The most colossal project in the history of Iran’s film industry ‘Muhammad’ will be unveiled on January 9 next year.
Directed by Majid Majidi, the film is based on the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The filming started in October 2011 and was completed in March 2014. It is set mainly in the Jahiliyyah era: pre-Islamic period of ignorance of divine guidance in Arabia. It starts with the birth of the Prophet and ends when the 12-year-old Muhammad travels to the Levant with his uncle Abu Talib ibn Abdul-Mutallib, where they encounter Bahira: a Nestorian monk who foretold the prophetic future of the then adolescent Muhammad.
Soundtrack
Sami Yusuf, the Iranian born British singer/songwriter of the Islamic faith, has been chosen to sing the original score for the closing credits. The score is originally composed by Indian Allah-Rakha Rahman, better known as A. R. Rahman.
In a television interview, the script of which was published on Yusuf’s official website, the singer said he has known Rahman for eight years. The artists are both fans of each other’s work. Yusuf stated that he was the one who suggested to Rahman for collaboration on the sound track of ‘Muhammad’.
Rahman won two Oscars for his soundtrack in ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ in 2009.
Foreign Contribution
The cinematography is done by the award-winning Vittorio Storaro who won Oscars for ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979), ‘Reds’ (1981), and ‘The Last Emperor’ (1987). Storaro was also director of photography for Bernardo Bertolucci’s ‘Last Tango in Paris’ (1972).
The visual effects supervisor of the film is Scott E. Anderson who won the Oscar for best visual effects for the film ‘Babe’ in 1996. In ‘Muhammad’ he has undertaken special effects design of the military expeditions of Abraha against Quraysh of Mecca in the invasion of Hejaz. Abraha was an Ethiopian general who at the time ruled much of present day Yemen and Hejaz.
Miljen Kreka Kljakovic, who has won Cesar Awards and European Film Awards and has also been nominated for Primetime Emmy awards for best production design is the designated production designer for ‘Muhammad’.
The Italian Giannetto De Rossi has undertaken make up design. De Rossi was nominated for best special effects for ‘The Last Emperor’ at BAFTA Film Awards. He was also the key makeup designer for famous movies such as ‘The Last Legion’, ‘The Man in the Iron Mask’, ‘Once Upon a Time in the West’, and ‘1900’.
Costume design is done by the British Michael O’Connor who has an Oscar and a BAFTA award for ‘The Duchess’ in his profile. O’Connor was also nominated in the Oscars and BAFTA awards for the film ‘Jane Eyre’.
Set director Gianne Franco Fumagalli who among other movies has also been the set director for ‘The Godfather: Part III’ is the set designer for ‘Muhammad’.
Luca Lachin, known for popular movies such as ‘Casino Royale’, ‘Quantum of Solace’, ‘Gangs of New York’, and ‘Equilibrium’ is Majidi’s assistant director.
Iranian Assistance
Art director Mohsen Shah Ebrahimi, cinematographer Hamid Khozouie-Abyane, as well as Bijan Mirbagheri and the late Javad Sharifi Rad are a number of Iranian artists who also assisted in the production of the film.
Notable members of the cast are Mahdi Pakdel in the role of Abu Talib, Ali Reza Shoja-Nuri in the role of Abdul-Mutallib (the Prophet’s grandfather), Dariush Farhang in the role of Abu Sufyan (staunch opponent of the Prophet), and Mina Sadati in the role of Aminah (the Prophet’s mother) and Sareh Bayat in the role of Halimah (foster-mother)
Reza Mirkarimi was Majidi’s advisor in this international project. The screenplay was written by Majidi and Kambuzia Partovi with the assistance of Hamid Amjad.
Majidi also plans to make a sequel to the first part. The film is scheduled for public viewing later in 2015.
