• Singer Khatija Rahman performs with the all-female Firdaus Orchestra at the Jubilee Stage. All photos: Expo 2020 Dubai
    Singer Khatija Rahman performs with the all-female Firdaus Orchestra at the Jubilee Stage. All photos: Expo 2020 Dubai
  • Academy and Grammy award-winning composer AR Rahman addresses the Dubai audience before the orchestra's performance.
    Academy and Grammy award-winning composer AR Rahman addresses the Dubai audience before the orchestra's performance.
  • Conductor Yasmina Sabba on stage.
    Conductor Yasmina Sabba on stage.
  • Pianist Lydian Nadhaswaram looks like he is enjoying performing with the Firdaus Orchestra at the Jubilee Stage.
    Pianist Lydian Nadhaswaram looks like he is enjoying performing with the Firdaus Orchestra at the Jubilee Stage.
  • Firdaus Orchestra in full swing.
    Firdaus Orchestra in full swing.
  • Children enjoy the performance.
    Children enjoy the performance.

AR Rahman's daughter Khatija wows audiences at Expo 2020 Dubai


  • English
  • Arabic

Khatija Rahman, daughter of the famous composer AR Rahman, has delivered a breathtaking performance of one of her father's songs at Expo 2020 Dubai.

AR Rahman, the two-time Academy Award and double Grammy Award winner, has been in Dubai since July preparing the Firdaus Orchestra, an ensemble made up of 50 female musicians from the Middle East.

Firdaus Orchestra's shows at the world's fair have been hugely popular, with crowds queuing early to hear them play Rahman classics like Vande Mantaram.

Their most recent performance was for World Children's Day and featured Disney classics such as Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid, with the musicians including 16-year-old pianist Lydian Nadhaswaram.

In her first live performance, Khatija, 24, wowed the audience with her performance of Farishton, a song composed by AR Rahman.

Updated: November 29, 2021, 10:33 AM