With the influence of the Islamists in government, everyone predicted that the traditionally rich drama season of the holy month of Ramadan would be full of religious series expressing the orientations of those in power, or full of political series about the events of the revolution. However, no pure religious or political series have been produced and the latest shows focus on social issues and human problems.

Economic conditions

With the influence of the Islamists in government, everyone predicted that the traditionally rich drama season of the holy month of Ramadan would be full of religious series expressing the orientations of those in power, or full of political series about the events of the revolution. However, no pure religious or political series have been produced and the latest shows focus on social issues and human problems.

Economic conditions

The current economic crises in Egypt have forced production companies to decrease the number of drama series to be aired during next Ramadan to 30 – half the number shown last Ramadan. However, budgets remain high and some drama series are being heavily financed like never before.

‘The Fortune Teller’ had the largest production budget with L.E. 80 million (US $11, 435, 439). Despite the fact that many are describing this budget as the highest ever in Egyptian television history, the production company says the amount is not extravagant, given that the series stars many A-list names, such as Adel Imam, Hussein Fahmi, Talaat Zakaria and Shirin.

The drama series, which comes second in terms of budget, is entitled ‘Hayat’s Story’ starring Ghada Abdurrazzaq, Razan Mughrabi and Khaled Selim.

The third highest budget for a drama series was for the production ‘Khalafallah’ starring Nour Sharif with a budget of L.E. 25 million (US $3,570,000), which is expensive as ‘The Preacher,’ while ‘The Underaged’ starring Salah Saadani occupied fifth place with a budget of L.E. 20 million (US $2,800,000).

Most-anticipated series

‘The Fortune Teller’ is expected to earn the highest ratings for two reasons: Adel Imam’s enormous popularity and the series’ exciting theme and plot where it talks about a big-time crook who gets a stroke of luck and becomes a prominent political figure rising to high ranks and positions of power while his many victims are trying to recover their money.

This series is being accused of having political connotations in the sense that it indirectly attacks Islamists and the way they have climbed to power. However, Adel Imam denies those accusations and stresses that the series is not politically motivated.     

‘The Preacher’ is also expected to earn high ratings because it addresses the issue of trading-in religion to achieve political gains where it unveils the true nature of some Muslim preachers who appear on satellite channels in order to slander and charge the regime’s peaceful opponents with infidelity.

‘Assia’s world’ is the third series expected to earn high ratings because it marks the return of beloved actress Muna Zaki to television. This series tackles the issue of social injustice suffered by Egyptian women and the attempts of some to curb their freedom.

Calls to boycott

The new Ramadan drama season will witness the participation of some artists blacklisted by rebels after the revolution. Certain stars have been accused of affiliation with the former regime and called remnant celebrities, such as Ilham Shahin who will co-star in ‘Guava Theory’, a work that has recently been under a boycott campaign, not just because of Shahin but also because of her co-star Samah Anwar who fiercely criticized Egyptian rebels and refused to apologize.

Shahin says she is not afraid of any boycott campaign, explaining that those who are launching such campaigns are a part of a “minority” : “I believe that the support shown by the audience, artists and members of the media during my battle with Abdullah Badr is the brightest evidence that I am enormously popular and that my political opinion neither did nor will affect me or affect the audience ratings of my next works.”

It is known that preacher Abdullah Badr accused Shahin of prostitution to which she replied by suing him and eventually a court ruling was issued in her favor. “I am trying to tackle a serious problem that has been inflicted on the Egyptian society since the revolution, which is collective depression caused by the tragic political events. Therefore, I have decided to tackle this issue through this drama series in which I play a psychiatrist who decides to earn a Master’s Degree and tries to find new ways to treat society from depression,” Shahin added.

Rougina, a famous actress who declared her support for Mubarak’s regime during the  November 25 revolution, will star in two movies entitled ‘Hayat’s Story’ and ‘A Weakness.’ She expressed annoyance by the term remnant celebrities, saying: “I believe that owing to the deterioration of the country’s economy and the state of lawlessness, the audience now realizes that my opinions are true. I knew that the fall of Mubarak’s regime would result in chaos and that is why I do not regret what I said and I am not afraid of those boycott campaigns.” 

The series ‘Doubt’ has also been subject to boycott campaigns, simply because it features Syrian actress Raghda, a strong supporter of Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Director Mohammed Nuqli says he is not worried about the campaigns calling for boycotting ‘Doubt.’ “I refuse such campaigns because I believe that every artist is fully entitled to express political opinions freely. A criticism is acceptable when it is against a certain work of art, but it would be unacceptable if it personally attacked a star,” he explained.

No religious or political dramas

Given that the coming Ramadan TV season marks the first anniversary of Islamists’ coming to power, many predicted that several religious series would be aired during Ramadan in harmony with the changing political map in Egypt, but the reality contradicted all predictions.

Drama critic Tareq Shinnawi believes that the nonexistence of series that talk about the events of the revolution is natural and predictable since the country’s political arena is very chaotic nowadays. “If a political series suggests that the revolution has succeeded in achieving its goals, it will lose its credibility considering the tragic incidents sweeping the country and also the deteriorating economic conditions which have made many groups feel that the revolution has failed. On the other hand, if a creative work suggests that the revolution has failed to achieve its goals, other groups of people will be frustrated, especially since they are still hoping that the revolution succeeds in defeating the counter revolution and realizes its goals. Therefore, these contradictions have prompted creative artists to stay away from politics,” he said.

“Despite the absence of political series I am certain that specific plot lines still shed light upon recent political incidents. In ‘Khalafallah’ for example, there is a rebellion and in ‘The Preacher’ there is a clear plot point addressing the issue of trading in religion to achieve political or personal gains,” he added.

As regards the reason behind the absence of religious series this year, Shinnawi said: “I believe that the enormous and unexpected success of ‘Umar’, which was regarded as the best religious series in many years, prompted creative artists to refrain from writing religious series out of their fear that any new work would not match the success of its predecessor.”

Incomplete revolution

“We cannot have political series talking about revolutionary events because it is still underway since its goals have not yet been achieved. The rebels are facing the hardest punch from the counter revolution and I believe that under this confusion and turmoil it is impossible to create any political series,” said drama critic Khairyia Bashlawi

Regarding the absence of religious series this year, Shinnawi said: “I believe that the enormous and unexpected success of ‘Umar’, which was regarded as the best religious series in many years, prompted creative artists to refrain from writing religious series out of their fear that any new work would not match the success of its predecessor.”