The story of the daughter of an Indian Sufi mystic, who was killed while working as a British secret agent fighting with the French resistance in World War II, is to be told in a TV drama series.
Noor Inayat Khan, who was captured by the Gestapo and executed in the Dachau concentration camp, would be portrayed by Freida Pinto, star of the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire.
The series, Spy Princess, is described as an emotional thriller.
It is to be directed by Anand Tucker and produced by Andy Paterson, known for the films Girl With a Pearl Earring and Hilary and Jackie.
Khan became the first female radio operator to be sent to Nazi-occupied France.
Sending vital messages back to London from behind enemy lines, she significantly aided the success of the Allied landing on the beaches of Normandy, France, on D-Day.
Codenamed “Madeleine,” she became a significant target for the Gestapo and was aged 29 when captured in 1943.
She was tortured before being shot in the head the following year, having revealed nothing to her captors.
Pinto, who is also executive producer of the series, described Khan as “a fierce and amazing woman, the most unlikely heroine of World War II.”
She said that as a wireless operator in occupied France, Khan had a life expectancy of just six weeks.
“Sending women to the front line is controversial even now,” Pinto said. “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,” Pinto added. “Her struggle to reconcile her values with the desire to find her own path and with her complex sense of duty is something I am so excited to explore.”
“It’s fabulous, in terms of diversity, to find proper, wonderful stories that take you there without contrivance,” Paterson said. “She was an amazing character. I can’t believe her story’s never been told by filmmakers.”
The series, written by Olivia Hetreed, is based on Spy Princess: The Life of Noor Inayat Khan by Shrabani Basu, who is also consultant to the series.
“At a time when conflicts about race, identity and patriotism have a new and frightening energy, Noor’s character and her nail-biting story of hair’s-breadth escapes and life-and-death choices offer us the picture of a heroine who defies every prejudice and stereotype,” Hetreed said.
“Noor has a quiet strength that she’s not entirely aware of,” Pinto said. “Alone in Paris, she lives and loves more intensely in a few months than most of us do in a lifetime, helping establish the ‘secret armies’ of the Resistance who will rise up on D-Day, astonishing the men who said she should never have been sent to the front line.”
“Olivia has created a spy thriller, a love story and a search for identity, the true story of a remarkable and complex woman doing the most dangerous job imaginable,” Tucker said. “Our series challenges ideas of heroism and the portrayal of Asian women on screen — often victims, sometimes terrorists — never the hero.”
Last year, the Guardian reported that the biographer Arthur Magida had acquired an account by Pierre Vienot, Khan’s fellow resistance fighter, written as a private memoir for his family.
It revealed that, in autumn 1943, with the Gestapo closing in on Khan, they sought to disguise her appearance by taking her to a hair salon and getting her a whole new wardrobe.
The problem was that everything she picked was blue, just as before, and the Gestapo knew it was her favorite.
“That was a key factor that helped give her away,” Magida said.
He published his research in his book Code Name Madeleine: A Sufi Spy in Nazi-Occupied Paris, which was nominated for a Pulitzer in the biography category.
Hearing of the new series, Magida said: “Noor’s story is extraordinary. She’s not an historical artefact, frozen in time.”
“She’s immensely relevant to our time, just as she was to hers,” Magida added.
The makers of the series are in discussions with broadcasters.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was