Unfreedom | |
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Poster
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Directed by | Raj Amit Kumar |
Produced by | Raj Amit Kumar |
Written by |
Raj Amit Kumar Damon J Taylor |
Starring |
Victor Banerjee Adil Hussain Bhanu Uday Preeti Gupta Bhavani Lee Ankur Vikal Seema Rahmani Samrat Chakrabarti |
Music by |
Wayne Sharpe Jesse Kotansky |
Cinematography | Hari Nair |
Edited by | Atanu Mukherjee |
Production
company |
Dark Frames
69 Productions |
Release date
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Running time
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103 minutes |
Country | United States India |
Language | English Hindi |
Unfreedom (Hindi: Dagh Ujala) is a 2014 Indian drama film by Raj Amit Kumar, which was released in North America on 29 May 2015.Faiz Ahmad Faiz's poem, "Ye Dagh Dagh Ujala", is the inspiration behind the film. The film stars Victor Banerjee,Adil Hussain. 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 to love. The resulting torture and violence evokes a brutal struggle of identities against "unfreedom".
Set in two different cities, New York and New Delhi, the film approaches sexuality and violence head on with a focus on the Muslim and LGBT identities.
In New York arrives a fundamentalist Muslim Mohammed Hussain (Bhanu Uday), imprisoned by his brutal past, on a mission to kidnap and kill a peaceful Muslim scholar, Fareed Rahmani (Victor Banerjee). “The choices we make, when we are most cornered in life, define who we are.” Once they come face to face, the only way out is through a true examination of the bare bones of each one's existence to make a choice.
In New Delhi, Leela Singh (Preeti Singh), a closeted homosexual girl leaves her orthodox cop father Devraj Singh (Adil Hussain)'s home with a mission to kidnap her activist bisexual lover, Sakhi Taylor (Bhavani Lee) and marry her. Not only do the lovers need to come to terms with their own differences, they need to face Devraj, the truth of the society they live in.
Set in the most archetypal cities of economic and patriarchal control, four characters come face to face with gruesome acts of violence in a battle of identities against unfreedom. "Unfreedom" examines the struggle between the powerful and powerless and those who strive to stand against dominating torturing socio political injustices.
Hari Nair is the cinematographer of the film with Wayne Sharpe and Jesse Kotansky composing the soundtrack. Resul Pookutty did the sound design. Deepa Bajaj, who also was the post-production producer, worked on the publicity campaign and distribution of the film.