''Unfreedom: Blemished light'' (Hindi title: ''Dagh Ujala'') is a 2014 Indian

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

Raj Amit Kumar Raj Amit Kumar is a filmmaker and writer known for his socio-political drama ''Unfreedom'' which is banned in India as it dealt with religious fundamentalism and violence against homosexuals. The film was released in the U.S. in 2015, and won ...

, which was released in North America on 29 May 2015.

Faiz Ahmad Faiz Faiz Ahmad ''Faiz'' (13 February 1911 – 20 November 1984; Urdu, Punjabi: فیض احمد فیض) was a Pakistani poet, and author of Urdu and Punjabi literature. Faiz was one of the most celebrated Pakistani Urdu writers of his time. Out ...

's poem, "Ye Dagh Dagh Ujala", is the inspiration behind the film. The film stars

Victor Banerjee Victor Banerjee is an Indian actor who appears in English, Hindi, Bengali and Assamese language films. He has worked for directors such as Roman Polanski, James Ivory, Sir David Lean, Jerry London, Ronald Neame, Satyajit Ray, Mrinal Sen, Shya ...

Adil Hussain Adil Hussain () is an Indian actor who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema and mainstream Bollywood, as well as international cinema, in films such as ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' and ''Life of Pi'' (both 2012). He rece ...

. and

Preeti Gupta Preeti, also: Preety, Preity, Priti, or Prethy, is a female given name in India. Etymology The name Preeti is derived from the Sanskrit word " प्रीति" (prīti), meaning "pleasure", "joy", "kindness", "favor", "grace", "love", from ...

. 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 A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

in New Delhi kidnaps her bisexual lover with the intent of being together. Then the resulting torture and violence evokes a brutal struggle of identities against "unfreedom".

Cast

as Fareed Rahmani *

as Devraj Singh, Leela's police officer father *

Bhanu Uday Bhanu Uday is an Indian film and television actor, best known for his role of Aryan Khanna, in STAR One's television series, ''Special Squad''. He played the role of Dr. Karan in Sony Pal's show ''Hamari Sister Didi''. He was also seen as Raj ...

as Hussain *

as Leela Singh * Bhavani Lee as Sakhi Taylor *

Ankur Vikal Ankur Vikal is an Indian theatre and film actor. Career He graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi in 2000, after studying Architecture at Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He has acted with the Motley Theatre Grou ...

as Najeeb *

Seema Rahmani Seema Rahmani is an American film actress, television presenter, writer, producer, director, singer, event host, poet, and a philanthropist. Early life While her family background links to Pune, India, Seema was born and raised in Kuwait. Her ...

as Chandra *

Samrat Chakrabarti Samrat Chakrabarti (born 22 August 1975) is a British-American film actor and musician of Indian descent. Early life Born in London to Indian Hindu Bengali immigrant parents from Kolkata. He performed in Indian community functions in Boston, ...

as Anees * Danae Nason as Jana * Andrew Platner as Mitch * Danny Boushebel as Malik *

Dilip Shankar Dilip may refer to: People * Dilīpa, king in Hindu mythology * Dilip Chhabria, Indian automobile designer * Dilip Chitre (1938–2009), Indian writer and critic * Dilip D'Souza (born 1960), Indian writer and journalist * Dilip Dholakia (1921–2 ...

as Sameer *

Alyy Khan Alyy Khan (or Aly Khan, ur, ; born 6 December 1968) is a British-Asian actor and host who has worked in Hollywood, Bollywood and Lollywood films and television series. He is known for his roles in the films ''A Mighty Heart'' (2007), ''Tr ...

as Alyy * Kuldeep Sareen as Janaka *

Jatin Sarna Jatin Sarna (born 2 November 1984) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films and theatre. He is best known for his work in ''Meeruthiya Gangsters'', ''Saat Uchakkey'', ''Sonchiriya'', ''Darbar (film), Darbar'', ''83 (film), 83'' and ''Sacre ...

as Janaka's Officer *

Shayan Munshi Shayan Munshi is an Indian actor and model. He made his debut in the 2003 Bollywood film Jhankaar Beats and has performed in award-winning films such as ''The Bong Connection'' and ''Carnival''. Shayan has hosted Television series like ''Cook Na ...

as Anand, Sakhi's beau * Swaroopa Ghosh as Eiravati * Yash Kansara as young Hussain * Rayvin Disla as Jordan * John Castaldo as Morris * Nalin Singh as Jishnu * Bubbales Sabharwal as Dr Malik * Nikki Chawla as Alvina, Hussain's mother *

Kedarnath Kedarnath is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, India, known primarily for the Kedarnath Temple. It is approximately 86 kilometres from Rudraprayag, the district headquarter. Kedarnath is the most remote of the ...

as Fiamanullah * Sudeep Solanki as Jimmy, art buyer * Darlene Heller as Jessica *

Sachin Verma Sachin may refer to: * Sachin (given name), an Indian given name, including a list of people with the name ** Sachin (actor) (born 1957), Indian actor and filmmaker ** Sachin Tendulkar (born 1973), Indian cricketer Films * ''Sachein'', a 2005 Tam ...

as Hiresh *

Manoj Bakshi Manoj Bakshi is an Indian actor who acts in films, television and theatre. He is famous for his roles in ''Bajrangi Bhaijaan'' (2015), '' Delhi Belly'' (2011), ''Jab Tak Hai Jaan'' (2012), ''Gori Tere Pyaar Mein'' (2013), ''Junooniyat'' (2016) ...

as Prithu * Vanya Joshi as Ujas

Production

Hari Nair is the cinematographer of the film with Wayne Sharpe and Jesse Kotansky composing the soundtrack.

Resul Pookutty Resul Pookutty (born 30 May 1971) is an Indian film sound designer, sound editor and audio mixer. He won the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing, along with Richard Pryke and Ian Tapp, for ''Slumdog Millionaire''. Pookutty has worked in Hind ...

did the sound design. Deepa Bajaj, who also was the post-production producer, worked on the publicity campaign and distribution of the film. In India, the

Central Board of Film Certification The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

refused to certify the movie for public release in India.

Censorship

In India, the film was refused certification by the Examining Committee. A revising committee of the

Censor Board The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) is a statutory film-certification body in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India. It is tasked with "regulating the public exhibition of films under the provision ...

proposed cuts to the director,

. He refused and appealed against the Censor Board's demand for cuts to the Indian Government's Information and Broadcasting Appellate Tribunal FCAT. In response to his appeal, the authorities completely banned the film regardless of cuts. The news of the ban gained widespread coverage in the media. In a video released on April 9, 2015 on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

, Raj Amit Kumar states that the Censor Board should rate or certify a movie, instead of banning and offering cuts. He also said that he would keep sending signed petitions to the Prime Minister and Censor Board, until there is a real change. The director is seeking support from people who believe in freedom of speech.

References

External links

* * * * * {{mojo title, unfreedom Films about religious violence in India Films set in Delhi Films set in Uttar Pradesh Films set in Chicago 2010s Hindi-language films Indian LGBT-related films Lesbian-related films LGBT-related romantic drama films Indian political drama films 2014 films Fictional portrayals of police departments in India 2014 directorial debut films Indian romantic drama films 2014 LGBT-related films