Filmmaker Amjad Khan, who is making a film on the teenage education activist from Pakistan Malala Yousafzai, may shoot some parts of the film in Kanpur if everything goes as per his plan.
Actor Shahbaz Bajwa, who is playing the role of an Afghani extremist in the film, confirmed the news and said that the filmmaker will be coming to Kanpur to finalize the locations. “He is planning to shoot in areas like Chamanganj and Beconganj as they are somewhat similar to the illegal weapon market of Swat valley that is situated at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Amjad is aware that shooting a film in these areas is going to be very difficult because of their space constraint, but he still wants to do it for the realistic value he wants in his film,” added the Kanpurite actor.
When Amjad Khan was contacted, he said, “My film is a tribute to Malala and her bravery. She has proved that age makes no difference if you really believe in fighting for the right thing.” He went on to say that they will shoot in Kanpur for at least 15 days and shoot is supposed to start from May 22 or 24. “I will be going to Kanpur soon to sort the administrative permissions needed to shoot,” he said.
The filmmaker still sticks to his decision of safeguarding the identity of the girl who will be playing Malala, for security reasons. “Danny, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, KK Menon and Seema Biswas are actors who are playing prominent roles in this film. However, I will not reveal the identity of who is playing Malala yet. We would be shooting in Bhuj, Iran and the USA, apart from Kanpur,” Khan added.
The filmmaker also announced that he has decided to donate the first day collections of the film to Malala’s school in Swat district.
