With the middle of the holy month of Ramadan, the plots of the dramas became clear so that we can judge them, and some works have already been fully shown, as the drama production of the Ramadan 2023 season witnessed a clear transformation, as it was dominated by miniseries with no more than 15 episodes.
Some attributed this shift to the attempt of production agencies to save expenses in light of the economic crisis, as these works need shorter filming periods, and they are supposed to provide space for higher artistic quality, as followers in long series suffered from stretching, lengthening and filling without a real dramatic goal, and many drama makers were forced in previous years to continue filming during the show, which negatively affected the quality of the works.
This new trend emerged strongly after Arab and foreign broadcasting platforms presented several short series ranging in number of episodes from 10 to 15 episodes, and nevertheless succeeded in achieving high viewership rates. In the past and until the early nineties approximately, the Egyptian drama knew short, intense and very successful works that are still able to this day to attract viewers from different generations, and among the most prominent are: the series The Man and the Horse produced in 1982, which came in 13 episodes, as well as the series of martyrdom and tears, where the first part of it came in 1983 in only 16 episodes, and the number of episodes increased to reach in the second part in 1985 to 20 episodes, as well as the first part of the nights of the dream, which was presented in general 1987 in 18 episodes, but with the early nineties the longest series spread, bringing the number of episodes of the fifth part of the series Layali Al-Helmiya, for example, to 40 episodes in 1995.
Imam's Message
The first half of Ramadan witnessed a remarkable diversity in the submitted works, between comedy, social drama and excitement, and also witnessed the return of historical works after a long absence from the Egyptian drama scenes, which made viewers thirsty for a strong drama season, but unfortunately, with few exceptions, most of the dramas were disappointing.
Let's start with historical works, this season witnessed two historical works that sparked wide controversy since the beginning of their presentation, the first of which is "The Imam's Message", which dealt with the biography of Imam Al-Shafi'i, the series starring Khaled Al-Nabawi and Nidal Al-Shafei, Hamza Al-Eli and Arwa Jouda, and written by Muhammad Hisham Abya, and directed by Laith Hajo, the series appeared in its first episodes promising in an arena thirsty for this type of work, especially with the good performance of its star Khaled Al-Nabawy, and the wonderful technical cadres.
Unfortunately, the series was quickly subjected to a wide wave of criticism, after the exposure of unforgivable falls, the controversy began with the accusation of the Syrian poet Hudhaifa Al-Araji, the makers of the work, of stealing his poetic verses and attributing them to Imam Al-Shafi'i, which means that no one from the team of reviewers of the series did not bother to return to the Diwan Al-Shafi'i, the publication and investigator, only searching online, as these verses were already attributed to Al-Shafi'i in some unapproved Internet sites.
This was not only the only criticism, but many commented on the actors' mistakes in pronouncing some of the words of al-Fusha, as well as on the mixing of colloquial Egyptian with al-Fusha in many scenes. Not to mention the presentation of unproven facts in the life and biography of al-Shafi'i, which made the series in the crosshairs of accusations of distorting the biography of Imam al-Shafi'i for ideological purposes.
Followers of the work also attacked the portrayal of the character of Sayyida Nafisa, the granddaughter of the Prophet (peace be upon him), played by Farah Bseiso, an expected attack, as the embodiment of religious figures on screens has long witnessed renewed controversy over the presentation of this type of work. But despite all the controversy surrounding the series, we cannot deny that it presented a distinctive visual image, whether in open filming locations, which witnessed good panoramic shots, or in interior photography, where the director and the photography team were able to use the lighting to draw distinctive visual cadres, many of which looked like famous international paintings.
Sira Albaa
The second series that carried a historical tint is the series "His Secret Al-Bata", which revolves between two times: contemporary time, and the time of the French campaign, the series represents the gateway to the return of director Khaled Youssef to work after a break, and it is inspired by a story by writer Youssef Idris from his collection of stories "An Incident of Honor", and starring a large number of illustrious names, most notably: Ahmed Al-Saadani, Hussein Fahmy, Khaled Al-Sawy, Hanan Mutawa and Amr Abdel Jalil.
Despite the richness of the story adapted from the work, the script was weak, and the drawing of the characters lacked real depth, as most of them seemed flat and simplified, in addition to that, the series suffered from historical errors, starting with the poster in which the minaret of the Muhammad Ali Mosque appeared, which was not built at the time the events of the series take place.
Other errors related to the characters' clothes, the vehicles used in the work, and many details that confirm that the makers of the series did not investigate sufficient historical accuracy to create its visual image, despite the presence of many adequate references to this period of Egypt's history, which are available in Arabic and French.
Criticism of the series intensified after the great musician Rajeh Daoud announced that he was surprised in the first episode by using music he had composed for a previous work by Khaled Youssef, the film Al-Rayes Omar Harb, and then noticed in the following episodes the series' use of musical sentences that were not composed by him despite the presence of his name on the sequences as a composer of the work music, which he considered a "crime" against him.
Unfortunately, "His Secret Al-Bata" was not one of the series ending in the first half of the holy month, and this means that it will extend with viewers for a full thirty episodes.
From history to comedy
Now let's move away from historical series, and take a look at the most prominent comedy series that were shown in the first half of Ramadan, the season seemed at its beginning promising a great diversity in comedies, led by the series "Big Oy", which comes this year in its seventh season.
The series starring Ahmed Makki, Rahma Ahmed, Mohamed Salam and Bayoumi Fouad, since the first appearance of the character of the great in the film Ahmed Makki Tair You, which was presented in 2009, the character achieved great success, which prompted Makki to allocate a large space for her through the series "Big Oy", which presented its first season in Ramadan 2010 and achieved great success, to present six seasons, co-starring five of them Donia Samir Ghanem in the role of the wife (gift).
The series is based mainly on the paradoxes between the character of the great mayor of "Mazarita" Saidi and the character of his twin brother Johnny, who grew up in the United States of America and returned to share "Verticality", hence the paradoxes.
The series was able to achieve great success in its first parts, but unfortunately the seventh part was disappointing to its followers, and it seems that the script has drained all possible comedy situations valid to provoke laughter in previous seasons, so the last season came lackluster, with a comedy that relies heavily on "Efe" more than on situations and paradoxes, for example in the line of a profitable relationship with the great, which took several episodes, and despite being a major mistake, its scenes came as if they were separate explorations that can delete any of them Simply without affecting the construction of the series.
The series also used a number of great guest stars such as Ahmed Al-Sakka and Lordiana, both of whom appeared in their real personality, but the presence of these stars did not add anything to the work, neither at the level of construction nor at the level of comedy. Alaa Morsi, who was allocated a wide space to play the role of the psychopathic character, was no exception to the disappointing performance, but he surprised his followers with his performance on social media, where he hurled insults at everyone who attacked his role at work.
In the meantime, social media witnessed a major attack on the performance of Rahma Ahmed (Marbouha), especially at the beginning of the series, where her performance was described as contrived and exaggerated, and it is remarkable that her performance this year is not much different from her performance last year, which was praised by the followers themselves, which made some accuse some of these criticisms of being directed to drop the work.
Beep
On the other hand, the series "The Whistle" managed to attract a large segment of viewers, the series starring Ahmed Amin, Taha El-Desouky, Aya Samaha and Enaam Salosa and Mahmoud Al-Bazawi, supervised the writing workshop Ahmed Amin and Mahmoud Ezzat, and directed by Alaa Ismail.
In a fictional comedy template, the series presents the theme of returning in time, where Shafiq tries to change his life by using a "whistle" that allows him to go back in time for three minutes to change an event, and the episodes review in a comedy form how this simple event can change the life of the hero and those around him.
This theme has already been presented in a number of Arab and foreign works, but the treatment of "whistle" was distinctive, and based on ironies carefully written and perfectly, the level of episodes varied somewhat, some of them were coherent and able to extract laughter from viewers, and others came lackluster, as if a repetition of sketches and "insults" that Amin used to present in his program Plateau.
But Ahmed Amin is credited with a smooth and distinctive performance without complexity, as he shined next to the rising actor Taha Desouki in the role of Wajih, the hero's brother, and proved a prominent acting presence and comedy, and we cannot fail to praise the distinguished appearance of veteran stars Enaam Salosa and Mahmoud Al-Bazawi.
Full Issue
Starring Dina El-Sherbiny, Sherif Salama, Esaad Younis and Aya Samaha, written by Yusr Taher and Rana Abu Al-Rish, and directed by Khaled Al-Halfawy, the series is based on the Egyptian film (Alam Eyal Eyal) starring Rushdi Abaza and Samira Ahmed, which in turn is taken from the foreign film "Yours, Mine and Ours".
After Laila and Ahmed decide to get married, each reveals a surprise to each other, as the heroine has 4 children from two previous marriages, while the hero has 3 sons from a previous marriage, which means that they live together with seven sons at different ages between childhood and adolescence, hence the paradoxes.
Despite the adaptation of the work from a previous work, "Kamel Al-Number" was distinguished by its own treatment, a daughter of its time and its circumstances, and it lightly highlighted a number of contemporary social issues, with a knitted and distinctive comedy based on situations rather than "insults", and the heroes were able to provide a distinctive performance that made the series one of the best comedies presented this year.
The return of Esaad Younis to the small screen also attracted a large percentage of the audience of her fans, whether with her acting or singing performances during the episodes of the series, and her last appearance was in a dramatic championship in 2000 in the series O Men of the World Unite, she has not appeared on the small screen except as a guest of honor in some series, in addition to her successful television program "Her Excellency".
The cast who played the roles of children, whether in childhood or adolescence, succeeded in providing a very remarkable performance, although some of them stand in front of the television camera for the first time, and the series began to be presented before the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan, which made it able to obtain high viewership.
Husband's diary
Another comedy work to be re-presented this year, has already been presented by Mahmoud Yassin and Ferdous Abdel Hamid, the series is based on a novel by writer Ahmed Bahgat, starring Tarek Lotfy, Hana Al-Shorbagy and Aicha Ben Ahmed, and directed by Tamer Nadi.
Although the series relies on a successful novel, it has fallen into the trap of presenting stereotypical characters that it did not succeed in deepening enough, which makes it a lackluster version if compared to the previous version, the series revolves around the suffering of husband Raouf from the midlife crisis, which is mixed with his suffering in his relationship with his sharp and authoritarian wife.
In an attempt to overcome his crisis, he resorts to a coach or "Life Coach", it becomes clear later that he himself needs help, the series reviews a number of issues and social relations, the sense of comedy in it is very calm, and lackluster in some episodes, but Tarek Lotfy is credited with his renewed attempts to get out of his usual area, and provide a comic character away from the characters he used to provide.
X-Lance
Perhaps many do not know that there is a new series presented by the star Mohamed Saad during this season, as it has failed to attract the spotlight or viewership, as it presents the character of Al-Hinnawi, which he previously presented in the film (Karkar) in 2007.
Mohamed Saad, who in his first comedic appearance in the role of El-Lambi in the film "The Nazer" was a promising comedy bomb, used to repeat himself regrettably, as the characters he later presented rely on the way of speech and caricature performance as the only way to laugh, which has already drained him in a large number of his previous works, the series X-Lance came very miserable and lackluster, with a performance that is obviously improvised, but does not succeed in provoking laughter.
Maddah. Egyptian horror trilogy
(Social Media)
Well, the series that airs this year entitled "Al-Maddah: The Legend of Love" is the third part of a series that has been shown over the past three years, starring Hamada Helal, Yousra Al-Lawzi, Rania Farid Shawky and Lucy, the first part of which was released in Ramadan 2021, and achieved great success among followers.
The series is based on a relatively new theme on the Egyptian drama scene, which is the theme of horror and excitement, but it comes with a popular Egyptian character, which is the secret of its superiority compared to all other Arab horror works that imported the Western theme exclusively. This time, the protagonist is a person who treats the jinn with the Qur'an, which brought the horror closer to the viewers, and attracted their attention completely, despite the wear and tear of the events, the series achieved good success in its third year in a row, perhaps because it offers a new type of excitement that viewers of Egyptian drama are not used to before.
Jaafar Al , Omda Social drama between the compound and the popular neighborhood
(Social Media)
If we move to the social drama, which prevailed this season, we can notice what we can call the drama of the compound versus the drama of the popular neighborhood, as most of the works either revolve between villas and lavish palaces, or on the contrary, they revolve in popular areas, but they do not represent the vast segment of the Egyptian popular neighborhoods, and between this and that, dramas that present an image of the middle class almost disappear.
This type of popular drama is based on the almost guaranteed combination of a powerful and cunning hero who defies circumstances, poverty and injustice, and manages to triumph over all his enemies. The stars who specialize in presenting this drama genre repeat themselves in the works remarkably, the performance of the popular hero is almost repeated every year, and it seems as if the scripts are written specifically to suit each of them, as if they are prepared to paint a picture or "persona" of the star in the eyes of his fans.
It is remarkable that these works occupy every year the highest viewed percentages despite their weak artistic level, because they are not without excitement and successive events, even if they seem a little bit of reflection illogical at all, among the most prominent works belonging to this genre this year are the series "Al-Ajhar", "Baba Al-Majal" and "Jaafar Al-Omda", whose heroes Amr Saad, Mustafa Shaaban and Mohamed Ramadan (respectively) perform not much different from their performances in similar works in previous seasons, as well as hitting Fire for the duo Ahmed Al Awadhi and Yasmine Abdulaziz.
Despite the high viewership during its Ramadan show, most of these works do not remain in the memory of their viewers, but remain an annual mixture with guaranteed profits. The most prominent in this category this year is certainly "Jaafar Al-Omda", who brought Mohamed Ramadan back to the forefront after roles that did not attract attention in previous Ramadan seasons, as the series tops the watch lists in Egypt above the statistics available so far. But the series was not without scenes of "bullying" and gratuitous violence that characterize many of the Ramadan's works, which sparked great controversy.
The seventh scratch. Marriage and Relationship Drama
If we move away from the aforementioned genre, we will find that the series "The Seventh Harsha" is one of the most prominent social drama series presented this season, starring Amina Khalil, Mohamed Shaheen, Ali Qassem, Hanan Suleiman and Aida Rashad, written by Maryam Naoum's narration workshop, and directed by Karim El-Shennawy.
"The seventh itch" is the inaccurate translation of the term "Seven year itch", which describes the turmoil that occurs in marriage relationships and long-term emotional relationships after seven years, the film passes seven years from its first episode to the fifteenth episode, during which the couple's relationship between Nadine and Adam rages with all its tensions, starting with the tensions of the beginning of marriage and passing through the tensions of childbearing and the pressure of caring for children, which falls entirely on the wife, and other problems that eventually bring them to the edge of Separation.
The work is not limited to the relationship between the two protagonists, there are sub-lines of the relationships of other couples, and the series also reviews the pressures of the heroes' relationships with their parents, the circumstances of their upbringing and their effects on them, all in a tight and intense scenario worthy of a short work of 15 episodes, and distinctive cadres, to confirm once again a new success for its director Karim El-Shennawy.
The above was not all that Egyptian drama witnessed in Ramadan this year, but they are key signs in this season that have attracted the attention or comments of the public to varying degrees, and in general, this season is average in its entirety and is in no way distinct from the Ramadan seasons in recent years.