Adil Hussain & Antonio Aakeel to headline ‘Footprints on Water’

‘Life of Pi’ (2012) star Adil Hussain and ‘Eaten by Lions’ (2018) leading actor Antonio Aakeel will play crucial roles in the British Indian feature film ‘Footprints on Water’. 

The film will narrate the story of an illegal immigrant father in the UK who is searching for his missing daughter, whilst trying to avoid police intelligence. The tale will show the lives of multiple immigrants of different nationalists who arrive in the UK, hoping to transform their lives for the better.

Acting as protagonist, Hussain will play the father, alongside Indian actor Lena Kumar who will portray his wife and the missing girl’s stepmother. Indian actress Nimisha Sajayan, winner of Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for her roles in the films ‘Oru Kuprasidha Payyan’ (2018) and ‘Chola’ (2019), will play the daughter. Furthermore, Aakeel will play the role of an Afghani refugee. 

During an interview with Variety, Hussain said, “This story is written by two sisters and it feels like its their first-hand experience that they have painted in words. I trust that they will be able to transform words into intense and moving visuals.

“The dreams, the hope, demolition of the dreams, the realisation as to what are the most important aspects in life, are very engagingly interwoven in the narrative”, he added.

As her sister Neetha Syam has written the story, Nathalia Syam, Director, commented, “As immigrants of Indian origin brought up in Britain, we’ve had a ringside view into the lives of various people, their cultures and ethnicities”. During the interview with Variety, she explained, “Through the plot of an illegal immigrant father’s search for his missing daughter, we raise the question of what happens, when the invisibles go missing”.

Fans of the Bollywood stars will be delighted to know that film shooting will primarily begin at locations around Birmingham in December of this year. 

Sitara Bartle