Last year in November, XPRESS carried around a story of an Indian mother stranded in UAE, which is now being turned into a Bollywood movie.

The movie, yet to be titled, will be directed by Ribhu Dasgupta and produced by Arslan Goni, Sam Fernandes and Rajat Shrivastac. The movie revolves round the true story of a helpless UAE resident Zainab Fawad, whose plight was reported by Mazhar Farooqui in a cover story on November 17, 2016.

The 44-year-old Indian expat, who was divorced from her Pakistani husband and separated from her 4-year-old twin sons following a catastrophic turn of events, as she contemplated ending her life.

But turning the events, following an overwhelming response to the reports, Zainab’s twins Mustafa and Muzammil, got reunited with their mother in Dubai.

Producer Goni in an interview to XPRESS said, “When we came to know about Zainab’s story through XPRESS, we realized it had to be told. As they say, every film has its own destiny.”

Goni travelled to the UAE to seek Zainab’s consent for the project, “We spent over a week in Dubai meeting Zainab, Mazhar, Farhat Ali Khan and Juhi Yasmeen Khan, who played a key role in turning things around. The film will be based on actual events and everyone who has been part of the story will be duly represented, he said.”

Zainab said that “XPRESS has changed her life. She thanked Allah, Mazhar Farooqui and blessed everyone for reuniting her with her kids.”

Zainab hopes the movie will do well. It is an encouragement to every woman never to lose hope – after all it is not easy for an Indian woman to get her children back from Pakistan.”

Farooqui said, “It is not every day that you hear of a newspaper story turning into a movie. I am curious to know who will play my role, can’t wait for the release.”

UAE introduces new rules for expat driving licenses

AMandeep