'Imran Khan Good Cricketer, Poor Politician', Says Director of Biopic About Pakistani Nobel Laureate

New Delhi (Sputnik): Amjad Khan, who previously directed the 2012 film “Le Gaya Saddam”, went behind the camera once again for his film “Gul Makai”, a biopic on the life and struggle of the Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, and how she fought against all odds to make education a right for every girl in her country.

Amjad Khan, who is also the Goodwill Ambassador of the UN agency which fights malnutrition across the world, said that Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan was a great cricketer, but the same can't be said of his political skills.

"Imran Khan should have been a cricket coach, and then the Pakistani cricket team's performance would perhaps have been much better. As a political leader his performance is very poor. He talks like an absolute knucklehead and is illiterate. Whatever awareness people in Pakistan have, it is because of Indian culture and films," said Amjad Khan.

"Films like 'My Name Is Khan' and 'Lagaan' have been instrumental in creating awareness in Pakistan. So, rather than making rubbish comments, Imran Khan should focus on his country's GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and economic crisis. Recently they got rejected by the World Bank. So my humble suggestion to him is that you should mind your own country before you become helpless," Amjad Khan told the Indian news agency IANS.

The director's comment came in the wake of Imran Khan's verbal attack on Bollywood, in which he blamed the industry for the rise in sex crimes and divorce in Pakistan.

"We take content coming from Hollywood, then Bollywood and then Pakistan... People who use this content don't understand Western culture. They don't understand that the most harmful things from Western culture are being imported here via Hollywood," Imran Khan said, blaming Hollywood and Bollywood for pushing immoral behaviour in his country.

The maker of "Gul Makai", a movie about the 22-year-old Pakistani Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, also said that political leaders in Pakistan should come out of their fundamentalist mentality.

"Recently Malala visited Pakistan, and only two news channels covered her visit. She wasn't able to meet the Prime Minister who, along with government officials and leaders, are shameless and have no decency. They should get out of their fundamentalist mentality and catch up with the world, which is moving at a rapid pace," Amjad Khan added.

Malala's journey of becoming a campaigner for girls' education rights in Pakistan was not easy: when she was just 14 years old, she was shot by the Taliban, for becoming the voice for girls education.

The incident gave her more power to continue with her work, and she became the youngest person ever to be bestowed with the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Gul Makai" will hit the screens on 31 January.