By Kavita A Chhibber
Malala Yousafzai is a global name today, and everyone knows the strides the young Nobel Laureate has made around the world with her unforgettable slogan “One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”
Yet, the film “Gul Makai” by director H.E. Shihan Amjad Khan that was screened in Boston on November 10th (co-presented by social entrepreneur Priya Samant Parulkar and Razia Mashkoor, the founder of the India International Film Festival of Boston) keeps you spellbound with the compelling story of Malala Yousafzai before she was shot in Pakistan’s SWAT valley. It also raises many thought provoking questions about women empowerment, domestic and global terrorism, the role of education, politics and religion in the world.
It raises questions about the need for courage of conviction and commitment to social issues, not just from filmmakers and real life heroes, but the community at large.
Who was Malala before that name and fame? And how did the young girl from a patriarchal society that treated women as secondary citizens, come to the forefront and become a global icon?
The answer to her story lies in the fact that it is as much her father Ziauddin’s story as it is Malala’s against the backdrop of social injustice and domestic terrorism.
Growing up in a strict patriarchal society, Ziauddin broke tradition and not only educated his daughter but also other girls like her. It brought immense hardships, ominous threats and ultimately a very close and violent encounter with death for Malala.
It eventually led to the Yousafzai family leaving their homeland, settling down in the UK and still not giving up on their goal of education and empowerment for women.
The hard hitting, provocative film screening was followed by a lively panel discussion moderated by well known poet/writer Sunayana Kachroo. It added to a thought provoking conversation, I had earlier with the actors and those involved in the film.
For Razia Mashkoor, it was not just a financial investment, but also an emotional one. “I wanted to present this film because I was myself curious to know who Malala really was and how did a girl like her become such a powerful voice not just of the South Asian subcontinent, but the world at large.”
“Every time there is a terror attack, moderate Muslims across the globe are praying that the terrorist isn’t another Muslim and then heartbroken to find they are. This story is very important. It proves what moderate Muslims say always, that violence and terrorism has no religion. The Taliban did not spare Malala or her family, even though they were Muslim.”
“They know that education for the girl child is even more important. You educate a girl, and she will educate her whole family. Then where will they find the ignorant, and thus easily influenced masses to become the next generation of terrorists? To see Ziauddin and Malala become the global faces against domestic terrorism, gives me hope that it will make others unite against what is wrong. And realize that it has nothing to do with religion.”
For Priya Samant Parulkar, the offer to bring “Gul Makai” to Boston was given by the distributor Jayantilal Gadha and was a no brainer. “I believe that what Malala did and is doing is becoming a voice of those people who cannot raise theirs.”
“I had started following Malala and her father Ziauddin Yousafzai together after her interview on the BBC,” said actor Atul Kulkarni, “and I thought if such a young girl of 11 or 12 is talking about education, there is someone behind her. And so for me her father Ziauddin was never an unsung hero. It was a great decision by director Amjad Khan to focus on their early years in the Swat valley, and that was a very crucial and trying period of their lives where they were still doing great work.”
The kind of camera work we saw in the film was incredible with several cameras at work, making it seem like the events were happening in real time.
“It was a very unusual way because we mostly use two or maximum three cameras and we never shoot the entire scene together,” said Atul, “and here we had 6-7 cameras in every scene.”
For Atul the entire journey of the relationship between the father and daughter has been fascinating to explore. The fact that the world has recognized their hard work, their fight for education and women empowerment is especially gratifying.
When Sunayana Kachroo mentioned that at times, Ziauddin’s optimism seemed almost annoying, especially in the face of such venom from the Taliban, Atul Kulkarni remarked that optimism was what kept great men like Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and now Ziauddin Yousafzai afloat.
“I have met Ziauddin Sahib in person,” said Atul Kulkarni. “Just imagine – here is this one man who put his family’s lives at stake, fighting against the Taliban. I think it requires a great conviction, a great power within. Because until and unless you have that great conviction and inner power, I don’t think you can fight for what you believe in, especially when you know that your life and that of your loved ones is at stake every step of the way.”
“And it is amazing that even after Malala was shot, the father and daughter have continued doing the work they set out to do in Pakistan, defying death, with the same passion and conviction today.”
“If you try to dig out the root cause of any problem, you’ll find that it lies in the wrong education system. The core purpose of any education should be to produce original thinkers not swayed by tradition and to be aware of all opinions but do that which does not harm anyone.”
“Anyone who is trying to fight an unjust world is creating an example for many other people to do the same and in that respect, I think that Malala and her father are doing something very great. And I am very sure she has inspired other girls to fight for education and their rights and to make it a just society.”
Atul met the parents and while he has embraced the character of Ziauddin, he has also made it his own.
When asked how he got into the skin of the character by Sunayana, Atul Kulkarni responded that it was his job to do so as an actor and he does not believe in spontaneity.
“I am not one of those who will say, I get lost in the character and after the end of the day I am still thinking about the character. Acting is a craft. As an actor, once you are given the script, you read it and talk to the director, you do your research and collect your instruments, put them in place and when the shooting begins you decide which one of your instruments will be used where. It is a technique and even the emotion we show, is all pre-planned. It has to be that way.”
“I am skeptical about the word ‘extempore’, because nothing in the world of acting is extempore. You think so much about the character and the story. Without preparation it is not possible to convey what you want to convey. Of course, there are as many methods as there are actors, but this is my approach.”
The actor par excellence also mentioned that he had read Ziauddin Yousafzai’s memoir as part of his preparation and realized that he was a rebel right from his childhood and overcame many odds by facing them in a very positive way. “We did not show it in the film but he stammers a lot, and he overcame that by participating in debates and winning them with the help of his father.”
“There was an incident where, as a newlywed he did not let his wife walk behind him as was the norm but told her to walk with him. I think he realized very early on that education and empowerment of women was very necessary. And he fought society, his own family, the Taliban, but he made sure that Malala, his only daughter went to school in spite of the threats against his life.”
For Priya to carry the message, of Malala’s story became a key inspiration. “Malala became a phenomenon and continues to stand for education and perseverance. But if we look at the world at large, there are issues everywhere, there is blood shed everywhere, be it the United States or other parts of the world. Peace can and must happen, but who are the players that need to come to the table and make that happen?
It is young voices like Malala’s, and when these voices come to the forefront all of us need to work together to make these voices heard, to give them the support and the platform they need, and the medium of cinema is a very powerful medium. It can really open our eyes and inspire us to learn, and act upon what is important to create a global community where we can live together peacefully.”
Atul Kulkarni was not that optimistic and said he needed to be candid and wasn’t there for applause. He didn’t know if peace could be achieved in a world that was not ideal. “We convert the already converted. We clap and go home. But do the people who actually are for violence come with the people who don’t want violence and is there a conversion? No there isn’t.”
“All we can do is keep on trying by making films like these and tell people the disadvantages of killing each other. But the fact of the matter is that we have been doing this for ages. Just in the last century we fought two great wars and we have not learnt our lessons still. So I think we are here to perish by our own hands.”
Anwar Hakam, a Pakistani entrepreneur based in Boston, added an elegant and eloquent voice to the panel discussion. He has been to Swat valley several times and recalled how fearful people were in the aftermath of Malala being shot by the Taliban. Security had been tightened in the area, and if people had to go from one place to another, they had to register with the security personnel. Before merging with Pakistan, the Swat valley was run very competently by royalty. “Once it merged, the biggest concern was about the justice system.” And it seems it was not unfounded.
Anwar was very familiar with some of the characters in the film and their plight, having met them personally. Many of them died in jail and others are still there. It was a very emotional experience for him to watch the film, because “Everything was exactly as what had been happening in that area. I was there last year and the situation is much better now. But people are still edgy and afraid that the Taliban might come back again.”
I was honored to be giving the closing remarks. The story touched me, not just as a journalist, but on so many personal levels. I am from Jammu and Kashmir and part of the film was shot there. My father was a child of partition with very loving and happy memories of growing up there and being pampered by his parents’ Pakistani friends. He also went to Afghanistan as Military attache and as a young kid spending my early years there, I heard stories of the Taliban being trained there by the CIA.
Malala’s story reminded me of the time, when my son Gautam then 15, came to me a bit irate that he was asked to write an essay about the most life altering experience that had happened to him. As a child of upper middle class parents he did not have anything to say in that essay. And I realized in that moment that the education system in America , considered among the best in the world, and we, his parents had taught him nothing about real life.
So, I took him and my 13 year old daughter Pranavi, to death row. There they met Troy Davis, a death row inmate who changed my son’s life and how he wanted to live it. He became a mentor and an uncle and pushed my son in many ways to better himself. That was real education. Looking at his life and Malala’s I realized that she was having a life altering experience every day and even until recently, my Pakistani friends often said they didn’t know when they step out if they would return alive to their homes.
In his own way Ziauddin is the real hero of the story. He grew up in a strongly patriarchal society where the names of the girls were not even written on their family tree. He gave his daughter the power to believe that her words were important and must be heard. And not just that, he gave a voice to other girls in Pakistan and across the world.
But it was a conversation with his older son Khushal that made me realize what real education should be. On being asked, his son told Ziauddin that he wanted him to be the kind of father who shapes his character. He didn’t want him to be the kind of father who manipulated his mind and told him what to think.
The film was screened for the parents of Malala, and Atul Kulkarni found Ziauddin to be very down to earth… and yet “I could see that he had something about him, a certain inner strength, and tremendous power, that Gandhi had, that made him stand up against the Taliban and for what he believed in.”
Sanjay Singla, the young producer of this film, is a successful entrepreneur.
He had always wanted to do something different on the side. “I got offers to produce masala movies and romantic films, but something made me wait. When a friend of mine introduced me to this project I immediately felt it was the right one for me. I was very moved by the story.”
“Many people said to me, ‘Why did you produce a film about a Pakistani girl and not an Indian?’ I said it’s about the girl’s story and the impact and not about her religion or region.”
“But now that I have had the courage of conviction to make it, I hope it will inspire others to come forward and make such films.”
The response from the Pakistani community in the UK where they had the premiere was very gratifying. But the icing on the cake was the response of Malala’s family. “Her mother screamed when Malala was shot in the film. She said it was like their entire life was rewinding before them and yet they couldn’t look away. There was so much minute research done on their story.”
Anwar Hakam said he was not that hopeful if it will be screened in Pakistan, but the film should be well received wherever it is screened and provoke a dialogue.
For Priya Samant Parulekar, this is yet another gratifying initiative. “As an impact advisor to films, my goal is to bring movies in front of an audience in the US and around the world so they can become ambassadors in the cause they believe in. Malala’s life is one of inspiration, courage and perseverance and we must all learn through her journey.”
Priya says she wants to galvanize the youth by screening movies in the genre of “cinema for change”, and to remember that age should never be a barrier and that every voice matters. Panel discussions open further dialogue.”
For me politics, religion and education are not about dividing us, but to help us think out of the box, as my conversation with Atul Kulkarni came to mind earlier on. Any time you do something that may not hurt others, it is morally wrong.
And I believe that in all the pessimism, there are pockets of people, like me who believe that if we remain ethical and empathetic we can become a global community that can live in harmony, because it is in giving that we truly receive. But we must keep on trying and have others walk our path so when one gets tired the other lifts the other up.
Sunayana put it aptly when she quoted Poet Dushyant Kumar:
Ho gayi hai peer parbat si, pighalni chahiye
Iss himala se koi ganga nikalni chahiye
Mere seene mein nahi to tere seene main sahi
Ho kahin bhi aag par yeh aag nikalni chahiye”
(Paraphrased: “The suffering that has reached its zenith must find release
Like the Ganges flowing from within the Himalayas
If not from mine , then let it begin in yours
But the fire of revolutionary change must ignite
Wherever it finds a willing heart.)
Films like these are an able match.
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