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A MUSIC video created by Bahraini and international talents has received an overwhelming response from fans, having recorded more than 1.4 million views since its release this month.
Ahla, which means ‘prettier’ in Arabic, by popular Bahraini artist Hala Al Turk weaves the story of a young, up-and-coming fashion designer.
Hala plays the protagonist who is trying to enter the world of fashion with her unique brand and line. It goes on to narrate how she overcomes rejection and realises her dream.
Shot across three days at various locations in the kingdom, Ahla incorporates the artist’s name ‘Hala’ when written in Arabic, a creative twist to the project, and has been produced by Platinum Records, MBC Arabic TV channel’s music arm. It’s available for listening on their official website and YouTube channel.
The video has been directed by noted Bahraini talent Ali Esbai, winner of this year’s Made with Passion short film festival and Isa Culture Centre grant.
“It’s my first time working with Hala as a director,” Ali told GulfWeekly.
“I had worked with her on another project a few years ago where I was an assistant director but I didn’t really get to interact with her much,” Ali added.
“This time, the highlight, for me, was getting to know her. She is a lovely human being and thorough professional. She’s also very articulate and we worked very well together.”
Ali’s original concept for the song perfectly matched the emotional tone of the lyrics, but the producers felt the story board needn’t necessarily be a visual representation of what the song was about. They wanted to experiment – a challenge Ali happily accepted.
Even though the words have undertones of love, during his research, he discovered that Hala is currently pursuing a degree in fashion and decided to blend the artist’s music with her flair for fashion.
“I thought let’s do something that she’ll have fun with. I felt it’s a good chance to combine both of her arts – music and fashion,” he added.
But Ali had no background in fashion, which is why he brought production designer Noof Esbai and art director Rouya Mohammed on board. Noof designed the sets and decided the colour palettes, making sure it’s all authentic to fashion, which were then executed by Rouya.
Ali gives full credit for the success of his video to the dynamic crew and believes that ‘if you trust your people, they will carry you’.
Mayur Patankar, who is based in Los Angeles and studied with Ali at New York Film Academy, was flown in as cinematographer.
“We brought in these cool camera filters. If you watch the video, whenever Hala is in the studio just alone in front of a white background, there’s an effect riding in – that’s an in-camera effect, not editing. It’s a piece of glass that we put in front of the lens,” Mayur, who has previously collaborated with Ali on four projects, explained.
Ahla has received millions of views and more than 10,000 likes on producer Platinum Records’ YouTube channel alone.
Furthermore, it has been featured on Bill Boards Arabia, and gotten fans talking, some comments highlighting that ‘it feels like a Turkish drama or Bollywood film’.
“Viewers even asked if there will be a follow up film or TV series based on the character that Hala has played in the video,” Ali added.
