Gul Makai

<p>The film portrays the life of , focusing on her experiences in the of northwestern and her advocacy for education rights, particularly for girls and women. In 2009, the took control of the Swat Valley and imposed strict restrictions, including banning girls from attending school. During this period, Yousafzai began writing under the pseudonym “Gul Makai” for the website, where she documented the challenges faced by girls in accessing education under rule. Yousafzai’s advocacy for education drew international attention and recognition. However, her activism also made her a political target. In 2012, she survived an attempt by a gunman, an event that further amplified her message on the global stage. H.E. Amjad Khan decided to make a film on Yousafzai’s life and advocacy in 2012 following her assassination attempt. After the film was announced, spent four years researching and writing the script. Several hundred actresses auditioned for the role of Malala; 16-year-old Bangladeshi student, Fatima Sheikh, was initially cast. However, safety concerns arose due to backlash from religious extremists and Sheikh had to withdraw. The role was then given to child actress Reem Shaikh. Veteran actors , , and Arif Zakaria were cast in supporting roles. Khan stated that physical resemblance to the characters’ real-life counterparts was a key casting consideration. began production in late 2016, filming on location in (Gujarat) and . Filming in , however, was delayed due to ongoing conflict in the region. Filming resumed and concluded in January 2018. The film was edited by -winning editor, Praveen Angre, and included extensive work to recreate the landscape and combat scenes. The film’s score was composed by . The title song was written by , and the remaining songs were written and composed by H.E. Amjad Khan. Udita Jhunjhunwala of gave the film 1 out of 5, writing, “Gul Makai is well-intentioned but as a film, it flails about, overusing background music, abruptly ending scenes, not convincingly recreating an environment and shortchanging its subject. The script feels like a compilation of information culled from news clippings, Wikipedia, and books on Malala. Best to go straight to the source material and bypass this ennui.” Devesh Verma of gave the film 2 out of 5, writing, “There is a clip from a speech by the real Malala at the end credits which offers more impact about education of girls worldwide than this two hour film because it showed a person’s burning desire to bring about a change.”</p>