''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 ...

by Raj Amit Kumar, 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. Outsi ...

'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, Shy ...

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 r ...

. and Preeti Gupta. 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 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 * Preeti Gupta as Leela Singh *

Bhavani Lee Bhavānī (also known as Bhāvya, Tulajā, Turajā, Tvarita, Aṃbā, Jagadambā and Aṃbē) is manifestation of Adi Shakti (Durga). Bhavani translates to "giver of life", meaning the power of nature or the source of creative energy. She is co ...

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 Gro ...

as Najeeb * Seema Rahmani as Chandra * Samrat Chakrabarti as Anees * Danae Nason as Jana *

Andrew Platner Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is frequently shortened to "Andy" or "Drew". The word is derived ...

as Mitch *

Danny Boushebel Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People *Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer * Danny Baker (born 1957), English journali ...

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), '' ...

as Alyy *

Kuldeep Sareen Kuldeep Singh' is a given name. Notable people with the name include: *Kuldeep Bishnoi (born 1968), Indian Member of Parliament *Kuldeep Kumar (born 1950), Indian politician *Kuldeep Manak (1951–2011), Indian Punjabi singer *Kuldeep Pawar (1949� ...

as Janaka * Jatin Sarna 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 N ...

as Anand, Sakhi's beau *

Swaroopa Ghosh ''War'' is a 2019 Indian Hindi-language vigilante spy action thriller film directed by Siddharth Anand, who co-wrote the film's script with Aditya Chopra, Shridhar Raghavan and Abbas Tyrewala.The film was produced by Aditya Chopra for Yash Raj ...

as Eiravati *

Yash Kansara Yash may refer to: People * Yash (name), including a list of people with that name * Yash (Kannada actor), Indian Kannada-language actor * Yash Dasgupta, Indian Hindi and Bengali film actor * Yash Birla, chairman of the Indian conglomerate Yash B ...

as young Hussain * Rayvin Disla as Jordan *

John Castaldo John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

as Morris *

Nalin Singh Ni'lin ( ar, نعلين) is a Palestinian town in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate in the central West Bank, located west of Ramallah. Ni'lin is about east of the 1949 Armistice Line (Green Line) bordered by Deir Qaddis, the Israeli settl ...

as Jishnu * Bubbales Sabharwal as Dr Malik *

Nikki Chawla Nikki may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Nikki (Barbie), a fashion doll in the Barbie toy line * Nikki (comics), a Marvel Comics character * Nikki and Paulo, from the TV series ''Lost'' * Nikki, the mascot of Swapnote * ...

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 o ...

as Fiamanullah *

Sudeep Solanki Sudeep Sanjeev (born 2 September 1971), also known as Sudeepa, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, television presenter and singer, who primarily works in Kannada films. He has also worked in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. He i ...

as Jimmy, art buyer *

Darlene Heller Darlene may refer to: *Darlene (given name), people with the given name Darlene *Darlene (artist) Darlene Jean Pekul (born 1954, Wisconsin), now just known as Darlene (she legally dropped her surname in 1984), is an American artist and calligra ...

as Jessica * Sachin Verma 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'' (201 ...

as Prithu *

Vanya Joshi Ваня (''Vanya''), a male diminutive of the Russian, Croatian, Serbian, Bulgarian and other Slavic given names Ivan. It is the Russian, Serbian, Bulgarian and other Slavic form of John itself derived from a Hebrew name, meaning "God is graciou ...

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, Raj Amit Kumar. 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 sharing and 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 Google, and is the second most ...

, 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