Mumbai, Mar 30: The Censor Board which has been gracing the headlines for all sorts of reasons for a while now, is back to hogging more print with its recently imposed ban on the ban on the release of the movie Unfreedom. The movie has been banned because it centres around the volatile subject of Lesbianism. It isn’t surprising given that the board had recently banned the very word ‘lesbian’ from all movie dialogues. Intelligently the film makers have captualted on the Censor Boards actions and are promoting their movie as one that has been banned and that it is one that people are advised not to watch.
Directed and produced by Raj Amit Kumar, the movie speaks of a girl who struggles with familial bindings to marry a boy and her hearts yearnings for the love of her life who is a girl. Simultaneously the movie catalogues the actions of a radical Muslim youth who arrives in New York with the single minded focus to kill a liberal Musilm teacher. The teacher of Islam, who teaches that Muslim people and Islam are separate from terrorists and that in themselves they do not wish harm upon anyone.
Oscillating between the stories of the two principal characters, the movie talks about their natural identities and how each of them deal with the elements surrounding it. The movie has reportedly been purged of all the scenes that involve nudity, sex and cuss words.
The film, as told by the director Raj Amit Kumar, was rejected by the three major departments of the CBFC – the Examining Committee, the Revising Committee, and even the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal. He also explained that when something like this happens, the only way to gain permission for the movie’s release is through the Court. Raj Amit Kumar confirmed, “I’m making an appeal in the High Court now as the Censor Board cannot tell a filmmaker what to make and what not to.”