via El Cinema
Despite Egypt’s political turmoil during Ramadan of 2013, with a coup and two presidents being jailed, queues at patisserie shops did not change. People of all races, backgrounds, and beliefs put aside their political stances to await their konafa and qatayef. Upon picking up their orders, they’d rush home to munch after Iftar and binge their favourite TV shows.
Unlike previous years, Egyptian Ramadan shows in 2013 were far from being a one-person show, with the whole script written for a single star to lead. Instead, in a surprising turn of events, the year featured multiple shows led by an ensemble.
Ensemble Shows
While some shows fell into the trap of having too many storylines that failed to intertwine and maintain proper structure appropriately, some shows pulled it off perfectly. Here are the ones that made the top of our list!
Bedoun Zekr Asmaa
via Cairo24
This show, set in the ’80s and shedding light on Egypt’s political and social life during the uprising of Islamic currents, surprised everyone with everything going on at that time. Writer Waheed Hamid presented multi-layered characters, played by Farida Said Al Nasr, Ruby, Horeya Farghali, Ahmed Al Fishawy, Mohamed Farag, Shereen Reda, and many more, that we were able to see through the directorial lens of Tamer Mohsen.
Moga Harra
via Ida2at
Eyad Nassar and director Mohamed Yassin reunited after the commercial success of Al Gama3a with this underrated masterpiece based on the novel by Osama Anwar Okasha. Alongside Eyad starred Rania Youssef, Dorra, Khaled Selim, Maali Zayed, Suba Mubarak, Medhat Saleh, Dina Al Sherbiny, and others in an odyssey that dived into the complex souls of its characters and their struggles between good and evil.
Niran Sadiqa
via El Watan News
Mohamed Amin Rady debuted his successful scriptwriting career with this star-studded commercial and critical hit. It starred Menna Shalaby, Rania Youssef, Amr Youssef, Kinda Alloush, Dhafer Al Abedein, Mohamed Shahin, Salwa Khattab, Sabry Fawaz, and Mohamed Mamdouh in the front row, alongside many other actors.
Al Ragol Al Einab
via Filfan
Our favourite comedic trio, Hesham Maged, Shiko, and Ahmed Fahmy, made us laugh the loudest in 2013. Although the show’s budget was not as grand as other shows, its idea and casting beat the imperfect execution.
One Person Shows
There might have been a power in the unity of cast members in the abovementioned shows, but still, some one-person shows didn’t fail to amaze us. Here are a couple of shows that we credit for how good they were.
Bent Esmaha Zat
via Facebook
The show was meant to premiere months before but was postponed and coincided with Ramadan. It marked the start of a new era, namely, Nelly Karim’s domination of Ramadan’s TV shows. Based on the titular novel by San Allah Ibrahim, the adaptation was brought to life by the power duo Mariam Naoum and Kamla Abu Zekry.
Al Araf
via Masrawy
It’s no secret that Adel Imam is a living legend. After his successful collaboration with writer Youssef Maaty in Fer2et Nagy Atallah the previous year, they returned with yet another hit.
Esm Mo2akat
via El Cinema
The same can be said for Youssef Al Sherif and Ahmed Nader Galal, who gave us another thriller for the second year after their success with Rakam Maghoul. The show’s achievement led to the reprisal of the main character, played by Youssef, three years later in Al Kaysar.
Hekayet Hayah
via El Watan News
Unlike the previous two examples, this marked the last of the dynamic duo Ghada Abulrazik and Mohamed Samy due to a personal conflict that occurred while filming the show. Unfortunately, this led to us seeing little of Ghada in the future, unlike the latter, who had his fair run of booming shows like Al Ostoura, Weld Al Ghalaba, and Al Brens before the release of his latest project Nasl Al Aghrab.
