MUMBAI – Indian film director and photographer Maneesh Singh, who claims to have spoken to Qandeel Baloch two days before her murder, on Monday announced to make a movie based on the life of the Pakistani model.
According to Indian media reports, the film will be named “Ghairat” – referring to the word honour in English – and it will feature the issue of honour killing in both Pakistan and India.
In an interview, Singh said: “I will soon file a formal request with the Pakistani government to get permission to shoot the film in her native village in Pakistan,” further adding that Qandeel was a revolutionary girl.
“The circumstances made her a controversial person before her death, however, deep within Qandeel was quite a normal human being like most of the women of her age in Karachi or Lahore,” he went on to say.
Talking about his ties with Baloch, he said that they used to speak via telephone 2-3 time in a month and also spoke to each other just before her death. We were very close to each other for over 18 months, he added.
“We were discussing a film project and if she could visit India to shoot the film or settle in Mumbai,” Maneesh Singh said.
On the occasion, he also shared his fear that Qandeel Baloch’s brother could have been used someone other, saying “there was a greater conspiracy at play and religious clerics are behind her murder”. He urged the Pakistani government to thoroughly investigate into the every aspect of the murder case.
It is also worth mentioning here that Maneesh Singh is currently associated with Vision Telefilms and Vrindaavan Films and is said to be working on two Tamil film projects these days.