Promotional poster for the series “A Forced Path” (Al Jazeera)

Images of stars are crowded on billboards in gigantic sizes that do not leave room to read the title of the Ramadan work that is being advertised, as if the larger the size that the actor occupies on the billboard of the work, the greater his talent or fame. However, a picture of two ordinary young men without muscular muscles or angry eyes appears in the billboards. Background of a billboard for the “Compulsory Path” series.

Two young men were able to achieve great television successes recently. One of them had a short list of works, but he reached a wide popular base. He is "Issam Omar" after his successful series "Balto", and the second is "Ahmed Dash", whom the audience knew as a child, until he matured and became one of the most famous actors of his generation and one of the most versatile in his career. His roles.

A scene from the series “Forcing Path” (social networking sites)

The series “Masar Egbari” is directed by “Nadine Khan”, with dramatic treatment by “Baher Dowidar” and a screenplay by “Amin Jamal”, starring “Issam Omar”, “Ahmed Dash”, “Basma”, “Sabreen” and “Rushdi Al-Shami”. It consists of 15 episodes.

Away from common dramatic genres

The series “Forbidden Path” departs from the dramatic types common among Ramadan 2024 series. It is not a comedy, and its events do not revolve around the betrayal of friends and family and revenge in a popular neighborhood. Rather, it can be considered a special revelation of the middle class with its own contradictions, and it shows two families from this class who share... Despite their noses, they are one father.

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The series begins with short scenes resembling television advertisements for one of the modern residential complexes, a small family consisting of a father, mother, and daughter laughing in the light of the setting sun, which gives a golden glow to their happiness, an ideal image of the family, broken in the next shot by a girl who is thrown from the top of a building, causing the body to fall and this happiness to disintegrate.

We do not see these family members again, as they are only the beginning of the work, which tells us from its first moments that we have a crime, and this crime is connected to the happiness of a family, and is capable of dismantling its bonds, as happened when the head of this family pushed his daughter and his wife aside so that they would not see the girl with its bones broken. Lying on the ground, the magic of this moment is broken instantly.

The following scenes lead the viewer to the High Court, where a trial is taking place for the accused in the killing of the girl thrown from the top of the building. The judge sentences the accused to death, and one of those present falls to the ground and is taken to the hospital.

The series continues to establish its plot, as we see two families in parallel, each with a caring mother, one with one son, “Hussein” or “Ahmed Dash,” and another with three sons, the eldest of whom is “Ali,” whose role is played by “Issam Omar.” Each of the two young men receives a call. A phone call tells him that his father is having a heart attack and is in a hospital. In front of the patient's room, they discover that they are brothers from one father who hid the truth about their existence from each other.

(From right) Issam Omar and Ahmed Dash in the Masar Egbari series (watch)

This is the first surprise that the father, “Omar Al-Prince,” explodes, but it is not the only one. His two sons learn that he is involved with a gang behind the throwing of the girl in the first scene from the top of the building. He falsified the forensic report after receiving a bribe. He regrets what he has committed and intends to get out as soon as he gets out. From the hospital, he goes to the prosecution to show the innocence of the accused who was sentenced to death, and here ends the journey of the father, who is killed before the end of the episode, leaving to his two sons a legacy consisting of a group of secrets, a murderous gang, and a truth that must be revealed with the least possible losses.

While "Ali" and "Hussein" try to solve the mystery and search for the evidence that proves the innocence of the accused, each of them discovers the importance of the other in his life, and a relationship of brothers begins, which, despite emerging from nothing, is real in all its details.

Nadine Khan and the passion for the middle class

Nadine Khan's career began with the realistic social series "Sabea Jar", which presented, over the course of 60 episodes, the ordinary daily stories of the residents of a building in Cairo. She then moved on to several television series and a single film, "Abu Saddam". Two characteristics can be noted in the director's work. The first is its focus on the stories of the middle class - with the exception of "Abu Saddam" -, while the second is its special interest in the stories of its young heroes.

The series “A Forced Path” emphasizes these two features, and they are considered its best features. While at first glance it appears to be a traditional struggle between good and evil, corruption and righteousness, this aspect is its most humble detail, and the evil characters have taken on the pattern of traditional severity, both in appearance and construction. This was reflected in their dialogue, and this applies to both the lawyer “Magdy Hashish”, the accused’s flirtatious wife “Sanaa”, and “Saad”, the murderous arm of “Magdy”.

On the other hand, the real attraction is the emerging relationship between “Hussein” and “Ali” and each other’s mother, and the clear differences between each other’s family, even though they both belong to the same class. The series makes clear the differences that lie even between members of the same class as a result. Due to factors such as the mother’s education, place of living, and personal inclinations, while the family of Ihsan, the first wife and a school teacher, approaches the borders of the upper middle class, “Inayat” or “Naana,” as she prefers, stands on the borders between the middle and lower classes, both in terms of the way she wears her clothes. Or its linguistic vocabulary, but this discrepancy did not diminish the warmth or friendliness developing between each of them.

Nadine Khan used her tools as a director, most notably photography and framing her actors within the frames, to enhance this intimate nature that brings together the characters. This can be seen in all the scenes that bring together the two heroes on the sofa at the car wash in which they meet to deliberate and plan, and the scenes of both “Ali” and "Hussein" in their home and with their mothers in particular.

This is in addition to the good direction of the actors. We see Issam Omar moving away from the comedy he was known for in his series “Balto,” while “Ahmed Dash” emerges from the mantle of the university youth who belongs to the upper middle class, as presented by “Nadine Khan” herself in the series “Main Qal.” ?!” two years ago.

The series “Forbidden Path” is out of the ordinary. It does not present its viewers with an adventure whose end they know before it begins. It bets on the talent of its heroes and not just their resonant names. It is a work that can even remove the traditional conflict between good and evil from its plot to present the story of two brothers building their relationship from scratch, full of warmth, tenderness and acting. Excellent.

Source: Al Jazeera