Traveling Picture Show Company (TPSC) and Rising Tides announced today they will partner with Hum Network, Pakistan’s premier female-led, 24-hour Entertainment Network, on the screen adaptation of award-winning Soniah Kamal’s bestseller Unmarriageable. Sadia Ashraf wrote the script and will direct Unmarriageable alongside James McMillan. Principal photography is set to begin in early 2025 in Pakistan, marking it the first Western production entirely shot in the country.
Unmarriageable will be produced by Carissa Buffel and Luisa Iskin from TPSC, Sadia Ashraf and Shahla Khan from Rising Tides with Sultana Siddiqui and Badar Ikram from Hum Network Limited, serving as Executive producers alongside author Soniah Kamal. Female owned and operated, both TPSC and Rising Tides aim to spotlight diversity and inclusion and recently visited several cities in Pakistan alongside the directors.
Described by NPR as “one of the best literary adaptations of Pride and Prejudice,” Unmarriageable transposes the themes of Jane Austen’s most popular novel to modern-day Pakistan. Following the Binat family, whose five feisty daughters navigate modern life while dealing with the complexities of South Asian courtship, Soniah Kamal humorously explores the themes of love, marriage, class, and gender roles via its ensemble of strong female characters who strive to tear down antiquated constructs of misogyny.
