Gul Makai teaser: Inspirational story of teenage activist Malala

On Malala Day, the first teaser of the upcoming biopic on the Pakistani student Malala Yousafzai has been revealed. 12 July marks her birthday and the day when she delivered a speech at the United Nations headquarters on the need for gender equality in education as a 16-year-old in 2013.

Yousafzai fought for the right of young girls to get education in her country and Afghanistan. By doing so, she went up against the all-powerful Taliban regime who saw the teenager as a potential enemy.

The teaser, narrated by Kabir Bedi, features the two different worlds of Taliban and Yousafzai’s home in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. One cruel and violent, the other aiming for enlightenment through education. In this Indian version of Yousafzai’s life, directed by Amjad Khan, young actress Reem Shaikh plays the Nobel laureate for peace.

Actress Divya Dutta plays Yousafzai’s mother and in an emotional voiceover, she is heard explaining the origin of the name Malala to her daughter. She says that she was named after the brave Afghani folk legend Malalai of Maiwand who inspired the soldiers fighting against the British in 1880 in her home country.

Similarly, as a young girl, Yousafzai took on the Taliban when she started speaking out against the Taliban's rule. In 2009, she blogged for BBC Urdu about her experience. The name she used was Gul Makai.

Three years later, on 9 October 2012, when she was travelling to school, Yousafzai was attacked and shot in the head on a bus. She was taken to the UK for further treatment and after her recovery, she continued to speak up for women’s right to education.

Besides Shaikh and Dutta, Gul Makai also stars Atul Kulkarni and the late Om Puri. The film's release date has not been announced yet.

In 2015, American director Davis Guggenheim's documentary on Yousafzai's life, titled He Named Me Malala, was also released.

Watch the teaser below: