NEW DELHI: An Indian filmmaker is making a movie about Pakistani schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who is recovering in Britain from injuries inflicted by Taliban gunmen.
A girl holds a portrait of Malala Yousufzai during a rally held to observe "Malala Day" in Karachi on Nov 10. EPA
Director Amjad Khan said all the cast of his film except the lead actor had been finalised, but he would not reveal their names for security reasons, the Times of India reported on Saturday.
"I don't see her as a woman or a girl, I see her as a revolution. She was all of 15, and yet, was a beacon of hope for millions of women the world over," Khan was quoted as saying.
"In a country where education is still just a word for many, I think Malala's fight for the right to live life on her terms makes for explosive material for a film."
Malala was shot on a schoolbus in Pakistan on Oct 9 as a "punishment" for her campaign for girls' education in the Swat Valley, where the Taliban had banned girls attending school when it controlled the area in 2008-09.
Khan's debut feature film - Le Gaya Saddam (Saddam has Taken it) - dealt with the Islamic divorce system and evoked protests from some radical Muslim groups, as well as telephone threats and a fatwa from a Muslim cleric in the northern Indian town of Jaipur.
His new film is due to begin shooting by the end of December. Khan said the name of the actor playing the role of Malala would revealed only a week before the film was released, again, for security reasons.
"I will call her character Malala if permissions fall in place," he was quoted as saying.