'Unfreedom' Theatrical/VOD: Banned in Mumbai (But Presumably Not Boston)

Dark Frames awesomely kicks off its venture distributing non-Bollywood Indian films in the U.S. with the banned-in-India future art house hit "Unfreedom." As shown below, the tag line for this film "how far would you go for what you believe"  is very apt. Additionally, the theme of repressed lesbian love makes the May 29, 2015 VOD and New York and Los Angeles (ahead of a larger rollout) releases of "Unfreedom" just before the Pride month of June very timely.

The following clip, courtesy of YouTube, of the trailer for "Unfreedom" offers looks at the range of intense emotions and views around which the film centers. The sense of the exceptional cinematography is a nice bonus.

Writer/director Raj Amit Kumar wonderfully conveys his themes of the extremism and intolerance that sadly mark our modern times in parallel tales (in a manner similar to the recently reviewed Mexican film "Days of Grace") that occur in New York City and New Delhi. The New York story tells the tale of a Pakistani Muslim with good cause for a grudge participating in an uber-violent campaign against a not un-American Muslim scholar; the New Delhi tale, which has its own moments of bloodshed, centers around a 20-something secret lesbian whose stalling techniques regarding moving forward with an arranged marriage to a man are starting to fail.

As seems typical for Muslim terrorist organizations, the Pakistani man is "called up" soon after arriving in New York, His mission (which he must accept) involves kidnapping the scholar and getting him to renounce his widespread message of international peace. The graphic means of persuasion regarding that are extreme to say the least.

Meanwhile back in New Delhi, the impending shotgun wedding finds our heroine fleeing toward the arms of the female acclaimed artist who is her real true love. Things not going as planned leads to some gun play, hostage taking, and a brief Utopian existence before an abrupt return to harsh realities.

An indirect spoiler regarding these plots is that "Unfreedom" being made roughly 8,000 miles from Tinsel Town means that there is no guarantee that that film will produce a Hollywood ending.

On a larger level, "Unfreedom" is among an increasingly rare breed of film that has a blatant bias but provides food for thought while stuffing your gullet with popcorn. Presenting these ideas in the form of a good storytelling makes the entire experience a memorable night at the movies.

Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Unfreedom" is welcome to email me; you can also connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.