Adil Hussain-starrer Unfreedom, which was earlier banned by the Central Board of Film Certification due to its bold content, is now available to Indian viewers. The Raj Amit Kumar directorial, which has love making scenes, depicts lesbian relationships, Islamophobia and religious fundamentalism, released in India and other countries on Netflix on Monday.
"I am glad that 'Unfreedom' finds such a popular platform like Netflix after the ban in India and the efforts of censorship guardians in India to stop the film. It also exposes the hypocrisy and divide between reality and fantasy of censorship system in India," Kumar said in a statement.
"There is no way they can control and censor content in digital age, yet, they try their best to choke filmmakers like me who have something relevant to say that makes them feel threatened," he added.
Unfreedom is a contemporary thriller based in a society torn apart by political, religious and sexual turmoil. Alternating between New York and New Delhi, the film combines two stories about religious fundamentalism and intolerance. Based on an original story by Kumar, the project's screenplay has been co-written by Damon J. Taylor. Its technical team comprises Oscar-winner Resul Pookutty, who has done the sound design for the film. It has been shot by cinematographer Hari Nair and edited by Atanu Mukherjee.
Unfreedom was banned by CBFC in 2015 as the film "will ignite unnatural passions and incite rapes and communal violence in India". Last year, the film was under review by the board, which wanted Kumar to cut crucial elements from the movie in order to be shown to the Indian public.
Later, Kumar also appealed to Film Certification Appellate Tribunal. FCAT banned the film without any possibility of cutting or further appeals.
A campaign was also run by the makers for a year during which they did around 100 screenings of the film globally in India and the US, among other countries. Following this, the film was released internationally by Netflix. The film also features actors Victor Bannerjee, Bhavani Lee, Preeti Gupta and Bhanu Uday.
(With IANS inputs)
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