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 kill, while a closeted lesbian in New Delhi kidnaps her bisexual lover with the intent to love. The resulting torture and violence evokes a brutal struggle of identities against “unfreedom”. The film features an impressive star cast which includes Victor Banerjee, Adil Hussain, Ankur Vikal, Seema Rahmani etc. National Film Awards winner Hari Nair is the cinematographer of the film. Filmfare Awards winner Wayne Sharpe of Rajneeti and Gangaajal fame, and Jesse Kotansky have composed the soundtrack. Academy Award winner Resul Pookutty has done the Sound Design.
The film has been in the news recently in India as the Central Board of Film Certification failed to give clearance for the movie to publicly release in India. The director of the movie Raj Amit Kumar today released a video where he appeals to everyone to sign a petition addressed to the Prime Minister of India to protect rights of freedom of expression of all Indian citizens. The video questions the functioning of Censor Board and the way it passes imbecile decisions without batting an eyelid.
In the video, filmmaker Raj Amit Kumar states that the Censor Board should ‘rate’ or ‘certify’ a movie instead of banning and offering cuts. He also challenges that he will keep sending these signed petitions to PMO and Censor board until there is a real change.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.