KARACHI: “Fly,” the first Pakistani film financed through crowdfunding, is a love story that aims at raising awareness about breast cancer, its writer and producer revealed to Arab News.
“’Fly’ is really close to my heart, I am not making this film for any financial gain but to send awareness about the issue. It is a film with a cause, and I think only those can invest in it, who have some association or link to the issue,” said screenwriter Asma Nabeel, herself a cancer survivor.
Directed by Misbah Khalid, a renowned television drama director, the film will star Hajjra Yamin who gained fame by playing a house maid in “Pinky Memsaab” (2018). Others in the cast include Wahaj Ali and Beo Zafar.
Director Misbah Khalid and actress Hajra Yamin pose for a photograph during a fundraising event for their upcoming film "Fly," Karachi, March 17, 2020. (Photo courtesy: Parfaire Events and PR)
Yamin said she felt honored to be in the project. “I made my mind when Asma narrated a few lines of this story. I love the whole script, especially the relation of mother and daughter has clicked with me. I am really looking forward to it,” she told Arab News.
Referring to the lead male role, she said the way he was presented in the script was very right, because “most of the time, women are disowned and rejected by their brothers and husbands when they are diagnosed with breast cancer.”
“This issue has also been brought to the light in ‘Fly,’” Yamin said.
Nabeel started to develop the idea while working on an awareness program after her own treatment. She wrote it as a love story, in which cancer becomes a key antagonist.
“The film is full of romance and emotions and I am sure people would relate to the lead and other characters in the film,” she said.
The film is a joint effort of women with a cause. Its director, Khalid, has been working on breast cancer awareness with the first lady of Pakistan, Samina Alvi.
Director Misbah Khalid, actress Hajra Yamin and producer Asma Nabeel and others pose for a photograph during a fundraising event for their upcoming film "Fly," Karachi, March 17, 2020. (Photo courtesy: Parfaire Events and PR)
“’Fly’ is a film raising a serious issue in an entertaining way,” Khalid said, explaining that one in eight women in Pakistan dies of breast cancer, as it is often too late when they realize they need medical help.
The film’s message, she added, is that “instead of asking all the time that ‘why me,’ one should get up and deal with it. It also tells how the love and affection of the near and dear ones of cancer patients ease their journey through illness.”
Planning to start shooting in June, Nabeel is still trying to secure the film’s budget. While crowdfunding will be its main source of financing, the producer said she is open for cooperation with ladies’ brands and government agencies.
She wants the film to have an impact beyond cinema theaters and as part of her mission is going to screen it for women across the country.
“I know one film cannot solve the whole problem, but I just want to play my part in this whole struggle.”
