Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy helmed two episodes of Ms Marvel. (Photo: Sharmeen/Instagram)Ms Marvel has been the topic of discussion on social media for many reasons. Be it Farhan Akhtar’s cameo or Pakistani star Fawad Khan playing an Indian freedom fighter, the series has become a connecting factor between the two nations. In a recent interview, director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy spoke about the importance of the series for Pakistan and her experience helming the fourth and fifth episode.
The Oscar-winning Pakistani director, known for documentaries such as Saving Face and A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness, shared how Ms Marvel is a “moment for Pakistan” and that there is a reason why there was a special theatrical run in the country. “Because so much of what you’d see on screen is a celebration of who we are and where we come from,” she told Dawn.
The filmmaker also remarked that for the longest time superheroes “all looked the same”, with most of them being white and coming from predominant cultures. “The success of Black Panther film sort of really pushed the conversation and narrative that superheroes could be in all shapes, sizes, colors and religion and that they should be for everyone,” she said.
View this post on Instagram
Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy further said that Kamala Khan is a superhero in every sense. Be it her coming of age and power, or how she navigates through life, it’s a very universal experience. The director said that while Kamala may be a “brown Muslim immigrant”, she resonates with everyone with her quirky sense of humour and high school teenager issues.
View this post on Instagram
Earlier, talking about shooting the Partition scene in the two episodes, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy said that the entire crew felt like they had been transported back to 1947.
“When we were standing on the platform, there were close to a thousand extras on set in the scene where we had gone back into 1947. When Kamala was walking on the platform, listening to these snatches of conversations, there was a moment when all of us on set couldn’t believe that we were able to recreate Partition and tell this story to this generation. For that time we were filming her walking through that platform, we really were transported into 1947. Each one of us felt the pain of what those families were going through and it felt like we were bearing witness to history,” the director told Hindustan Times.
Subscriber Only Stories
The last episode of Ms Marvel will drop on Wednesday.
- The Indian Express website has been rated GREEN for its credibility and trustworthiness by Newsguard, a global service that rates news sources for their journalistic standards.
