One of the UAE’s most ambitious recent productions, BAAB, met audiences last night with a gala screening at VOX Cinemas, Wafi City in Dubai. The premiere welcomed two time Oscar winning composer A. R. Rahman, director Nayla Al Khaja, Turkish journalist and author Muaz Kalaycı, social media influencer Umut İlkaya, and a select guest list. The strong red carpet turnout signaled more than a single film night buzz, pointing instead to a region moving toward a new cinematic threshold. As the evening set a confident Dubai launch for the film’s theatrical run, early conversations leaving the auditorium centered on the film’s atmosphere and the way music carries its emotional weight. BAAB is now in cinemas as of January 8.
A PSYCHOLOGICAL DRAMA OF GRIEF AND MEMORY
Written and directed by Nayla Al Khaja, the film treats psychological drama as more than a genre label, building its tension from interior fracture rather than external spectacle. The story follows a woman shaken by the loss of her twin sister, searching for truth while confronting her own memory. As her pursuit deepens, the boundary between reality and imagination steadily thins, with dreams, recollections, and intuitive signs folding into each other. Instead of leaning on loud set pieces, the film advances through suspense shaped by silence, where every pause increases the emotional pressure of what follows. At its core, the film’s central friction comes from the desire for closure colliding with the sense that some doors should remain shut.
LANDSCAPE, SOUND, AND SILENCE
The film’s sense of place extends its psychological approach into a physical language. Much of the narrative unfolds against the remote mountain atmosphere of Ras Al Khaimah, where nature’s severity mirrors the hardening within the character. The mountains’ emptiness, the insistence of wind, and the distant horizon simplify the outside world, making the storm inside more visible. This choice positions BAAB not only as a story, but as a sensory experience shaped by the spaces where sound and silence open into each other. Throughout, Al Khaja’s cinematic language makes it clear that what remains unseen can be as decisive as what is shown.
A. R. RAHMAN’S SCORE AS A TURNING POINT
On the musical front, BAAB marks a notable moment for regional cinema. The score by A. R. Rahman stands out as his first work for an Arabic language film. Rather than functioning as decorative background, his compositions behave like a narrator, tracing emotional fractures, following the folds of memory, and keeping tension alive along an invisible line. In the film’s world, music can feel like a key that slightly opens a door, or a whisper hinting at what stays behind it. One of the details discussed at the Dubai premiere was how this musical backbone feels more intense on the big screen.
INTERNATIONAL PATH AND EMIRATI PRODUCTION
The film’s international trajectory has also amplified expectations. BAAB previously drew attention with its world premiere at the Cairo International Film Festival, helping place Emirati cinema more visibly within a wider regional conversation. The Dubai gala was widely read as a homecoming moment, bringing industry circles and general audiences to the same point of curiosity. Produced by Sultan Saeed Al Darmaki, the project strongly carries an Emirati made emphasis, with filming completed entirely in the UAE. The presence of Emirati talent across key creative departments further frames BAAB as a milestone at both story level and industry level, reinforcing a moment where women led authorship and local production capacity meet in the same work.
CAST, RUNTIME, AND RELEASE
The cast features Meera Almidfa, Huda Alghanem, Shaima Al Fadl, and Sabiha Majgaonkar. With a runtime of around 95 minutes, the film avoids unnecessary extension, choosing instead to build suspense with controlled rhythm. The film moves primarily in Arabic, while screenings offer English subtitles, widening access across different audience profiles. With its release starting today, BAAB is expected to be discussed not only in Dubai, but across the region’s broader cinema agenda.
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