The film on courageous Pakistani activist Malala Yousufzai who defied Taliban, Gul Makai, now has a release date - the movie will hit theatres on January 31. Trade analyst Taran Adarsh tweeted the announcement Friday morning. Gul Makai is the pseudonym Malala used when she wrote blogs for BBC Urdu during the Talibani rule.

“#GulMakai - the biopic on #MalalaYousafzai - to release on 31 Jan 2020... Stars #ReemShaikh as #Malala, #DivyaDutta, #AtulKulkarni, #Mukesh Rishi and #PankajTripathi... Directed by H E Amjad Khan... Produced by Sanjay Singla... Dr Jayantilal Gada and Tekno Films presentation,” he tweeted.

Malala Yousafzai was shot in her head and neck by Talibani militants for going to school. Not only did she fight her fate and survive, she also continued her fight for women’s rights and education.

Directed by India’s Amjad Khan, the biopic has been majorly shot in Kashmir and traces the then socio-political atmosphere of Pakistan. Actors Reem Shaikh, Divya Dutta, Mukesh Rishi, Abhimanyu Singh and Ajaz Khan will be seen in the film. Pankaj Tripathi has also joined the cast, as per Taran’s announcement.

The first motion poster of Gul Makai was unveiled earlier and it gave a glimpse of the fire that she fought against. As a girl holds a book in her hands which is on fire, Kabir Bedi’s deep voice echoes, “This is about those times when the Taliban was destroying Pakistan and Afghanistan in the name of Jihad and religion. When from a very small village in Pakistan, a voice arose.”

“From a young age, Pakistani student Malala Yousafzai was known for speaking out in favour of the educating girls and highlighting the atrocities of the Taliban,” a United Nations report said calling Malala world’s most famous teenager of this decade.