Kaafila - Caravan

Producer-director Ammtoje Mann’s Kaafila is about illegal migration. It stars macho man Sunny Deol and Pakistani actresses Sana Nawaz and Monalisa. It is said that Sunny has grey shades in the film. Actress Sana known for her glamorous looks play an Afghani girl. The film has music by Sukhwinder, lyrics by Babu Singh Maan and has been extensively shot in Europe and at Ladakh, Manali and Punjab in India. The lavishly mounted (Rs.200 million) Kaafila which is now 80 percent complete is scheduled for a mid-2006 release.


The film is said to be inspired by the 1996 Malta boat tragedy, which claimed the life of over 290 people on Christmas Day, most of them being Indians. The tragedy occurred when in bad weather conditions, 283 immigrants out of 450 from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh were transferred from the Yiohan (the boat carrying hundreds of fleeing migrants across the Mediterranean to Italy) to another boat. Before the transfer could take place the two boats collided sending the Yiohan with most of the immigrants inside it to the bottom of the sea. It was the biggest maritime disaster in the Mediterranean since the Second World War.

Ammtoje Maan though insists that it is not entirely based on the catastrophe but tackles the issue of illegal immigrants. The film has a mammoth cast of 30 actors and 100 crew members with an additional 50 members of the European crew.