar, proclaims. The two minute trailer gives a riveting glimpse into what seems to be a provocative, excellent film: the powerful and social jarring themes of homosexuality, rape and religious fundamentalism are perhaps some of the most important social issues in the 21st century, in both India and the US.
Unfreedom, banned in India by the Censor Board, will be released in an uncut version in select theaters in North America by Sharma’s newly formed company Dark Frames, on May 29. It will simultaneously be released on digital channels via Film Buff.
The trailer of Unfreedom unveils the juxtaposition of two powerful and unflinching contemporary stories about religious fundamentalism and intolerance. Shifting between New York and New Delhi, one tale follows a Muslim terrorist who kidnaps a liberal Muslim scholar in order to silence him, while the other charts the travails of a young woman whose devout father tries to force her into an arranged marriage, which she resists because she is secretly in love with another woman. The four characters come face to face with gruesome acts of violence in battles of identity, sexuality, religion, love, and family.
The trailer shows an imminent act of rape in perhaps police lock-up. It also has scenes of kissing and bedroom scenes featuring two of the lead female stars.
The trailer also has a scene where police officials uncover a painting of a nude woman, signifying the intolerance that is pervasive in India today, with a move to moral high grounds fast seeping into all strata of society.
The atrocities and intolerance against women in India and the muzzling of liberal Muslim voices in the US is an underlying theme, and to which the audience can immediately connect.
The trailer also gives ample evidence of a film which has been thoughtfully made, with some good actors giving poignant performances.
Written and directed by Kumar, the film stars Victor Banerjee (A Passage to India, Meherjaan), Bhanu Uday (Monsoon), Bhavani Lee, Preeti Gupta, Seema Rahmani (Good Night Good Morning, Loins of Punjab Presents), Ankur Vikal (Slumdog Millionaire, TV Series: “India”), Samrat Chakrabarti (Midnight’s Children, The Waiting City, Walkaway), and Adil Hussain (Life of Pi, Gangor, English Vinglish).
Read an interview with director Raj Amit Kumar in The American Bazaar: http://www.americanbazaaronline.com/2015/03/07/lgbt-rights-in-india-is-battle-of-old-victorian-morality-vs-hindu-fundamentalism-unfreedom-director-raj-amit-kumar/
Coming soon after the controversy of the documentary ‘India’s Daughter’ on the Nirbhaya rape case, which has been banned in India, Unfreedom may prove to be one of the more important social-issue based feature films to come out of India in a long time.