The \’Blemished\’ Scissors.

In the infamous satirical film \”Padmasree Bharath Saroj Kumar\”, there is a scene where Kollam Thulsi playing the role of some association secretary is boasting about how important \’ban\’ is in the film industry. Someone who was peeing at the gate of his office is also asked to be banned by him to his sub ordinates. That was a typical Sreenivasan take on this whole ban episode, which has been going on in Indian films for long. The latest additions to the list are \’Blemished Light\’ aka \’Unfreedom\’ and \’Fifty Shades of Grey\’. The people who sit at the top and order \’ban\’ doesn\’t look like they know the pain behind making a film. Film making is no easy job. It is as difficult as any other job in this world. People often say film making is all about fame and money but once they enter the industry and face it, they come to know what it really feels like. You can be the spectator and shout, but to step in to the shoes and act is a different thing.

\’Blemished Light\’ aka \’Unfreedom\’ is a brilliant piece of art from the Indian born American, Raj Amit Kumar. I was fortunate enough to see its first screening at International Film Festival of Kerala in Trivandrum along with the crew. I still remember, after the film, I went to the director and shook his hands. Not a single word came out of my mouth. I was all frozen up by the thrill the climax of the film gave me. It was so haunting that I skipped watching any other movie for the day. I called up one of my professors from ICE in Mumbai and told him about the film and asked him to see it at the first chance he gets. But looking at how things are going, I have started to really doubt whether its going to work, thanks to the Ban board of India. Raj Amit Kumar, who has done a Masters in Cinema and media studies from College of Staten Island, deserve a big salute from every passionate film lover. The way he has portrayed two different subjects in the film with the same mask is just sheer brilliance. He was amply supported by an able cast in Adil Hussan, Victor Bannerjee and co and his technical team had talents like Resul Pookutty, the academy award winner. The film has two strong subjects plotted in two different countries. Terrorism in USA and homosexuality in India. Excellent subjects placed in apt countries right?

I still haven\’t come across the official reason behind banning this film in India but as someone who already watched the film, I guess its the explicit lesbian scenes and the violence which created the issue. But I saw some article which says it is the subject which annoyed the authorities. That sounded very lame because this is not the first film where homosexual is becoming the core element. There have been movies before which dealt the same. That is why I strongly believe it is the scenes which stir the controversy. Porn is very popular in India that I don\’t think people would see a film in the theater to seek pleasure. Moreover, the so called scenes in this film are aesthetically shot. Unless and until you sit with a perverse mind, you are not going to get turned on by any of the scenes. The first shot of the film, if my memory is right, is of the heroine sitting naked in the washroom. The frame, her expression and background music then clearly haunts you straight away. You know you are in for something. You quickly become a part of the heroine and you get the curiosity to know what is happening with her. But arguably, in a country where people sit and watch the rape scenes and news with a perverse mind, this will be enough. I have seen an Eighteen year old from one of the Northern states in India having a huge collection of rape videos and forced molestation scenes on his laptop. When asked, he told me he gets \’unbelievable\’ pleasure from all these. The morality of such Indian men is a debate topic for another day. Coming back, homosexuality is not the only subject the movie deals with. It also deals with terrorism and has got some violence scene. But trust me guys, no worse violence than chopping the finger off in \”Karmayodha\” by Mad Maddy. If this movie is going to be banned on this name, one must wonder how \”Karmayodha\” and other brutal violence movies were released. This is exactly the reason why I think all this controversy come down to one point; the explicit scenes.

If I am not wrong, \’Unfreedom\’ and \’The Blue Room\’ – a French film, were screened in IFFK in Thiruvananthapuram. There was an unbelievable rush for the French film simply because the film book thumbnail had a nude girl lying on the bed. Though the theater was full for the first show itself for \’Unfreedom\’, there wasn\’t a huge rush for the film. It must be noted that in the same film book, the synopsis of \’Unfreedom\’ clearly mentioned the subject of the film. But even the passionate film nerds has the mentality to watch a film seeing the thumbnail and not the synopsis. Thanks to mouth publicity and local newspapers, the second and the third screening of the film were full packed with queues\’ crossing the theater gates. This shows when a film gets good response, despite of what the content is, people will run for it. That is exactly what the makers of \’Unfreedom\’ should do to make the film available to the Indian audience. For this, all of them who support the art of films and also whoever watched the film should stand behind the queue as one and fight for the rights. There is no reason to why this film shouldn\’t be watched by the common Indians. What are the authorities scared of? Do they think that the film would provoke the girls to become lesbians? Well, its not like there aren\’t any in this country! I personally think that the industry should come to a still seeking rights for this film. On any given day, this is a much better film than all the \’Entertainments\’ releasing in all film industries in the country. You simply CANNOT take away the rights of a film maker!

\’Blemished Light\’ was a strong name for this movie but looking at what is happening to the film outside, \’Unfreedom\’ sounds more apt. If this film doesn\’t hit the silver screen, its not only a huge shame to the industry but also to the whole country which speaks high of its rituals and customs.