Rule Breakers: How Roya Mahboob and the Afghan Dreamers used robotics to defy the Taliban

Imagine a world where girls are forbidden from going to school — where learning, reading, and even touching a computer is off-limits simply because they are female.

This was the reality for millions of young women in Afghanistan under the Taliban’s rule in the late 1990s, when nearly all female education and employment were banned until the regime was toppled in 2001.

Before the Taliban retook control 20 years later, there was a brief window when Afghan women could pursue higher education, even as the group continued to exert influence. During that fragile period, opportunities opened for women and girls to earn degrees and enter fields once closed to them.

One film captures that moment through the story of a woman determined to build a team of gifted students who refuse to be limited by the barriers extremists tried to impose.

Rule Breakers follows the real-life journey of Roya Mahboob, one of Afghanistan’s first female IT CEOs, as she forms the all-girls robotics team known as the Afghan Dreamers — revealing not only the impact of denying girls access to technology, but the extraordinary possibilities unleashed when they are given the chance.

"I decided to build all-girls teams because it definitely sent a message to the girls and women in Afghanistan, but also outside," Roya tells The New Arab.

"My passion mostly comes from the same thing that happens when girls are trusted with an opportunity. I think that they can exit it, or they can do many great things."

Working alongside Oscar-winning director Bill Guttentag, Roya wanted to put a spotlight on the many stories of Afghan girls, showing that they are not always victims.

"We wanted to build a movie to tell the world, especially what Afghan girls are capable of," she explained. 

"[Afghan girls] are the next designers, creators and engineers and are about the group of girls who refuse to be limited by society, refuse to give up on their dreams," Roya tells The New Arab.

"Our story wasn't only about us; it's a story of every girl who goes into STEM, and they're facing the many challenges and difficulties in different societies."

The film shows Roya Mahboob's drive, stubbornness, and passion in uplifting women through tech, from convincing the girls to join the team and their fathers and uncles to let them, to facing the Taliban.

While the CEO did make a cheeky cameo in the film, Roya's determination is portrayed by Nikohl Boosheri, who, Roya says, did a "great job" in telling her story.

The actor couldn't help but be in awe of Roya as she listed her achievements. "It's such a great honour to tell a story like this, and it doesn't happen every day," Nikohl tells The New Arab.

The actor admits she was putting pressure on herself in playing Roya Mahboob, but seeing how "lovely, humble and down to earth" the entrepreneur was after their first meet-up, it put Nikohl at ease.

"You're telling the story of this big story that feels larger than life, but it's so important always to track and honour their humanity as well," Nikohl explains.

"I think meeting her humanises this larger-than-life character."

While the tech CEO has been applauded for her efforts, even being TIME'S 100 Most Influential People at one point, it did not come without difficulties.

From the mission in forming her team, to her and her siblings being shot at by the Taliban, which they survived after her attacker's rifle jammed, to even one of the Dreamers' father being killed by the 2017 mosque bombing in Herat, Roya and her team faced great difficulty in getting to where she is now, even at one point thinking whether the troubles were even worth it.

Roya cannot help but credit her team and her family, including her brother and sister, for standing by her when times were tough, as reflected in the movie, showing the power of women supporting women.

"There are moments that are scary, there are moments that you feel disappointed, you feel that maybe it's not worth continuing to fight," Roya recalls.

"But if you surround yourself with people who have the same passion, the same talent and the same vision, then I think that you can do incredible things."

The CEO also couldn't help but thank the people involved in making the film, including Bill Guttentag, the behind-the-scenes team, and especially Nikohl Boosheri for playing her in such a beautiful and powerful way.

One person credited with being one of the many key figures in pushing Roya Mahboob into entrepreneurship was Dr Samir Sinha, an Indian-American tech CEO, played by actor Ali Fazal, known for Victoria & Abdul, Furious 7, and 3 Idiots.

"He's one of the few people who actually champions Roya, and at those very crucial points where she has to make very important decisions for the future," Ali Fazal tells The New Arab.

While the actor was unable to meet Dr Sinha, a few liberties were taken with his character's portrayal of what actually happened.

"It's very surreal, because these words, or these feelings, or this moment have been breathed by somebody out there who has experienced this entire notion," Ali explains.

The actor speaks about how there are very few stories of films with women holding the entire narrative.

"The story is about Afghanistan... but so many years later, not much has changed, it's become worse," Ali says. 

"Stories like this might be able to at least record some version of history 50 years down the line," the actor continues. 

"I mean, that scares me, what people are going to think of us when they look back and say, nobody was doing anything, this was all happening right in front of our eyes. This is one of those films I think to start."

The actor admits having to do a lot of research to "get to so many truths" on a topic that is mainly reported at the basic level.

"It's almost like one little thing opens up, and then you do the rest of the work, but you'll find out there's more and more and more and more, and it goes deeper, I guess any part of the world now," Ali says.

Ali Fazal also notes the film's lighter tone on a topic where a darker story could have been told, but was glad the director chose to champion Roya's work and the future of women in STEM.

"[Roya's] been through all of this. This is just the story, but what she has seen behind it is very interesting — the human experience of that," Ali adds.

While the film ends on a high note, the after-credits remind us of the Taliban recapturing Afghanistan following the US withdrawal, preventing girls from being educated, but also denying millions of women and girls even the most basic rights, including justice, work and even health. 

"Roya always says that education and computers and technology are a luxury, it really is," Nikohl tells The New Arab.

"It's freedom for so many people. I hope that [Rule Breakers] inspires young people to really invest in their own education, curiosity, learning and belief in themselves as well as give them the courage that if they have a passion or a dream, that they owe it to themselves and to society at large to follow that."

In the 20 years when Afghan girls were allowed to attend school, women were able to start businesses and compete on the biggest stages. But today, 2.2 million girls in Afghanistan have been banned from attending school beyond primary education.

Roya explains that the message of the movie has changed since the Taliban took over, wanting to remind the audience of what the extremist group has done. 

"The Taliban took every single right from [Afghan girls]," she explains.

"They're talented, they are smart, but everything's taken away from them. I'm sorry that I have to use that opportunity to tell the world that we should not forget that many of the girls get silenced and their future is stolen."

While Roya and her team were able to escape to Qatar after the Taliban took over, the CEO wanted to remind the audience that the Taliban's restrictions have not stopped Afghan girls from fighting for their right to education in their country and abroad.

"I hope that [the audience] understand that Afghan girls and refugee girls are not defined by what has been taken from them, but what they continue to build," Roya says.

"I hope that they realise that this story is universal. It's not only about Afghanistan, but it's also about every girl who refuses to be told that she's too small, she's too poor, she's too foreign or too female to dream big," she adds. 

"If the audience in the theatre is feeling inspired to support girls' education or open one door in their communities, I think that the film has already changed the world."

Rule Breakers is now streaming on Prime Video 

Anam Alam is a staff writer at The New Arab. She frequently writes about human rights and social issues, including women's rights and sex education

Follow her on X: @itsanamalam