The UAE's resident Iranian singer and actress Ashjan is gearing up to release her first album, Asalah Fi Asalah, which includes nine songs in Arabic and Persian, according to the London-based Arabic daily Al Sharq Al Awsat.
The songs are based on the Arab and Persian tarab and focus on love and travel, which are the essence of Persian music, which is close to the Arabic scale.
“Arabic is a beautiful and interesting language. Because I follow up, read and listen to the Arabic songs, I recognized the special beauty of this language but I am still dominated by the Persian language. Listeners do not differentiate about that because of the Arabic and Persian singing coordination and the blending of the scales, which I sing,” Ashjan told the daily.
She won the prize for best actress for her lead role in her play Lil Abad Maa Al Nujoom (Forever with Stars), which has recently been staged in Tehran. She has also participated in the UAE play Aynaha (Her Eyes) prepared and directed by Saleh Karamah as part of the Jordanian Theater Festival's first Arab session, which recently wrapped up in Amman.
“I played many roles in the Iranian cinema, theater and musicals. Currently, I'm appearing on Dubai satellite channel to present my two series during Ramadan. The first one is Muamarat Aeliyyah (Family Plots), directed by Abdel Wahhab Al Hindi, and the second is Jaber Tayer (Jaber Flying), directed by Ali Al Bloushi. I've also worked as an assistant director on many plays in Iran and the UAE, and as a sound engineer for a radio series in Dubai," she said.
Ashjan is a graduate of Tehran University, where she studied Persian literature, and has been working in the UAE theater, radio and TV sector for the past five years – Albawaba.com
