HELLO! Indo-Arabia Exclusive: Mena Massoud and Emily Shah Are Engaged!

We’ve all hidden underneath our blankets and read the most cringe-worthy love stories; the airport proposal, the family feud, the protagonist-antagonist triangle. But this particular love story hits a little different. While it has passion and fire at its core, the story is as real and sweet as it can get.

For our inaugural issue, we sat down with one of Disney’s most coveted royals — Prince Ali; the renowned Egyptian-Canadian actor from the famed movie Aladdin, Mena Massoud, and his talented and stunning star-fiancé, Emily Shah. In a world exclusive with HELLO! Indo-Arabia, the dynamic duo announces their engagement with never-seen-before photographs of their first official shoot as a couple from Japan, where Mena chose to pop the question.

Exclusive: Mena Massoud and Emily Shah Announce Their Engagement

The two met on an private membership application, which Emily described as an “exclusive networking and dating app.” As they exchange looks, she says, “Mena was the only person who had not reached out to me. So I was wondering what he was waiting for.” So Emily took matters into her own hands, and soon, the duo went on a few dates, just before she left for her Jungle Cry shoot with Abhay Deol. Recalling their early days together, Mena confessed, “She wanted to just be friends. But I wanted more.”

The evolution of relationships is always interesting. While some may believe opposites attract, others say quite the reverse. “Emily is extremely different
from me. I tend to be quite reserved and non-confrontational. She is more straight and to the point. She says how she feels and what she’s thinking. I love that about her because she’s brought that out in me. I definitely needed it in my life,” Mena says with a sparkle in his eye as he glances towards his fiancée.

“Mena is extremely grounded. He thinks before he speaks, he has a filter and that is something I need to learn. He is extremely considerate and sensitive towards people’s feelings and that’s amazing, something I have learned from him,” Emily gushes.

Interviewing the dynamic actor duo was straight out of a modern-day romance novel. A fusion of two cultures, our Indo-Arabian couple make it seem so easy. But was it? “I could see myself marrying this woman on our first date. I have dated women from various countries and there was a big cultural gap,” says Mena, decidedly.

Mena Massoud And Emily Shah On The Similarities Between Egyptian And Indian Culture

“There’s so many similarities between Indians and Egyptians, it’s crazy. From the way you grow up, to little things like being extra respectful to your elders or for that matter, the ideology that couples do not move in until they are married or the tradition of having to ask the parents’ hand in marriage. All of these are so similar.”

When the word India comes up, the concept of Bollywood shortly follow. So it is inevitable we ask Mena if he has ever considered chasing the Bollywood dream. “I watched Bollywood films even before meeting Emily. My parents would watch them, too. My dad is a huge Amitabh Bachchan fan and spoke about him with Emily the first time they met. The UAE and Saudi Arabia also have a big Bollywood connection,” Mena says, his eyes widening as he adds, “I love Shah Rukh Khan. He’s number one.”

Emily’s love for her fiancé’s culture is endearing, too. Like many of us, she has grooved to the tunes of Amr Diab and binge-watched television series from the East. “I have listened to Egyptian music and watched series like Netflix’s Paranormal. The Egyptian industry has legends like Shereen Reda and Youssra. I actually met Youssra; she is amazing,” she says. Mena proudly adds: “I have made her watch a lot of Ahmed El Sakka.”

Did Mena Massoud Always Want To Become An Actor? The Talented Star Shares His Story With Us

Getting to know Mena was a fantastical delight for all of us. The on-screen Prince Ali is a real-life charmer, too. Growing up in an Egyptian immigrant family, he was told acting is only a hobby, not a sustainable career route. His father was a satellite engineer, so it was decided that Mena’s future would be in the world of medicine. Both his sisters are successful pharmacists. However, after attending several science lessons and a boring calculus class at a renowned Canadian university, he decided to make a bold move.

“I remember sitting in class thinking if I did not take this shot, I’d regret it the rest of my life. I auditioned for a theatre school where they only took 30 people. I got in. My parents were disappointed. We even fell out for a bit and I had left home.”

The now-established actor had to make ends meet by working at restaurants and building from the ground up in Hollywood. But hard work pays off and Mena is testament to that fact. He hit it big with his first Hollywood project playing Tarek Kassar in the hit show Jack Ryan.

Mena Massoud On His Experience Working In Aladdin And How He Met The Jordanian Royal Family

Of course, Mena proudly says that his claim to fame is Aladdin and every little girl and mum, who watched the film, will blush and agree. Whether you are a fairytale fanatic or not, Aladdin is a story we all heard growing up. From our grandmothers to our mothers, and now nieces and nephews, the world of genies in lamps, magic carpets and mystical caves still enchant us.

“Aladdin obviously has a special place in my heart. It’s probably the most iconic brown character I could have ever dreamed of playing… We shot most of the film in the UK and went to Jordan for the desert scenes. Shooting at the Wadi Rum was amazing. I wasn’t just acting there, but was also a translator for Guy Ritchie and the camel handlers and bedouins.”

“A true moment for us is when I got to interact with King Abdullah. While shooting in the Wadi Rum, the crew wanted to visit Petra, four hours away; King Abdullah gave us his Blackhawks, so we got there in 20 minutes. I even got to meet the real Prince Ali! The royal family treated us amazingly.”

Staying connected to his roots is paramount for Mena. His love for his culture has him working on his second Arab film project, Eissa, alongside actor Khaled El Sawi, Rana Raeis and Mahmoud Hegazy. “My first Arabic film, In Broad Daylight, was an action  film  with blockbuster actors like Shereen Reda, Jamila A wad and Bayoumi Fouad.”

Emily Shah On Her Family Background And Connection To Films

Mena is not the only one with a passion for acting. Emily, too, has a deep-rooted legacy in the film fraternity. Her father, veteran line producer Prashant Shah, is the man behind Bollywood Hollywood, a company that became a global household name after its launch in 1999. The firm partnered with leading firms like Dharma Productions and Red Chilies Entertainment that handled films like My Name Is Khan with Shah Rukh Khan, Dostana with Abhishek Bachchan and Priyanka Chopra, and Kites with Hrithik Roshan.

“My father has a great relationship with Shah Rukh Khan, and he relies on my dad whenever he comes here,” adds Emily. Between her successful modelling career and experience on stage, it was inevitable that the trilingual star entered the world of cinema and rose to fame as an artiste to reckon with.

Many are eager to know how an app-inspired relationship turned into an alliance for life. “We have been together for five years now. But, of course, the pandemic happened in the middle of it. Being artists is tough on our schedules. But I wanted to get engaged in 2023. I had a work trip coming up to Tokyo, and I thought this would be the perfect location,” says Mena, thoughtfully.

Mena Massoud And Emily Shah On Their Japan Engagement

Engagements have evolved over the years. What used to be intimate affairs have turned into a social media campaigns with Instagram Reels galore. A grand gesture by the Eiffel Tower, lighting up the Burj Khalifa and other such public displays of affection have become the new-age way of expressing love— but not for this couple. “I knew she wanted an emerald or a marquise and found a beautiful, rare and flawless piece. I told her we had a number of red- carpet events in Japan so she would pack nice dresses. When we got there, I told her the event got cancelled but that we were shooting a video for a brand campaign and going to dinner later. I set up the cameras and was extremely nervous, but she arrived and I proposed.”

When asked whether she had an inkling that this was coming, Emily coyly admitted that she did. “I knew we were going to Japan and our families were joining us. So I thought it may happen. So I prepared myself, by asking my stylist to send me boxes of white clothes. She sent me things in all shades of white. But we get to Japan and Mena says he’ s working for two weeks, so suddenly what I expected to happen didn’t. When we were down to our last six days of the trip, I assumed it wasn’ t going to happen. As we left Tokyo for Atami, Mena told me to pack a small bag. He didn’t tell me where we were going but I asked him to help me pick two outfits. When he picked two white dresses, I had my big ‘ahaa’ moment,” Emily shares with a smile.

Mena Massoud And Emily Shah On Future Plans

Right now, they are keeping their relationship alive between action-packed film schedules, running their own beverage company and production firms. When asked where they call home, California is what they both say. “But home for me is wherever Mena is,” adds Emily, emotionally.

Their future includes an interesting retirement plan in Europe. “Hopefully living in Italy. We both feel a strong connection to the country. I did a genetic test hoping it would come back like 2% Italian. But it came back 99.8% Egyptian,” says Mena, with a cheeky laugh.

But that isn’t all for the dynamic duo. Mena and Emily are determined to start a family. We joke with them that perhaps our next world exclusive with them would be about the blessed news of a Massoud-Shah offspring.

Fingers crossed!

Words: Anahita Ghai. Photography: Jianwen Chen.