Pakistani movie Javed Iqbal has been selected for the prestigious Berlin Film Festival. Filmmaker Abu Aleeha announced the selection of the film for the film festival on Twitter.
Film Javed Iqbal has been banned from screening in Pakistan. The film, however, is making waves in the international film festivals. Last month the movie bagged two awards at the 24th UK Asian Film Festival.
The film is based on the real-life events of notorious serial killer Javed Iqbal in Lahore who confessed to killing and sexually abusing more than a hundred young boys between 1998 to 1999. He was later arrested and sentenced to death. Iqbal committed suicide while in police custody.
Abu Aleeha has directed and written the movie which is based on his novel ‘Kukri’. The two-part book delves into the life and crime of the killer Javed Iqbal and unearths how Javed Iqbal turned into a serial killer.
Javed Iqbal had grabbed attention for trapping children and disposing of their bodies into barrels of acid after the crime.
Read more: Pakistani movie ‘Javed Iqbal’ bags awards at UK Asian Film Festival
The movie has been banned from screening in Pakistan but bagged two awards- “Best Actor” and “Best Director.” The movie is the adaptation of the Urdu novel ‘Kukri’ written by Abu Aleeha who is also the director of the movie.
جاوید اقبال برلن فلم فیسٹیول کے لئے بھی منتخب ہوگئی ہے۔ pic.twitter.com/hlvdGAwfeL
— Abu Aleeha (@abualeeha) June 13, 2022
Actor Yasir Hussain, known for his comical roles, has played the titular character in the movie. Actress Ayesha Omar has played a Police officer in the movie. Yasir Hussain expressed joy while speaking to Pakistani media at the festival. He said it is a matter of pride not only for him but for Pakistan too that a Pakistani movie had been selected to open the UKAAF.
Hussain called his role in the movie the most challenging role so far in his career. “It was a very complex character of such a person who has murdered so many innocent kids. The reason that it was an extremely difficult role to play was that you have to think like him so that you can portray a true character of that person”.