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Sacrifice. Made Personal. – Monochromatic Pictures’ “Korban” season three promises the Malay series’ most personal chapter yet
29 November 2025
From grief to healing and, finally, to the quiet courage of sacrifice, Monochromatic Pictures’ “Korban” trilogy reaches its most personal chapter yet. Director-writer Jeevan Nathan and producer Audrey Anthoney reflect on what’s next for Aisyah, and for themselves.
After charting the pain of loss in Korban I (Sacrifice) and the slow process of healing in Korban II, director-writer Jeevan Nathan and producer Audrey Anthoney are steering the final chapter of the Korban trilogy into deeply personal territory.
In Korban I, an aspiring young chef Aisyah has her world upended by the death of her mother, Tania; despite the support of her Māori boyfriend, Ari, she struggles to move on as she confronts the past she’s tried to leave behind. Korban II follows Aisyah to New Zealand in search of the secret behind her ultimate dish; when she unexpectedly loses her sense of taste, she’s forced to reckon with identity, faith, and cultural roots, navigating unfamiliar land and traditions to forge a new sense of belonging that unites Muslim and Māori culture, cuisine, and community.
Korban III is set to explore sacrifice not as a grand or heroic act, but as the quiet, daily choices that define who we are and what we hold on to. “Part I looked at grief, part II at healing, and the final chapter leans into the self, caregiving and the weight of expectations,” Jeevan says. He notes that Aisyah’s journey is always placed in “landscapes that test her inner world”. For part III, the team is exploring rural Japan, with its traditions of craft, food, and ritual, as a poetic backdrop for themes of care, solitude and intimacy, while also considering alternative environments from Korea to parts of Europe to carry the universality of sacrifice and family beyond a single culture.
Korban I (what Jeevan calls the “appetiser”) launched as a 8x15 mins web series in October 2022. Korban II “the main course” expanded into a limited series (6×45 mins) and premiered in May 2025, filmed entirely in New Zealand – a first for a Mediacorp Singapore Malay drama – and celebrated for its cinematic landscapes and cross-cultural depth.
That international spirit extended to its cast: Rae Saleha reprised her role as Aisyah, joined by Evander Brown as Ari, Hans Isaac, Nurul Aini, Aaron Khaled, Aiman Hakim, and New Zealand talents Oribē Maipi, Niko Levi, and D...
From grief to healing and, finally, to the quiet courage of sacrifice, Monochromatic Pictures’ “Korban” trilogy reaches its most personal chapter yet. Director-writer Jeevan Nathan and producer Audrey Anthoney reflect on what’s next for Aisyah, and for themselves.
After charting the pain of loss in Korban I (Sacrifice) and the slow process of healing in Korban II, director-writer Jeevan Nathan and producer Audrey Anthoney are steering the final chapter of the Korban trilogy into deeply personal territory.
In Korban I, an aspiring young chef Aisyah has her world upended by the death of her mother, Tania; despite the support of her Māori boyfriend, Ari, she struggles to move on as she confronts the past she’s tried to leave behind. Korban II follows Aisyah to New Zealand in search of the secret behind her ultimate dish; when she unexpectedly loses her sense of taste, she’s forced to reckon with identity, faith, and cultural roots, navigating unfamiliar land and traditions to forge a new sense of belonging that unites Muslim and Māori culture, cuisine, and community.
Korban III is set to explore sacrifice not as a grand or heroic act, but as the quiet, daily choices that define who we are and what we hold on to. “Part I looked at grief, part II at healing, and the final chapter leans into the self, caregiving and the weight of expectations,” Jeevan says. He notes that Aisyah’s journey is always placed in “landscapes that test her inner world”. For part III, the team is exploring rural Japan, with its traditions of craft, food, and ritual, as a poetic backdrop for themes of care, solitude and intimacy, while also considering alternative environments from Korea to parts of Europe to carry the universality of sacrifice and family beyond a single culture.
Korban I (what Jeevan calls the “appetiser”) launched as a 8x15 mins web series in October 2022. Korban II “the main course” expanded into a limited series (6×45 mins) and premiered in May 2025, filmed entirely in New Zealand – a first for a Mediacorp Singapore Malay drama – and celebrated for its cinematic landscapes and cross-cultural depth.
That international spirit extended to its cast: Rae Saleha reprised her role as Aisyah, joined by Evander Brown as Ari, Hans Isaac, Nurul Aini, Aaron Khaled, Aiman Hakim, and New Zealand talents Oribē Maipi, Niko Levi, and Denise Wiremu.
Korban III, “the dessert”, is planned as a feature film to close the arc.
For Jeevan and Audrey, each Korban chapter has been a creative evolution, from a web-series experiment that found international recognition to a cinematic co-production shaped by landscape and community. “We learned to stay bold in form,” Jeevan says, “but also deeply respectful of the cultures and people who host us.”
At its heart, Korban remains Aisyah’s story, a Southeast Asian Muslim woman whose journey mirrors the universal search for meaning. “If part I was the wound and part II the scar,” Jeevan reflects, “then part III is about the life lived after both.” Like its protagonist, Korban III promises to be both rooted in Southeast Asian values, with themes that resonate far beyond – a reflection on the price of love, the pull of identity, and the enduring grace of survival.
Brought to you by Monochromatic Pictures
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