No Easy Walk To Freedom Movie Review

No Easy Walk to Freedom is a documentary that shows the difficult life of the LGBTQ+ community in different parts of India. Associate Professor Nancy Nicol from York University is the producer and director of the documentary. Shakeb Ahmed is the cinematographer. The Naz Foundation India Trust in Delhi (India) shared a partnership during the documentary’s filming.

Plot

The documentary attempts to raise awareness about the struggle against the re-criminalisation of IPC Section 377 by the Supreme Court of India. This decision of the Supreme Court to reinstate the law that criminalizes the LGBTQ+ community in India took place after this age-old law was struck down by the Delhi High Court in 2009 during the Naz Foundation case. The IPC Section 377 is based on an 1861 law dating back to the days of the British Raj in India, which stated that ‘carnal knowledge against the order of nature’ is an act of crime. So, the documentary sheds light on the struggles of the various lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) organizations in contemporary India to get the law repealed.

Star Performance

The documentary tells the plight of the queer community in India through the voices of various social activists and community leaders. These explanations of real life incidents set the grave and tensed mood of documentary. Such a tone helps in emphasizing on the seriousness of the problems in the Indian society regarding gender and sexual orientation.

Analysis

The documentary tries to measure the depth of the struggles by using the voices of HIV AIDS workers, queer community activists, legal consultants, and numerous community leaders. The movie is shot in Indian cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Lucknow, and some parts of rural India. Thus, the film shows the various struggles faced by the LGBTQ+ community members in different parts of India. The variety in location and society helps in making the instances relatable to a wider audience. This documentary is important as a source of information on the bullying and discrimination faced by the supposed “criminals” of society.

What’s There?

• The documentary not only presents an Indian perspective of the issues but also focuses on the impact of British views which have influenced the Indian law-making process.
• This film shows that the law under Section 377 has an effect on the whole society and that it is not only an issue for the members of the LGBTQ+ community.
• The documentary tells about the fight of the activists and the community members against the discrimination faced in every sphere of life- health care, women’s rights, general equal rights, and family problems.
• Producer Nicol also highlights the open-mindedness of ancient Indian culture which accepted homosexuality.
• It shows the shift in the mentality of the Indian society regarding homosexuality under the impact of imperialism and colonialism.

What’s Not There?

• The instances included in the documentary are restricted to places in India.
• The lack of foreign cases or testimonies may alienate the foreign audience.

Verdict

The documentary makes a bold attempt to bring forth a pressing social issue of discrimination against and criminalization of homosexuality in contemporary India. It not only exposes the regressive thoughts and ideals of Indian society but succeeds in doing that by using authentic and original narratives of incidents from primary sources. This aspect itself makes the documentary engaging and interesting. This documentary does a particularly good job of handling such a sensitive issue and presenting it in an intriguing way.