Pakistani animated series 'Burka Avenger' tells of a superhero who fights for girls' education. Photos: Handout
For the longest time, many popular series and films from the West have portrayed Muslims in a limited manner and, worse, in a negative way.
And in some other works from most other countries, Muslim population is not present at all even though it makes up about 25% of the world population.
To have a better representation in the entertainment scene – one that celebrates Muslim identities and cultures – comes a new global subscription video on demand streaming service called Qalbox.
Developed by Bitsmedia – the company behind the popular app, Muslim Pro – Qalbox sets out to become “the height of the Muslim entertainment”.
“The reality is, in Hollywood movies, Muslims are only represented in one set of films and only from a certain region,” said Nik Emir Din, co-CEO of Bitsmedia, at the launch of Qalbox in Malaysia on Dec 1.
“But, we all know how diverse and rich the global Muslim population are, in terms of the history, of the culture, of the different identities, different geographies and different nationalities.
“As a Muslim myself, I really want to see more Muslim representation. I hope that, especially as a community, we can also inspire our younger generation to look forward to seeing themselves and to be proud of our identity as Muslims as well.”
He added that Qalbox offers content that hopes to shine a spotlight on Muslim identities and culture through its catalogue.
It also has the popular Canadian TV series Little Mosque On The Prairie and Pakistani animated series Burka Avenger, which is about a superhero who takes on the Taliban in order to fight for girls' education.
Nik Emir Din (left) and Fara Abdullah, the co-CEOs of Bitsmedia, believe in empowering Muslim storytellers by giving them a platform to tell their own stories.
The streaming service is also producing its own original content.
One of its first original content is a documentary-series titled I am Muslim, which looks at the lives of several individuals from different places in the world and how they define themselves as a Muslim, even if what they do is deemed unconventional within their own society.
Furthermore, to ensure Malaysia’s Muslim community is showcased in its library, Qalbox is working together with local content distributors like Astro and Pixel Play to add more Malaysian content.
“Given our global user base, we’re thrilled to be able to help shine a light on locally produced Malaysian shows with audiences all over the world. We hope to introduce even more Malaysian productions in the future,” said Nik.
"Not only do we want to bring Malaysian content to the world, we want to bring the world's Muslim content to Malaysia."
One of the kids' programme available on Qalbox is 'Little Explorers'.
Qalbox is accessible through the Muslim Pro app, which has more than 140 million downloads in over 190 markets. In Malaysia, it has more than 10 million downloads currently.
Nik said: “The Muslim Pro is the trusted app for the Muslim community all around the world to get accurate prayer times, to access the Quran as well as to find Qibla.
"To give you an idea of how global Muslim Pro is, we also have the Quran translated in over 70 different languages.
“And we're not only talking about the languages where there are majority of Muslims such as Bahasa Indonesia and Bahasa Malaysia, but in unique languages such as Korean, Japanese, and many, many European languages.
"This is so that everyone across the world has access to this very essential service.
"With the addition Qalbox to the app, users can also check out hundreds of hours of films, documentaries, kids’ programmes and more," he said.
For a limited time, Malaysian users can get Qalbox at a promotional price of RM4.90/month or an annual subscription plan of RM49.90/year.
Available on mobile, web app, tablets and Smart TV Chromecasting, Qalbox is accessible on five different devices concurrently.
