Gul Makai
Ratings: 2/5
Duration: 2 Hrs 12 Mins
Director: H.E Amjad Khan
Genre: Drama. Biography
Release Date: 31st January 2020 (India)
Star Cast: Reem Sameer Shaikh, Divya Dutta, Atul Kulkarni, Mukesh Rishi, Pankaj Tripathi,
Plot: The film ‘Gul Makai’ revolves around the life and struggles of the Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai (Reem Shaikh), who is born in a small village named Mingora, near the beautiful Swat Valley of Pakistan.
She has been academically inclined from a tender age, but her world comes crumbling down when the anti-education extremist group, Taliban, hijacks the otherwise peaceful valley and puts an indefinite ban on education for the girl child. This leads up to her notorious shooting in the hands of the Taliban on October 9, 2012.
Review: Gul Makai, the biographical film directed by H.E Amjad Khan is fascinating but the attempt made on the same did not translate onto the big screen. As given the fact that it is a biographical film in nature, it has not mentioned any of the controversies Malala has courted along the way, which is hard to overlook.
When it comes to performances, television actor Reem Shaikh who played the role of Malala Yousafzai neither renders a delivering experience for its viewers, nor does it evoke any sense of real emotions. As instead of the brave and outspoken teenager who went on to become a poster child in the fight against religious fundamentalism, the character is seen weeping frequently and waking up screaming from nightmares.
Moreover, the barring seasoned actors Atul Kulkarni and Divya Dutta, who plays Malala’s parents have failed to deliver believable performances. Though Kulkarni had the meatiest role as Malala’s father, the script is dunked too deep into preachiness and piety to allow the character to ring true. Additionally, the background score seems like the replica of 80s war films.
Overall, ‘Gul Makai’ the story of Malala Yousafzai deserved a far more professional treatment in terms of character and narrative nuances. And it could have been a very strong story, but the spark fizzles out when translated on screen; hence the takeaway here is close to nothing, making ‘Gul Makai’ a tedious watch.
