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The Cairo 360 Guide to Ramadan TV 2012

The Cairo 360 Guide to Ramadan TV 2012
written by
Cairo 360
Are you excited Cairo? Ramadan 2012 is almost here; the month of sleeping all day, gorging yourself come sunset and vegging out in front of the TV until dawn. And who said Ramadan was about empathizing with the poor? Anyway, let the bastardization commence with this rundown of the top TV shows from the 60 or so that are jostling for a spot in your viewing schedule.

Arafa El Bahr

One of the more peculiar plot-lines, Arafa El Bahr is about a fisherman whose success puts a strain on his relationship with his jealous cousin.

Starring: Nour El Sherif, Hala Sedky, Ahmed Badir & Dalal Abdel Aziz.
Airing On: Hayat

Bab El Khalq

An Arabic language teacher living abroad returns to his small hometown in Egypt and has to learn how to deal with the way society changed in his absence – the hard way.

Starring: Mahmoud Abdel Aziz, Mahmoud El Guindy, Ezzat Abo Ouf & Aida Riyadh.
Airing On: Mehwar, Hayat, CBC.

El Baltagy

El Baltagy depicts the life of a thug named Youssef and looks at how he and others like him were used by the previous regime’s lackeys in their election-fixing schemes.

Starring: Asser Yassin, Intisar, Salah Abdallah & Kinda Alloush.
Airing On: CBC.

Ferqet Nagy Atallah

An Egyptian official stationed in Tel Aviv has his assets frozen by the Israeli government. In retaliation, he returns to Egypt and assembles a team to sneak into Israel via the Gaza tunnels and rob a bank.

Starring: Adel Imam, Mohammed Imam, Ahmed El Saadany & Haitham Zaki.
Airing On: Nahar, Hayat, Masreyya, MBC.

Hekayat Banat

Hekayat Banat chronicles the lives of a group of four young women – friends since school – in what is being hailed as a raw and unadulterated look at the trials and tribulations of women in Egypt.

Starring: Siba Mubarak, Houreyya Farghali, Dina El Shirbeeny and Reham Ayman.
Airing On: MBC, Dream.

El Heroob

A man is framed for the attempted assassination of a high ranking governmental official. Unaware of the reason behind his arrest and in the state security’s custody, he tries to escape.

Starring: Karim Abd El Aziz, Abla Kamel & Dalal Abdel Aziz.
Airing On: Dream, Nile Drama.

Ibn Mout

Ibn Mout is a drama about illegal immigrants and a group of traffickers who profit off of their dreams of a better life.

Starring: Khaled El Nabawy, Mohammed Nagaty, Ola Ghanem & Menna Fadaly.
Airing On: Nahar, Masreyya.

Keid El Nesaa 2

This might as well be called Catfight part 2.  Having aired to both popularity and disgust last Ramadan, two women fight over the love of a man – again – in a slapstick embarrassment.

Starring: Fifi Abdo, Nabeila Ebeid, Ahmed Badir & Ahmed Salama.
Airing On: Nahar.

El Khawaga Abd El Qader

El Khawaga Abd El Qader takes place over a period of time spanning six decades and three different countries. It kicks off in 1940s England – during World War II – and chronicles the story of the titular merchant who leaves England due to the war, moves to Sudan and then to Upper Egypt.

Starring: Yehia El Fakharany, Salah Abdallah, Sawsan Badr & Maha Abu Ouf.
Airing On: Hayat, MBC.

Khorm Ebra

Translating to ‘the eye of a needle’,  Khorm Ebra tells the story of a poor man trying to escape from his problems while dreaming of the day he becomes wealthy.

Starring: Amr Saad, Hala Fakher, Sawsan Badr & Edward.
Airing On: Hayat.

Khotoot Hamra

Khotoot Hamra (red lines) focuses on three characters with different approaches to religion; one is a fundamentalist, the other is a moderate while the last pays no mind to religious boundaries.

Starring: Ahmad El Sa’a, Ahmed El Saadany, Mohammed Imam.
Airing On: Rotana, Nahar, Nile Drama.

Ma’ Sabq El Esrar

A lawyer married to an abusive drug addict battles to get a divorce so she can marry her lover.

Starring: Ghada Abdel Razek, Maged El Masry, Ahmed Rateb & Tarek Lotfy.
Airing On: CBC.

Napoleon Wel Mahrousa

Taking place at the turn of the 19th century, Napoleon Wel Mahrous looks at the implications of the French invasion on the Egyptian people.

Starring: Leila Elwy, Sawsan Badr & Sameh El Sereiti.
Airing On: Rotana.

Okht Therese

Separated-at-birth twins, unaware of the other’s existence and raised in different religions – one Muslim, the other Christian – meet as adults. The show puts a magnifying glass to the Muslim-Christian tensions in Egyptian society.

Starring: Hanan Turk, Samy El Adl & Mahmoud El Guindy.
Airing On: Nahar.

Omar

One of the more ambitious productions this year, Omar is a biopic about the Prophet Muhammad’s eponymous companion and second caliphate. It’s apparently the biggest production in the history of Arab television and rights to it have already been sold to TV channels in Indonesia and Turkey.

Starring: Samer Ismail, Ghassan Massoud & Samer Omran.
Airing On: MBC.

Qadeyyet Ma’aly El Wazeera

Another show taking its inspiration from the recent unravelling of Egyptian politics, a politician faces problems when she decides to take a stance against corruption.

Starring: Ilham Chahine, Mostafa Fahmy, Tamer Hagras & Nada Bassiouny.
Airing On: Hayat.

Raqam Maghool

Ali, a young lawyer, gets a mysterious phone call that challenges his beliefs and everything he stands for. As his problems start piling up, he discovers that sticking to his morals may not be as easy as he once thought especially when he starts having doubts about even those closest to him. 

Starring: Youssef El Sherif, Mahmoud El Guindy & Edward.
Airing On: CBC, Melody Drama, El Qahera Wel Nas.

El Safa’a

Based on a true story, the show discusses a mission carried out by the Egyptian equivalent of the CIA in Tel Aviv between 1957 and 1972.

Starring: Sherif Mounir, Sherine Reda, Rania Mallah & Ezzat Abu Ouf.
Airing On: Hayat, Nile Drama

Ser Alani

An economics professor who is militantly against economic imperialism finds herself entangled with dirty-business types who don’t approve of her message and will go to great lengths to stop her.

Starring: Ghada Adel, Samy El Adl, Maya Nasry & Arwa Gouda.
Airing On: Masreyya, Nile Drama, Nahar.

Sharbat Loz

It wouldn’t be Ramadan without a comedy starring the ageless Yousra. Sharbat Loz sees a simple, divorced seamstress battling to overcome the social problems she faces as she embarks on life by herself.

Starring: Yousra, Samir Ghanem, Ragaa El Gedawy & Aida Riyadh.
Airing On: Mehwar, Nahar, Nile Drama.

Taraf Talet

Three guys, hell bent on becoming rich, get mixed up with a con man known as The General. They start to work for him but then decide to split when they find out that he hadn’t been paying them fairly – a decision that doesn’t sit right with him at all.

Starring: Mahmoud Abdel Moghny, Amir Karara, Hana Sheeha & Amr Youssef.
Airing On: CBC, Mehwar, Nahar, El Qahera Wel Nas.

Vertigo

An adaptation of the novel by Ahmed Murad, Vertigo is about a photographer who records a fight between some business tycoons in a bar named Vertigo. She ends up uncovering dirt on people who’d do anything to keep their secrets under wraps.

Starring: Hend Sabry, Yousra El Lozy & Nahed El Sebai.
Airing On: Dream.

Zay El Ward

After serving a jail sentence for a crime that he didn’t do, Ali is released only to find his girlfriend married to another man. He soon falls in love with another though, only to have his social standing keep them apart.

Starring: Youssef El Sherif, Dorra, Hany Adel & Salah Abdallah.
Airing On: Rotana, Hayat, Nahar.

El Zoga El Raba’a

A ravenous, insatiable businessman tries to twist Islam to suit his whims and becomes a polygamist.

Starring: Mostafa Shaaban, Ola Ghanem, Hassan Hosny & Heba Magdy.
Airing On: Melody Drama, Rotana, CBC.

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