Unfreedom

This movie starts with a bang, but that's the only spark it has. It immediately grabs attention with riveting writing and screenplay, only to squander every ounce of potential in the most frustrating ways. As an Indian moviegoer, the initial intrigue stemmed from its ban, but after watching, it's clear the ban was the only reason anyone cared.

Raj Amit Kumar has taken what could have been a powerful concept and turned it into an outright disaster. The film is a grotesque waste of talent and resources. The hyper-sexualization throughout is not only unnecessary but downright problematic, overshadowing the themes it pretends to explore. The misuse of skilled actors is criminal, forcing them into caricatures rather than meaningful roles. Instead of achieving a balance between reality and fiction, the movie spirals into a confused, pretentious mess.

In the end, this isn't cinema-it's a shabby, self-indulgent art project that tries too hard to shock and provoke without offering substance. It's an insult to both filmmaking and the audience's intelligence.

The director probably thinks this movie is some form of art, probably considers hisself some artistic champ. How sad. The total frame of this movie was terrible. A patchwork of unfinished, unnecessary and overachieving mess.

I found it very annoying.

Here it goes... Those who don't watch it, wont miss anything.

The Idea of the movie was good even if nothing fresh, but the movie making was completely lousy. Acting and Direction both lacked polish and it had a typical B-grade movie experience to it. Nude scenes when incorporated were unnecessary / out of context and felt like they were put there just for the sake of it. The screenplay has way too many plot holes and gaffes. People who are gay or lesbian or bi, they do not run around rubbing it in the face of other people to make themselves feel better. Lack of sophistication and finesse to handle sensitive issues often makes the performing characters look stupid. If you want to highlight some of the most prominent issues of our times, at least a sincere effort is expected.

Greetings again from the darkness. Societal mores are always slow to change, but the slow acceptance of new cultural ideals pales in comparison to the evolution of religious beliefs and traditions, which can take multiple millenniums for even the smallest revisions. First time director Raj Amit Kumar co-wrote the script with Damon J Taylor, and they seem anxious to point out the out-of-step status of Muslims in regards to both pacifism and sexual orientation.

The structure of the film can be a bit tough to follow as a viewer since there are two seemingly unrelated stories, along with the corresponding flashbacks for character perspective. One story follows an angry idealist has he accepts his assignment for terrorism and travels from Pakistan to New York City. Mohammed Husain's (played by Bhanu Uday) mission is to coerce (a word much too nice for his actions) pacifist Muslim scholar Fareed Rahmani (Victor Banjeree) into admitting on video that he is a fraud and not a true Muslim. The other story has Leela Singh (Preeti Gupta) as a frustrated lesbian woman in New Delhi who has refused ten marriages arranged by her devout father (Adil Hussain), and finally runs away to meet her choice of lover … artist Sakhi (Bhavani Lee), whose current boyfriend finds Leela's passion comical – right up until he doesn't.

A running theme for both story lines, as well as the numerous sub-plots, is specifically stated as "It's the choice we make when we are most cornered in life that define us". Solution through violence and torture is consistent through both stories, and as disgusting as the actions of terrorist Husain are, it's the actions of Leela's father that are the most stomach churning and confounding. There are a few shots taken at the power of Wall Street, but the actions of greed don't compare to the more severe and unforgivable actions driven by religious beliefs. The film was originally entitled "Blemished Light", but it's difficult to find illumination in this well-acted film that exposes clouded thought processes.

Unfreedom means to tackle pressing issues of the modern society. It seems like it was supposed to be quite an ambitious movie, and when one looks at its description it really seems so. The picture tells two separate stories: one is about a Muslim terrorist who comes to New York City to kill a controversial Muslim scholar, the other is about a Hindu woman, who is supposed to marry a man chosen by her father, but who is actually a lesbian.

What could have been a moving story, very quickly turns out to be increasingly annoying and very poorly made. The storytelling is quite incoherent, taking leaps without any explanation. This robs the characters of emotional depth, as the movie never stops to explore their feelings. Even the most violent and bloody scenes weren't able to move me, as they seem like something out of a cheap exploitation movie and not what I believe was meant to be a moving drama. This blandness of the characters is also reflected in the acting, which in most cases is wooden even when it should be full of emotion. The only exception is Preeti Gupta as Leela, who is terribly overacting instead.

Almost every other aspect of the movie is similarly poor. The camera is often so shaky it may make the viewer dizzy and there is really no need for this here. The editing is super fast, cutting every 10 or 15 seconds, even in the scenes which are meant to be calm. The music is often too apparent, which is quite annoying. At first I found it sad that the movie could have been really good, but turned out very poor, but then I realised that a picture which is so bad in every possible way never had a chance of being good, even if it tackles really important issues.