A Call to Spy (2019)

Radhika Apte: Noor Inayat Khan

Photos 

Quotes 

• Noor Inayat Khan : You know I've been telling you that I've been training to go abroad? I have to go tonight.

  Pirani : Why? Where are they sending you?

  Noor Inayat Khan : You... you know we're not allowed to talk about it. But, Mom, we knew this was going to happen, didn't we?

  Pirani : Please don't go. Your family needs you here.

  Noor Inayat Khan : I need your understanding. I have to do something.

  Pirani : You remember the Sufi saying? Don't you know yet, it's your light that lights the world.

  Noor Inayat Khan : Yes, that's why I must go.

• Vera Atkins : Message us as soon as you arrive, and make sure you change locations often so that they don't locate your signals.

  Noor Inayat Khan : Yes, ma'am.

  Vera Atkins : This is your wireless. If you have any doubts, tell me now. There are ways to help the war effort here.

  Noor Inayat Khan : No, ma'am. I'm resolved. I can fight. My resistance is not motivated by hate.

  Vera Atkins : Good.

  Noor Inayat Khan : That's a beautiful pin. It's a lap wing, isn't it?

  Vera Atkins : Yes.

  [taking it off] 

  Vera Atkins : Here.

  Noor Inayat Khan : No, I couldn't.

  Vera Atkins : [putting on her lapel]  No, you must. Our first female wireless. Congratulations, Madeline.

  Noor Inayat Khan : Liberte.

  Vera Atkins : Good luck to you.

• Vera Atkins : Rumor has it you are the best wireless operator in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force.

  Noor Inayat Khan : Thank you. I believe it's because I play the harp and the piano, and signaling is like music. There is a rhythm to it.

  Vera Atkins : Indeed. Noor, why did you join?

  Noor Inayat Khan : We all have to play our part.

  Vera Atkins : And what is your part, Noor?

  Noor Inayat Khan : Sorry?

  Vera Atkins : You were born in Russia to an American mother and an Indian father who was Muslim. A descendant of the last Mughal Emperor, I understand.

  Noor Inayat Khan : Yes. My father was a founder of the Sufi order in the West.

  Vera Atkins : And that is?

  Noor Inayat Khan : Sufism is an Islamic spiritual path towards God by the means of peace and truth.

  Vera Atkins : As are you, correct? A lover of peace and truth.

  Noor Inayat Khan : Of course.

  Vera Atkins : So why is this war your fight?

  Noor Inayat Khan : Because I am a British citizen and I grew up in France as my home. I cannot just stand by and let the Nazis do what they're doing.

  Vera Atkins : Is that all, Noor?

  Noor Inayat Khan : Well, actually, I also wish that an Indian would win high military distinction in this war, because, you know, if a few of us could do something brave in the allied service, it might bridge the gap between the Indians and the British.

  Vera Atkins : Now I understand. Noor, I called you here today because I would like to invite you to try out for a club unlike any other.

• Noor Inayat Khan : I can't even lift my radio. And frankly, I cannot lie. I make a miserable spy. I wonder what my father would think if he knew my path led me here. I'm a pacifist, and they are teaching us to kill.

  Virginia Hall : They're training us to survive.

  [handing over her prosthetic leg] 

  Virginia Hall : Here is Cuthbert. He's lighter.

  Noor Inayat Khan : [taking it]  That's heavy, too. You named him.

  Virginia Hall : Figured he was gonna be with me for the rest of my life. He may as well have a proper name. Saint Cuthbert was a soldier and a healer, a performer of miracles.