Emirati actor Majid Al Falasi, voice behind Um Saeed in Freej, dies

He died on Sunday aged 33

The grandmothers form the Freej cartoon. Courtesy Flash Entertainment

Emirati actor Majid Al Falasi has died. He was 33.

Al Falasi died on Sunday, local Arabic newspapers, including Al Ittihad and Al Bayan, reported. The cause of death was not specified.

Al Falasi made his artistic debut in 2006 in Freej.

The show is among the region's most popular animations and has even been dubbed into Japanese.

It revolves around the adventures of four senior Emirati women living in a secluded neighbourhood in modern-day Dubai. Al Falasi was the voice of the cartoon character Um Saeed.

The character is the eldest and wisest of the four women. She was the first character that Freej creator Mohammed Saeed Harib conceptualised, basing her on his own paternal grandmother.

Um Saeed is among the most popular characters of the show, known for her sarcasm and love of coffee. She is also known for reciting old poetry and for always having a traditional saying fit for the occasion.

The vibrant world of Freej has inspired theatrical shows, merchandise and music. It was also the first Arab-produced animation to be exported to Japan. A carpet was even created by expert Afghan weavers that reproduces a mural from the 2016 season of the series. Measuring four metres by 80 centimetres, the carpet took 360 hours to make, and was produced by six weavers working on a single loom.

Last year, Freej branched out into video games, launching Freej Match on Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store. The colourful, narrative-driven puzzle game features all the popular characters from the series.