Director Shadab Khan’s latest film I Am No Queen will have it’s International Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, TIFF in September. “This prestigious achievement also needs to be credited of Minu Basi and Deep Basi, persons of Indian origin and it was their concept that is developed into this film that is produced by them,” Shadab Khan humbly puts forth this in an exclusive interview to Paresh B. Mehta, Editor of Filmytown.com.
“I AM NO QUEEN is inspired by a true story of hundreds of students from third world countries dreaming to have a Degree from Canadian universities which could make them earn in Dollars and Pounds. Parents of these students mortgage their homes or even sell of their lands to pay for the fees and expenses of sending their children to Canada. Unfortunately a sizeable number of them are tricked by their agents who provide them admission to fraud colleges in Canada and these kids face the ordeal of the law,” Shadab reveals, further adding, “In some cases some 20 odd students share a room to stay, and to bear the cost of living there, the students end up indulging in drugs, prostitution and other illegal jobs to survive for their stay in the foreign country.”
Writer and director Shadab Khan has to his credit an array of meaningful films like B.A. Pass 2, X or Y (been no.1 in viewership across all OTTs for weeks), Rabia and Olivia (winner of several awards in reputed international film festivals).
“Anything which evokes human emotions, these are the stories concerning us which are connected to the common man. Stories that reflect reality in such a way that people ought not to make mistakes in their lives while experiencing some situations,” says Shadab about the subjects he would want to make films in future.
The bonding of a girl child and her nanny has been beautifully portrayed in Shadab Khan’s Olivia and Rabia. The erratic and stubborn child finds a friend in her nanny and the kid shows signs of improving in her behaviour with turning out more understanding towards life. Message oriented B. A. Pass 2 is the story of a young girl, who, in order to achieve her goals and to avoid marriage in the process she takes a couple of wrong decisions which result in ill habits that eventually ruin her life. X or Y, the film is the story of an ordinary Indian family discovering what’s always known but never understood. While Delhi 47 is about few people who are inflicted by a poor system.
Last year Rabia and Olivia was among top 30 English films of 2023 on the International platforms and once again Shadab Khan makes his mark with Indo-Canadian venture I AM NO QUEEN, dealing with the burning issue of drudgery of youth going abroad for higher studies. The film has already been selected for screening in TIFF this year.
Shadab khan is gaining popularity worldwide for making meaningful drama films which evokes human emotions, he is going global because of his unique way of touching human emotions.
“I feel blessed with this achievement of his positioning as a filmmaker on an international platform with I AM NO QUEEN. The film would soon have international release after the premiere at TIFF and we are in talks with world best distribution companies to distribute his film so that it would be available to audiences world wide.
