One can say that the Egyptian drama has started to regain its high position in the region, as powerful productions emerged in the recent period, and this was noticeable this year.
Many stars and directors returned after the Coronavirus pandemic which caused many works to be stopped and postponed over two years. For this reason, this Ramadan season was significantly more diverse compared to previous seasons in terms of topics, and this diversity stems from the reliance of scriptwriters in their works on literature in general.
The drama witnessed a heated competition between the stars to win the largest share of viewership on television, with its terrestrial and satellite channels. We lived together daily in front of the small screen to follow the many works that were shown in this holy month. There are good, valuable, and serious works, and there are directors who were able to achieve the difficult equation, attract the viewer, and introduce them to the latest methods and techniques of drama in the world in an interesting and smooth manner, without deviating from the context of traditional works. This equation is very difficult and not many directors can achieve it. Mostly, the director falls into the trap of their desire to present modern forms of drama, and they flood the work with everything that is modern and developed so that the viewer feels that he is facing a strange world that he cannot adapt to or accept. This type of work is often admired by critics and denounced by viewers.
“Jaafar El-Omda”
This year, creative director Mohamed Sami gave us a dose of creativity and visual enjoyment that puts him in a different position, deserving of the praises of critics and audiences alike. This is through the work he presented this year through the series “Jaafar El-Omda” by Mohamed Ramadan, who played a distinguished role. This distinction is due to the difficulty of the role because it reviews the life of a man from a popular neighborhood with all the difficulties and contradictions that he must find in this work.
However, the director was able to merge reality with imagination in a harmony that attracts the viewer’s eye and arouses the viewer’s curiosity to provide the required excitement in the work. This is where he presented the personality and the work in a way that is not related to the real reality of the popular hero, whose features were drawn by the masterpieces of the writer Osama Anwar Okasha, such as “Nights of the Helmeya Neighborhood” or “Arabesque” and other works that depicted the features of the gallant and noble man coming from the working classes of the people. Director Mohamed Sami presented an unrealistic character for the popular hero. This is for Mohamed Ramadan to present, through it, very difficult and complex feelings in his smoothness and great credibility, as he is the father who loses his son and lives next to him all the time and he does not know, but he must remain coherent with his calmness and integrity of thinking. At the same time, he is the employer who manages everyone with whom he works, and he must be strict all the time, and despite that, he never loses the human connection that brings him together with the people of the neighborhood. The personality is rich and very complex and contradictory. However, Ramadan was able to present it with great skill, so that the viewer did not feel that he was in front of a character in a series, but in front of a real character of blood and flesh. This is a kind of role that only those who have talent and experience can present, so we cannot imagine that any other actor is in the place of Ramadan.
Hala Sedqi, in the same series, presented a completely new role to her, although she presented the role of the mother in more than one work, this year and in this work we found a new face for Hala Sedqi, as she is the surprise of the work. Indeed, you hardly realize that she is Hala Sidqi, as she melted into the personality that she presents with skill and ingenuity, clothes, and the tone of her voice, even in the movements of her body and the way she delivered the dialogue, all of that was like a very beautiful piece of music.
Sedqi also played a wonderful role in the series “Serra Al-Batea”, especially in the scene in which she bids farewell to her son with sincere words of love, tenderness, and sincere feelings, and then dies next to him.
“Taht El Wesaya”
The star of this year was Mona Zaki who played the lead role in the “Taht El Wesaya” series. This is where I presented a very human character while at the same time discussing one of the most important issues. Thus, she was the owner of an influential imprint that no one else can replace in the way of performance.
Al-Maddah
Director Ahmed Samir Farag presented the “Al-Maddah” series, which relies mainly on visual effects, and it is a modern form that was shown in many works but did not receive the approval of the audience, because he feels alienated from the work when the real world in which he lives is broken for him. This is especially since this work is social and realistic and discusses issues beyond nature. But Faraj’s intelligence appeared in the embodiment of characters and the use of old decorations and details that suggest classicism and are not devoid of exoticism at the same time, and the combination of modernity and classicism, which made the work attracts the viewer’s eye and make him feel familiar, and this confirms that we are facing a talented director. We must also praise his choice, which was successful for the artist, Rania Farid Shawky, in her age-appropriate stage, her ability to change her vocal pitch, and her impersonation of the character as if she were a realistic character.
As for Hamada Helal, every year he makes us applaud with admiration for this performance, which discusses highly controversial topics in a smooth manner and presents the most complex characters in a manner that is endearing to the hearts of the masses. This is where the personality of the vocalist and healer of magic in the Qur’an, which he presented over the course of three years, is very complex. Thus, Hamada Helal used us to go through many artistic adventures, and he was able to win the admiration of the audience.
“Serro Al-Batea”
As for the creative director, Khaled Youssef, he always brings to mind the works of giant writers in a purely Egyptian format. He brought to mind the masterpiece of Youssef Idris, “Serro Al-Batea” in a series of the same name, in a wonderful template and worked to excite the spectator’s mind by separating it from time to time from merging into Events and this in order to stimulate critical thinking of the viewer.
In general, we experienced through the small screen the pleasure of watching this year, the workers are valuable, with real representation from artists who excelled in works of value, such as Al-Kuttaba 101, Al-Harsha Al-Sabaa, and other distinguished works.
