After tackling cerebral palsy in her last film, Margarita, With a Straw, Kalki Koechlin is now Pakistan-bound. The 32-year-old actress features in filmmaker Sabiha Sumar's (of Khamosh Pani fame) next, Azmaish: ­ Trials of Life, that sees the duo travel through India and its neighbour, exploring the two countries through their lifestyles, religious dynamics, and violence stemming from extremism. “This project had been in the works for three years. When I met Kalki as a jury member at MAMI (Mumbai Film Festival) last year, she struck me as someone who empathises with the world and is concerned about its issues. When I told her about the idea for my film she immediately came on board as the Indian partner. She visited Pakistan for the first time earlier this year and we travelled across deserts and mountains. The idea was to capture how two women feel the pulse of the two countries,“ Sabiha informed Mirror, adding that while she picked out the Pakistani locations to shoot the film, Kalki took care of spots across the border.

“Kalki picked out the Indian locations along with our research team. We shot in a Mumbai local, in a truck in Sindh and played Holi with the fishermen community in Mumbai. A part of the film is yet to be shot. We have now resorted to crowd-funding through which people contributing more than $250 will get access to stills from the shoot which are shot by a top photographer,“ the filmmaker signs off.