The debut film of a Florida-based director Raj Amit Kumar titled “Un-Freedom”, starring Adil Hussain and Victor Banerjee in lead roles has been denied certification following several twists. The movie, which is said to be inspired by Faiz Ahmad Faiz’s poem, “Ye Dagh Dagh Ujala”, was initially denied certification by the Examining Committee (EC), and later Revising Committee (RC) had accepted to give it ‘A’ certification with some cuts.
The contemporary story thriller Un-Freedom, which showcased a lesbian love story set in New York and New Delhi, was not certified by the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) after the movie maker approached for solution!
The director criticized the CBFC for not accepting movie, but CBFC has ruled his comments and said that the movie was later studied by RC, where majority felt giving ‘A’ is legible with some cuts.
“What I am experiencing is tyranny, hypocrisy and irony of people… I don’t feel any film should be banned in the country. You can only give strict certification and you can remove certain things or the other depending on that,” Kumar said. He just had seen the heat of ban in India with his first movie. The movie also portrays the religious activities and beliefs.
The film is expected to hit North American theatres on May 29.
The script for this film won the first prize in the 2009 Faculty Screenwriting Competition at University Film and Video Association. The movie has been screened in 4 prestigious international film festivals namely International Film Festival of Kerala – India, Portland Film Festival – USA, Indie Gems Film Festival – Australia and Chelsea Film Festival – USA.