AR Rahman collaborates with UAE's first woman filmmaker - Nayla Al Khaja

Image: Nayla Al Khaja/Instagram

Nayla Al Khaja, the UAE’s first female filmmaker, is collaborating with Oscar-winning music composer AR Rahman on her next feature film Baab. Al Khaja and Masoud Amralla Al Ali wrote the screenplay. According to Variety, Baab is about Wahida, who is unable to comprehend her twin sister’s inexplicable death and plagued by a disturbing rhythm in her ears.

She discovers buried cassette tapes, and her never-ending search for the truth begins to unravel repressed anguish, leading her deep into the mountains to explore the complexity of the human soul.

“I’m delighted to be working with Nayla on her feature film Baab,” AR Rahman told Variety about the film. “She’s a passionate and promising director and an essential creative voice within the Gulf region.” The script is mysterious, thought-provoking, and promises to be aesthetically and emotionally captivating for a wide range of audiences. I’m excited about the trip ahead.”

Meanwhile, Nayla Al Khaja, a filmmaker, stated, “My grandmother comes from the mountains, which have never been depicted in a film before, and the unprecedented access to Ras Al Khaimah’s indigenous people, along with the beautiful script, is an unseen story that I am thrilled to share. With A.R. Rahman on board, we will go on a truly deep, disturbing, and true trip.”

Malal and The Road to Fulfillment are two of Al Khaja’s short films. Three, her first feature film, is set to begin shooting later this year.

The crew will begin filming in March 2023 in the northern Emirate of Ras Al Khaimah, which will serve as the backdrop for the film’s spectacular vistas of the Jais mountains.

Credits: The News Minute

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