MUMBAI, May 19: The horror of the “Malta Boat Tragedy” in which nearly 300 South Asian illegal immigrants drowned on Christmas Day 1996 will soon be turned into a movie starring two Indian and Pakistani actors. The Rs200 million film, “Kaafila” (Caravan), about one of the worst disasters on the high seas will feature muscled Bollywood superstar Sunny Deol and popular Pakistani actress Sana Nawaz.

On Dec 25, 1996, hundreds of illegal immigrants from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh boarded the “Yiohan” in Malta to travel to Sicily from where they hoped to fan out across western Europe. But the ship sank in stormy waters, killing 289 of the around 450 people aboard.

“When I read about the tragedy, I decided to make a film about illegal human trafficking,” producer-director Ammtoje Mann said, adding he had met many illegal immigrants who “told me their horror stories.”

The film, expected to hit screens at the end of the year, will mark Sana’s Bollywood debut. She is the second well-known actress from Pakistan to work in Indian cinema in the past six months.

Pakistani actress Meera, who goes by one name, has just completed shooting a Bollywood suspense thriller, “Nazar” (Sight), set for release this month. Deol, known for his action roles, said he was “moved by the script”.

“The film deals with a serious problem and it wants to educate people about the dangers of illegal immigration,” Deol said.

“Many of these people get stranded on foreign soil all their lives with some even landing in jail. We want to tell this story as it’s a rampant problem in our region.”—AFP