Actor Freida Pinto will be essaying the role of Britain's World War II spy Noor Inayat Khan in an upcoming limited series.
Based on Shrabani Basu’s Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan, the project hails from writer Olivia Hetreed and Red Room Films, reported Deadline.
Khan was born in Moscow in 1914 to Indian father Hazrat Inayat Khan and American mother Ora Ray Baker.
She was sent to Nazi-occupied France in 1943 as an undercover radio operator for Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE).
However, Khan was betrayed, arrested and killed in the Dachau Concentration Camp at the age of 30.
"She was a fierce and amazing woman, the most unlikely heroine of World War II. Sending women to the front line is controversial even now. Then, it was unthinkable. Sending a Sufi mystic who won’t use a gun, daughter of a long-haired Indian guru who preaches love and peace – ridiculous!
"But Noor thrives, not in spite of her differences, but because of them," said Pinto, who will also serve as an executive producer on the series.
The 36-year-old actor asserted that she aimed to explore Khan's inner struggle and complex sense of duty with her portrayal.
Pinto is known for movies such as Slumdog Millionaire, Immortals and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
The series will be directed by Anand Tucker, who previously helmed films like Hilary and Jackie, Shopgirl and Leap Year.
The life story of Khan was most recently depicted in A Call to Spy, a film written and produced by Sarah Megan Thomas and directed by Lydia Dean Pilcher. Thomas also starred in the film.
Actor Radhika Apte portrayed Khan in the movie, which was recently released on Amazon Prime Video.
(Published 16 January 2021, 06:02 IST)
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