“One child, one teacher, one book & one pen, can change the world”
Words spoken by Pakistani nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai echoed once again loud and clear and this time in Reem Shaikh's voice at the premiere screening of 'Gul Makai'.
Directed by Amjad Khan, and written and researched by Bhaswati Chakrabarty, this movie transcends from the nozzle of Taliban's AK-47's to the power of Malala's pen as she documents her fearful life in Swat, Pakistan.
While Shaikh portrays Malala, and Divya Dutta plays her mother Toor Pekai, it is Atul Kulkarni in the fatherly shoes of Ziauddin Yousafzai who injects the passive rebellion spirit by constantly battling against the system and the rule of Shariya that prohibits girl education.
“The script-it was so good that I just had to be part of the movie,” said Kulkarni to Asian Voice.
Veteran actor late Om Puri also makes a short appearance in the movie, as General Kayani who tries to ensure civilian safety in a terror-stricken Pakistan where girls like Malala are not even allowed to step out of their houses without the company of a male figurehead. From hallucinating about her father's death to being unable to sleep at nights, the movie delves deep into the socio-political problems that plague Pakistan but captured from Malala's lenses.
“I haven't met Malala. But I had opportunity to meet Ziauddin sir, for the first time today and he said he really liked my work and that means a lot. But I really hope that Malala likes our movie,” said Reem to the Voice.
The screenplay pans from misguided religious beheadings, zooming into the paradigmatic shifts in Pakistan's political governments from Benazir Bhutto's assassination to Zardari's resignation and comes to an end with Malala being shot when she was going home from school after writing her exam. But that is not the end of the story. Makers of Gul Makai are already planning to start on documenting and filming the second part of the movie.
The movie premier saw representatives of Pakistani High Commission, British officials as well as members of the UN and IIMSAM (Intergovernmental Institution for the use of Micro-algae Spirulina Against Malnutrition) and Ziauddin Yousafzai, himself.
Meanwhile, the movie that will also be screened at the UN and is slated to release sometime around April this year. However, there is speculation about the release of the movie and inside sources say that the movie is likely to be banned in Pakistan.
