The Leopard & The Fox

Rajiv Joseph’s adaptation of noted writer and political activist Tariq Ali’s acclaimed book, The Leopard and the Fox is a Machiavellian political drama that follows the last days of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, Pakistan’s first popularly elected Prime Minister, betrayed by his closest confidante, his army chief General Zia ul Haq, who imprisoned and then executed Bhutto in 1979, installing himself as the President at the behest of the US.

In a remarkably astute piece of timing, the adaptation contextualizes these historical events with Pakistan’s rapidly changing political landscape as the world remains transfixed at the reported comeback of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s daughter Benazir Bhutto from exile as Prime Minister to share power with the present military ruler, Pervez Musharraf, who has become a political liability.

The Leopard and the Fox was originally written as a BBC screenplay in 1985 which was never produced because of the politically sensitive nature of the story, due to the US exerting pressure on Zia ul Haq, to arm and train the mujahideens waging war against the Soviets in Afghanistan.