Thursday, October 2, 2008

Asmahan : The TV Series

And so on the 30th of Ramadan was the dramatic end of Asmahan in her TV Series and the new generations were introduced to the beautiful Druze princess whose voice charmed a whole generation.

I did n’t followed in Ramadan any TV Series except two : Asmahan and Hima. I will speak about Asmahan here because it is from rare Arabic bio TV series that did not turn its characters to angelic idols despite that the Syrian production company could not cross some lines considering the status of Al Atrash family in Syria till now. Also the TV Series gave to the Egyptian and the Arab viewer an excellent opportunity to know the history of the Druze sect in Syria that was always treated suspiciously in our media because of the Druze sect in Israel.

Asmahan or Amal Al Atrash ‘s life was a mix of suspense from the beginning till the end of her short life , she was 27 years old when she was died or rather killed by the British intelligence in Egypt in an enigmatic car accident.

Syrian Solaf Fawakherji now is a star in Egypt after doing the role of Asmahan in a way I could not have imagined,already this is real beautiful talented actress Mashallah proved that she is not a pretty face like in Cinema,her trials in the Egyptian cinemas with Good News Films Production company were not successful but this time she made it to the hearts and minds of Million of Egyptians .

She is fluent in moving form the Egyptian to the Arabic accent. Still I felt that she should not have portrayed Asmahan as a teen but of course let’s remember Asmahan started her career as a singer as a teen and was married to Prince Hassan as a teen.

Ahmed Abd El-Latif Shaker is reborn star in the role of Farid Al Atrash. For the record Ahmed is more Handsome than Farid. I do n’t know how many films he watched but he really nailed Farid and how the later used to talk. Ahmed also proved that the Egyptian actors can speak Shami like the Shamis and the accent barriers can be crossed.

Fahd Al Abad took the place Tyam Al-Hassan this year in the role of Prince Hassan Al Atrash despite he is not that handsome like Al-Hassan. It is more about the Character itself. The Romantic powerful prince who loved a woman that did not love anyone except herself.

Fares Ibrahim also made it in Egypt despite he was always nervous and screaming. I am not surprised why Faisal Fouad Al-Atrash is standing against the TV Series till now.

My only remarks that I do not like in this TV Series was the choice of actors in Egypt in specific roles ; for example :

Amal Razek in the role of Amina Barudi whom I will dedicate a separate post insh Allah and Mohamed Abd El-Hafez in the role of Egypt’s 1940 ladies man and man’s men Ahmed Salem.

Razek is a good actress but she can’t speak English good at all “You know she is a Prince !! “ Amina the famous Egyptian socialite in 1940s and BBF of Asmahan was a British Secret service agent !! There was no real revision like they said in the titles !!

Now I don’t like Mr. Abd El-Hafez ,he does n’t have any Charisma what so ever nor any acting talents, he is only in the business because of his father , the famous director Ismail Abd El-Hafez , by the way this is from the rare appearances where Mohamed appears in a work that not his father debut !!

I don’t know why they chose him , he doesn’t look like Ahmed Salam and he doesn’t speak like him at all, yes the only film we got for him from his 9 films was a bad quality black and white film still he looked handsome in my eyes, my grandma also told me that he was handsome young man not to mention his rich background in Delta. After all look to the list of women he hanged out and married : Camilla “he discovered her” , Taheyya Kariokka “his wife” and Madiha Youssery beside Asmahan.

Amina and Salam seriously deserve separate posts , they are so rich and interesting.

Of course there are mistakes in the decors , the customs and some ad52c6f87f the historical accuracy especially regarding some songs.

About the music and songs,the Syrian Waad El-Bahri l who sang the songs in this TV series should come to Egypt immediately,we need these voices now more than ever.

13 comments:

  1. This is the only show I sort of followed that wasn't a religious program during Ramadan. I would see it after Taraweeh. I missed the 1st few episodes and I missed the final one which annoyed me. I really disliked the brother Fouad..nasty character and useless to boot.

    Yes Amir Hasan was charismatic and strong. There is talent amidst the Syrian actors and it's nice to see that they aren't all spending time playing those tedious bab el harra type roles (eyes rolling). Thankfully the tv stations took a break from the super lame Turkish garbage MBC was playing in the summer.

    I didn't know much about Ismahan's life but I have to say it was a well made series. I loved the voice of the Syrian singer as well. Actual talent unlike the barbie-style Lebanese girls with the nose jobs and fake boobs.

    Now if I can find the final episode somewhere online...;)

    ReplyDelete
  2. @N.american princess, I saw the end of the first episode only too
    the final one was great one ,Solaf made it wonderfully
    Fouad/Fares Ibrahim really was very irritating,Fouad's son should be angry but if it was his father's character then he should not speak
    Syrian actors are really talented , seriously and they are also sophisticated who know how to speak well in politics, in knowledge not shallow like several Egyptian actors
    MBC is going back unfortunately to air Turkish TV series and the Egyptian TV is going to air Nour after Ramadan :)
    already they hosted Mr.Mohand who was too freaking arrogant for nothing !!
    I will search for you the episode online

    ReplyDelete
  3. They just played the final 2 episodes on Nile Drama after the interviews and luckily it's cold and grey outside so I didn't go anywhere and watched them both. Great ending. Well made series. I really enjoyed this show. Maybe I will pick it up if it's on DVD when I am in Egypt inshallah.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @N.American Princess, I got the links of the TV series if you have the time to download it ,some people did not waste anytime in upload it ;)
    I will send to you the links just in case ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. wonderful job guys

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great Website !
    Is there anyway to post some links where I can watch this movie or to buy the DVD.
    I live in USA and don't have Arab TV.
    Thank you

    ReplyDelete
  7. @anonymous#1
    Thank you

    @anonymous#2
    here are some links
    click on the link or copy it in your browser

    choose "free user"
    Episode 1
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146864167/Asmhan_-_Episode_1.rmvb
    Episode 2
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146872337/Asmhan_-_Episode_2.rmvb
    Episode 3
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146886981/Asmhan_-_Episode_3.rmvb
    Episode 4
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146894142/Asmhan_-_Episode_4.rmvb
    Episode 5
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146900956/Asmhan_-_Episode_5.rmvb
    Episode 6
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146908546/Asmhan_-_Episode_6.rmvb
    Episode 7
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146915870/Asmhan_-_Episode_7.rmvb
    Episode 8
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146922844/Asmhan_-_Episode_8.rmvb
    Episode 9
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146929331/Asmhan_-_Episode_9.rmvb
    Episode 10
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146935990/Asmhan_-_Episode_10.rmvb
    Episode 11
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146943090/Asmhan_-_Episode_11.rmvb
    Episode 12
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146949884/Asmhan_-_Episode_12.rmvb
    Episode 13
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146956528/Asmhan_-_Episode_13.rmvb
    Episode 14
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146963192/Asmhan_-_Episode_14.rmvb
    Episode 15
    http://rapidshare.com/files/146969886/Asmhan_-_Episode_15.rmvb
    Episode 16
    http://rapidshare.com/files/147158012/Asmhan_-_Episode_16.rmvb
    Episode 17
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149430045/Asmhan_-_Episode_17.rmvb
    Episode 18
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149442087/Asmhan_-_Episode_18.rmvb
    Episode 19
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149451017/Asmhan_-_Episode_19.rmvb
    Episode 20
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149458732/Asmhan_-_Episode_20.rmvb
    Episode 21
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149466266/Asmhan_-_Episode_21.rmvb
    Episode 22
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149476003/Asmhan_-_Episode_22.rmvb
    Episode 23
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149484890/Asmhan_-_Episode_23.rmvb
    Episode 24
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149814678/Asmhan_-_Episode_24.rmvb
    Episode 25
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149825444/Asmhan_-_Episode_25.rmvb
    Episode 26
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149417362/Asmhan_-_Episode_26.rmvb
    Episode 27
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149837663/Asmhan_-_Episode_27.rmvb
    Episode 28
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149842219/Asmhan_-_Episode_28.rmvb
    Episode 29
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149846052/Asmhan_-_Episode_29.rmvb
    Episode 30
    http://rapidshare.com/files/149833183/Asmhan_-_Episode_30.rmvb
    I think you will need real player

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thank you Zeinobia, I will try the links.
    Nadira or Anonymous #2

    ReplyDelete
  9. You welcome Nadira :) I hope that you enjoy it

    ReplyDelete
  10. Indeed it a great work - The only unfortunate thing is that it may not be possible to get some of Ismahan's songs sang by this great Syrian Singer "Waad al Bahri" - I tried hard but could find any link from which I could listen or down load any of the Songs - Is there anyway? - with anticiapted thanks

    ReplyDelete
  11. hey, abed fahd is a very handsome guy! to me he is the most handsom out of all syrian actors. He has such a powerful and strong character and personality!, i dont think that any actor would of done the role as great as abed, great article mashAllah

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hello,I just want to know what's the name of director for tv series Esmahan?
    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  13. hi i've been searching for this tv series but it's not available online and the 1 st link you've posted says file not found i would really like to see the series and it would be much apreciated if you could post another link.thanks

    ReplyDelete

Thank You for your comment
Please keep it civilized here, racist and hateful comments are not accepted
The Comments in this blog with exclusion of the blog's owner does not represent the views of the blog's owner.