Coming to a screen near you - Benazir the biopic

A movie depicting the life of Benazir Bhutto will go into production at the end of the years if clearance is granted by Pakistani officials - with much of it filmed in Dubai. The former Pakistan prime minister, who was assassinated after addressing an election rally on Dec 27 2007, spent nine years in exile in Dubai and had studied there in her earlier years.

On a state visit last November, her husband Asif Ali Zardari, the president of Pakistan, described the UAE as their second home. Vox Vision, a Karachi production company, is planning to chronicle her life in Benazir Bhutto: The Movie, which it will make with the UK's Sum Films. "At the moment it's not finalised," said a Vox Vision spokeswoman. However, she confirmed rumours that the company was in talks with Sushmita Sen, the Indian actress, to play Bhutto and that filming was intended to begin later this year. According to reports in the Indian press, the Bollywood star is keen to play the role.

"The producers are waiting for clearance from the Pakistan People's Party," she said. "Once we get the go-ahead, we will start." Sen, a Hindi-speaker who won the Miss Universe title in 1994, is not an obvious choice to play Bhutto in the film that will mix Urdu and English. Sen, 33, is said to be reading up on Bhutto's life, watching news footage of her and mastering Urdu to prepare for the role. Last year Mahesh Bhatt, the Indian producer, from Vishesh Films, and the Karachi-based Skies Unlimited Films were also said to be planning a biopic, with the Indian actress Shabana Azmi, 58, playing the lead role.

Some could argue Azmi was a more appropriate choice to play Bhutto, as she is an activist for women's rights in India and her father, Kaifi Azmi, was a famous Urdu poet. Bhutto's husband dampened those plans as he feared an Indian production could worsen relations between Pakistan and India. Mr Bhatt, who was waiting to get approval from the Bhutto family, was said to be relying on Naheed Khan, the late premier's close aide and political secretary, to get his proposal cleared but was turned down. Ms Khan's sister Aneela Khan is a producer with Skies Unlimited.

Mr Zardari's lawyers advised him not to allow an Indian filmmaker to produce a movie on Bhutto's life while the investigation into her assassination was ongoing, according to the Press Trust of India. Bhutto was killed while leaving a campaign rally for the Pakistan People's Party. A gunman fired shots as she stood up through a sunroof in her bulletproof car. asafdar@thenational.ae