The
Indian subcontinent is a fractious, factionalized region, but the criminalization
of homosexuality is an unfortunate constant. Of course, there are violent
extremists who seek to further impose their strict Islamist agenda on those
they deem unbelievers or apostates. In his split narrative following a closeted
lesbian’s desperate attempt to find love and a Muslim terrorist stalking a
moderate academic, director-co-writer Raj Amit Kumar issues a plea for
tolerance and civility, but finds little of either in Blemished Light (trailer here), which had a special midnight screening
at the 2014 Portland Film Festival.
Leela
Singh is the apple of her senior police officer father’s eye, but she simply
cannot submit to the proper marriage he has arranged for her. The doting but
stern Devraj will be scandalized when he learns Singh is a lesbian, who intends
to win back her former secret lover, Sakhi Taylor, a bi-sexual Indian-American
artist. Taylor holds a downtown hipster image of herself, but she still cares
about how she is perceived in Indian society. Their reunion will be uneasy, but
for Singh the die is already cast, thanks to the video confessional she left
for her father.
Meanwhile,
Mohammed Husain has arrived in New York for a grim mission he whole-heartedly
embraces. He has been chosen to abduct and execute Fareed Rahmani, a prominent
proponent of a more liberal vision of Islam. In his frequent media appearances,
Rahmani argues true Muslims do not go about killing people. Husain intends to
demonstrate otherwise, but first is supposed to extract a confession of heresy.
While
the two discrete storylines never intersect, they are highly compatible
thematically and make it difficult to dismiss the film as mere “Islamophobia.” Clearly,
Kumar and co-writer suggest prejudice based on religion, gender, and sexual
orientation is an issue endemic to the region that transcends demographic
categories.
Blemished also benefits
from the imprimatur of the legendary Victor Banerjee (best known in the West
for A Passage to India and several
Satyajit Ray films), whose mastery of his craft remains unabated. As Rahmani,
he fully humanizes the potential martyr figure (in an uncorrupted sense of the
term), ultimately delivering a devastating punch to the viewer’s gut. In contrast,
Adil Hussain’s Devraj Singh is appropriately intense and decidedly disturbing,
credibly laying the groundwork for some otherwise unfathomable choices as a
father. Bhavani Lee also demonstrates future star power potential and a vivid
screen presence as the complicated and contradictory Taylor.
This
is a film rich in telling scenes, such as the stilted interactions between Husain
and his Americanized support network, many of whom seem to be trying to
preserve their plausible deniability. There are issues here and there, including
an underdeveloped subplot involving Singh’s pregnant platonic girlfriend and an
excursion into surreal imagery that looks quite striking but clashes with the
overall tone of social realism. However, the film’s visceral immediacy demands
an audience.
