Malala’s consent not taken for biopic ‘Gul Makai’

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Biopics are the new trend in Bollywood considering their popularity.

A biopic, titled Gul Makai, on the Nobel peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai, the courageous Pakistani activist who defied Taliban, is currently in the works. The first motion poster of the film was released in early July while the name of the biopic, Gul Makai, is the pseudonym Malala used while writing blogs for BBC Urdu during the Taliban rule.

The director of the film Amjad Khan is a recent interview said that making a biopic on a person whose life’s story is out in the public is very challenging.

Speaking on the challenges he faced to make Gul Makai, Khan said, “I would say it is tough to make a biopic when people know the main story of an individual that I am making a film on. After Malala was attacked, how she survived and continued her journey thereafter is known to people, because everything has been documented afterward.”

“So, I started my story in the film with the back story of how the Taliban took control over Pakistan’s Swat Valley and how that affected children of that area, including Malala.”

Yousufzai was shot by Taliban terrorists for raising voice on the right to education of children, in October 2012. She survived the attack and eventually went on to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to bring about peace and positive change in the world.

Currently a student at the Oxford University, Malala is a popular figure around the world. She is also a founder of the Malala Fund, a non-profit organisation and the co-author of I am Malala, an international bestseller.

‘Gul Makai’s’ poster

Khan says he went through research for two years along with a Pakistani author before he finalised the script as he was extra cautious about everything.

“I have shown things exactly the way they happened, and yet it is not a documentary but a good watch. I had to find the balance as I had to be factually correct and at the same time entertain,” he said.

Asked if he took the permission of Yousafzai or her family, Khan said: “No, I haven’t. But I think she and her family know that an Indian film director is making a film about her. But yes, I wish to show her the film once the film is ready.”

Khan further said that he has decided to donate the first day worldwide theatrical collection of the film to the Malala Fund to support the cause of children education.

The film, featuring Reema Shaikh in the key role, also features Divya Dutta and late Om Puri in a pivotal role. It is scheduled to release at the end of this year.