Thiruvananthapuram: The first-ever feature film to be produced in the Sultanate of Oman — and only the third to come from a Gulf-based Arab nation — has drawn heavily on Indian talents to make it happen. Veteran Kerala-based cinematographer K. Ramachandra Babu — a Loyola College, Chennai and Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, alumnus — has done the camera work for "Al Boum" (The Dhow), a two-hour story about fisher people shot in a coastal village near the Omani capital, Muscat.

The incidental music has been provided by well-known Chennai-based composer S.P. Venkatesh, while the award-winning talents of make-up artiste Pattanam Rashid also figure in the film. It is now in post-production in Chennai and will be processed by Prasad Labs.

Mr. Babu, who has worked behind the camera for over 120 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telegu, Hindi, English and Arabic, is the president of the Indian Society of Cinematographers. He told The Hindu on the sidelines of a Film Marketing workshop held concurrently with the ongoing International Film Festival of Kerala ( IFFK), at the Kerala capital, that the Omani film is one of the few feature films to be produced in the Persian Gulf nations — only Bahrain and Kuwait has seen such films being made earlier. "Al Boum" is the concept and creative work of Khalid al Zadjali, director of the Oman Film Society and an assistant director general with Oman TV.

The ScreenOman.com website reports that the film, financed by the Oman Government, will be premiered at the Majan Film Festival in Muscat in January 2006. It tells the story of the long wait by friends and family and fiancée, for a young boy in a fishing village, gone missing. Five light technicians from India also helped in the film-making process.

"This shows the Gulf countries are recognising the artistic and professional strengths of the Indian film industry. If `Al Boum' is a success for its producers, it may well persuade other countries of the burgeoning Arab film industry to look to India for talent. So in a sense, this is just as crucial for us as for the Oman film industry," Mr. Babu added.

Over 50 seasoned film-makers as well as script writing debutants took part in the two-day workshop where France-based Phyllis Mollet, secretary general of the European Producers' Club and a team of experts provided guidance on how to market script in the global film bazaar. The workshop was conducted by the Kerala Chalachitra Academy and sponsored by the Film and Video Park of the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA).

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