Showing posts with label Raj Amit Kumar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Raj Amit Kumar. Show all posts
I'm a 100 per cent practicing heterosexual-Unfreedom actress Preeti Gupta
7:46 AM
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 16, 2015)
When
Preeti Gupta signed Raj Amit Kumar's film, Unfreedom, that addresses
homosexuality, and corrective rape and violence within the LGBTQ
community, the New York-based actress knew that she will be courting
controversy.
The film was banned in India in January. But last week, she addressed a group of over 500 students who'd just watched the film at IIT Powai. "It was overwhelming to see an audience mature enough to understand that lovemaking is poetic," says the actress who plays Leela Singh. "The film was well-accepted at the Queer Film Festival in Mumbai last year and the makers are hoping we can re-apply for a release this year."
Meanwhile, after a screening at a suburban theatre for the LGBTQ community, Preeti was asked if she is gay. "I'm a 100 per cent practicing heterosexual," she smiles.
The film stars Adil Hussain as a strict, middle-class patriarch and Bhavani Lee as Leela's lesbian lover. It released in the US in May and the producers are hoping to open in Australia and the UK next.
The film was banned in India in January. But last week, she addressed a group of over 500 students who'd just watched the film at IIT Powai. "It was overwhelming to see an audience mature enough to understand that lovemaking is poetic," says the actress who plays Leela Singh. "The film was well-accepted at the Queer Film Festival in Mumbai last year and the makers are hoping we can re-apply for a release this year."
Meanwhile, after a screening at a suburban theatre for the LGBTQ community, Preeti was asked if she is gay. "I'm a 100 per cent practicing heterosexual," she smiles.
The film stars Adil Hussain as a strict, middle-class patriarch and Bhavani Lee as Leela's lesbian lover. It released in the US in May and the producers are hoping to open in Australia and the UK next.
Undeterred by ban, Unfreedom shown in Mumbai to 400 students of IIT
7:52 AM
Subhash K Jha (DNA; May 13, 2015)
Raj Amit Kumar’s hugely controversial film about a
lesbian runaway bride in Delhi and terrorist’s torture of a pacifist
Islamic intellectual in New York has been banned outright by India’s
Censor Board. But the director is undeterred as he screens the film all
over the world.
Raj screened the though-provoking film at the Indian Institute Of Technology in Mumbai on May 8 to an immensely attentive and responsive audience. He says, “The screening was a private one, for students of the IIT only. There were 400 students present and everybody was fully engaged and absolutely loved the film. The Q&A lasted longer than an hour.”
Seeing the positive response to the film, Raj wonders at the wisdom of preventing youngsters from seeing cinema about the harsh truth of life. “The Censor decides that these kids don’t know how to handle tough subjects and films! Our young breed is very aware of the world and its reality. They don’t need to protected and mollycoddled.”
Raj now takes Unfreedom for a screening in New York on May 29. “Any film can be screened publicly in the US without an American censor certificate.My Unfreedom has the freedom to be screened fearlessly on American soil. But not in my own land,” rues Amit.
Censor Board bans film on gays, claims it'll ignite 'unnatural passion'
8:56 AM
Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 28, 2015)
Days
after India voted against gay rights for the United Nation employees, a
film called Unfreedom which explores homosexuality, has been banned by
the CBFC.
The film is the story of a young girl who resists a forced arranged marriage to unite with her lesbian partner. The nudity and lovemaking scenes of the female protagonists, irked the Board.
Add to it a parallel story line which revolves around a liberal Muslim kidnapped by a terrorist and the CBFC was up in arms.
Speaking from the US, the director Raj Amit Kumar told Mirror, "The two stories are juxtaposed and the film challenges the idea of religious fundamentalism and questions its connection with homosexuality which is a biting reality of India."
He added that the film was refused by both the Examining Committee and the Revising Committee. "They plainly told me that after watching the film, Hindu and Muslims will start fighting and will ignite unnatural passions. I was aghast as my film is not provocative."
The filmmaker then appealed to the Film Certification Apellate Tribunal (FCAT) but this time too, he was denied a certificate. "I'm making an appeal in the High Court now as the Censor Board cannot tell a filmmaker what to make and what not to,"said the filmmaker.
The film is the story of a young girl who resists a forced arranged marriage to unite with her lesbian partner. The nudity and lovemaking scenes of the female protagonists, irked the Board.
Add to it a parallel story line which revolves around a liberal Muslim kidnapped by a terrorist and the CBFC was up in arms.
Speaking from the US, the director Raj Amit Kumar told Mirror, "The two stories are juxtaposed and the film challenges the idea of religious fundamentalism and questions its connection with homosexuality which is a biting reality of India."
He added that the film was refused by both the Examining Committee and the Revising Committee. "They plainly told me that after watching the film, Hindu and Muslims will start fighting and will ignite unnatural passions. I was aghast as my film is not provocative."
The filmmaker then appealed to the Film Certification Apellate Tribunal (FCAT) but this time too, he was denied a certificate. "I'm making an appeal in the High Court now as the Censor Board cannot tell a filmmaker what to make and what not to,"said the filmmaker.
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