The story of Gudiya, who underwent much mental trauma after her missing husband Lance Naik Mohammad Arif was found as a prisoner of war in Pakistan and repatriated even as she had married her distant relative Taufiq, is now being recounted in a feature film, which its maker hopes would lead to reforms in society, so that such incidents do not recur.

“Kahaani Gudiya Ki (Tale of Gudiya)”, a Hindi digital feature film by debutant director Prabhakar Shukla, is having its world premiere at the ongoing 9th Osian’s Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema and would be released in theatres shortly. “It’s my tribute to Gudiya… we are saying through the film what Gudiya herself could not speak out,” Mr Shukla, an established ad filmmaker, told Deccan Herald here.

Unfortunately, Ms Gudiya, who had evinced keen interest before Mr Shukla to watch the film that speaks about her ordeal, would not be there to view her story unfold on the big screen – she died at the age of 26  due to septicaemia.

“Apart from going for the usual theatrical release, I would try to take the film to the interiors of the country, either directly or through TV channels, to create awareness among people about such social issues,” Mr Shukla says.

While Divya Dutta plays Ms Gudiya, Mr Arif is played by Arif Zakaria, Mr Taufiq by Rajpal Yadav and Mr Arif’s mother by Seema Biswas.  During research for the film, the director says he and his team consulted Ms Gudiya and her family members, so that no detail was missed out.

“It will be my tribute to Ms Gudiya. I have just placed the camera in place of her and the film will say what she could not speak out,” he says. “This film will be a mirror to life and I hope it would lead to debate and reforms. Nobody involved in the Gudiya episode was wrong, but we all know whatever happened was wrong,” Mr Shukla says.

Ms Gudiya's case came into limelight some years ago, when Mr Arif, who had gone missing after the Kargil war, was found to be a PoW in Pakistan and returned home after being released. Presuming that he was dead, she had married Mr Taufiq on April 20, 2003, with the consent of Mr Arif’s family.

When he  returned, she was pregnant with Mr Taufiq’s child.

Her decision during a live discussion on a private TV channel to return to Mr Arif led to much debate.