Promotional poster for the series "Taj" starring Syrian actor Tim Hassan (Al Jazeera)

For many years, Syrian actor Tim Hassan has known how to expand for himself in places different from everyone else, to the point where he has become a registered mark considering that he has achieved the results that his talent deserves, and the remarkable charisma that distinguishes him from others, to the point that in the marketing sense no one can compete with him locally anymore. , at least in terms of presence and stardom, and carving out a unique position for himself alone.

Even some of the dedicated Syrian drama stars, who are blessed with talent along with a high ego and pride, do not hide their absolute happiness if one of them is allowed to share the starring role in a series, despite knowing in advance that their names will be behind the action star who is armed with an overwhelming fan base, and “the name Bayaa.” And a major production company is subject to his views.

All of this is nothing new for an actor who knows how to pull the rug towards him when he is standing in the right place.

Of course, the discussion here is far from the feverishness of the external performance that was adopted in the “Prestige” series (a group written and directed by Samer Al-Barqawi), the naive anthropomorphic style, the vulgar dramatic logic, the reliance on verbal supplies that are linguistically collapsing, and the project’s transformation into a purely commercial case that generates money!

In recent years, Tim has experimented with escaping from his voluntary captivity in “Al-Haiba” prisons through his experience in the series “The Brigadier” (written and directed by Bassem Al-Salka), but without the work gaining a large audience, or being accompanied by a different critical debate.

But in any case, the Syrian star at the time gave a golden opportunity to the emerging director at the time, who had previously given everything he could to “Al-Hayba” within the directing team and also as a main writer in it, in addition to his contributions to other projects starring the Syrian star Al-Wasamah.

The precious gift was that he stood in front of the Salka camera with absolute confidence, and in his first directing experience, he was granted a pass to the market, after he had intended him to remain an assistant.

More than a year ago, the chapters of “Al-Hayba” ended and it was squeezed to the last drop, after an extensive film was made of all its parts.

So Tim sought the help of an old friend, Omar Abu Saada, a graduate of the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts - Criticism Department in Damascus, and acquired for him the script of “Asi Al-Zind” (directed by Samer Al-Barqawi and produced by Al-Sabah). The series achieved remarkable success last year with pure Syrian material, new and solid.

Syrian actor Tim Hassan will present the series “Taj” in Ramadan 2024 (social networking sites)

With this qualitative leap and remarkable achievement, it is as if Hassan had said his word and the matter was over: I will produce a purely Syrian drama, mostly filmed in my country, with experiences accumulated over more than two decades, and I have created an important career by filling it with icons of Syrian drama, and based on intelligent benefit from previously rich historical stages. The Syrian drama accompanied it, but this time according to story suggestions and new data that had not previously been presented on television.

Let Tim Hassan repeat the experience this year with Abu Saada and director Samer Al-Barqawi, so that we will have a date with a new story whose production cost was said to be the highest in the history of Syrian drama, reaching approximately 8.5 million dollars.

The “Taj” series, which will be shown in Ramadan 2024, stars Tim Hussein, Bassam Koussa, Faya Younan, Noura Rahal, Ihab Shaaban, Joan Khader, Kifah Al-Khous, Abdel Rahman Qweider, and Oja Abu Al-Dahab, written by Omar Abu Saada, and produced by “Sabah Brothers.”

The story of the series takes its viewer back to Syria in the era of the 1940s, amid suspenseful events with an impressive production effort to the maximum level in terms of decoration and artistic elements that were specially built and left a remarkable impression on everyone who had the opportunity to visit the filming sites, all in an attempt to restore that prosperous era in Syria.

As for the story, it begins chronologically a few years before Syria’s independence from French colonialism and talks about the character of “Taj al-Din al-Hammal” (Tim Hassan), a boxer who faces loss in many aspects of his life due to his adherence to his national values ​​and principles. The conflict derives its essence from his confrontation with the Damascene merchant who is complicit with colonialism. The Frenchman Riad Bey (Bassam Koussa) because of the love relationship between Taj and Nouran (Faya Younan), who is the client’s daughter.

Events escalate according to an amazing visual spectacle and a suspenseful sequence that is expected to be tight, perhaps achieving the highest levels of astonishment by relying on a plot and a text written by an academic playwright, accompanied by a visual vision that has benefited to the maximum from all the technical expertise present in Syria.

As for choosing the young Syrian singer Faya Younan in her first acting show that will see the light, she got this opportunity after an audition that she conducted in front of director Samer Al-Barqawi and the work team, and she underwent training at the hands of the Lebanese actor and theater director Issam Bou Khaled.

With the severe opacity regarding the details and nature of the work and the nature of the roles, informed sources revealed that the role played by Younan will not be that of a singer, and that she will not perform songs except in passing as a way of exploiting her singing talent.

Her selection was based on many considerations, the most important of which were talent, appearance, beauty, and charisma, in addition to spontaneity.

Source: Al Jazeera