The two are about to release their documentary “These Birds Walk,” which portrays the Edhi Foundation through the eyes of a runaway boy, an ambulance driver and by shadowing Edhi himself.
How different can their portrayal be of a man who is already quite transparent, who never wavers from what he says and has hardly changed his appearance over the years – from the same grey shalwar kameez, a Jinnah cap and a beard that is slowly going white.
Perhaps this is the challenge the film takes on: to depict a subject already well-covered in local and international media, hoping that audiences come away with something they had not known or seen before.
“These Birds Walk is not a traditional biography,” says Mullick, “He (Edhi) puts it out there and we look at the work he does.”
Mullick highlights the painstaking efforts put into the two-year making by saying, “It is not a man speaking about himself. It is the city, the country and the people who have been affected by him that speak for him.”
For the filmmakers, who co-directed and co- produced the film, the endless stories, news and tales surrounding Edhi compelled them to travel to Karachi and make the documentary.
“It was his demeanor, just to see him speak in interviews, there was something deep there that a lot of people weren’t getting. I wanted to get to know him better,” says Tariq. “All you hear in the Pakistani media is: Hey, he is the Mother Teresa of Pakistan. It is all very superficial. I wanted to do something a little more nuanced.”
Whether it is his critics or admirers, the views on Edhi seem black or white. His critics say the millions of rupees donated to him don’t go where they should yet there are millions who defend him as a living saint. Even the Taliban have assured that they have no intentions of harming him.
The preview is amazing, it brought chills down my spine. I cannot wait to watch this…
