Finally the curtain has been drawn on the most peculiar instance that hit the Egyptian film industry when Egyptian actors Hanan Turk and Karim Abdul Aziz were accused of stealing 25 thousand Egyptian pounds from one of the private schools in Egypt, which they filmed the scenes for the movie "Haramiyaa KG2" (KG2 Thieves) last year.
According to the Arab magazine Sayidaty, at the time, the production company that was producing the film had agreed with a private school to shoot some of the scenes on its premises for the price of 15 thousand Egyptian pounds. The agreement stated that the time allowed to shoot the scenes may not exceed ten days, but circumstances called for an extra day, in which the school officials requested additional financial compensations. The producers had refused the school's request which led to a complaint by the school's principal at a local police station against Hanan and Karim accusing them of attacking the financial manager of the school and stealing 25 thousand Egyptian pounds.
Investigations were made to solve the case which had ended up at a more advanced and serious level. Hanan in turn expressed her outrage at the accusations saying that she has nothing to do with the financial matters between the school and the production company and therefore has nothing to do with the whole dispute. She added that accusing her of theft was more than she could have imagined and to top it all accusing her of using physical force against someone, saying her petit figure proves that she is incapable of such actions. She stressed that the allegations hold no grounds and she never imagined herself to be standing in front of a judge and being accused of such a crime that is degrading to her image.
Hanan revealed that the school had intended on using her in the case, since they know that she holds a high reputation and may be willing to pay the difference from her own pockets to avoid any further embarrassments. But to her and Karim's luck, the court realized the true intention of the school and the fact that they were pulled in the case due to their popularity, and under the assumption of the school that such a move would force the actors to solve the financial problem in no time to avoid further complications. Their innocent was also proven when witnesses from the school gave contradicting testimonies which showed that the whole instance was a scam.
"Haramiyya KG2" (KG2 Thieves) attacked the Egyptian box office last summer, collecting more than 10 million pounds in less than three months. Stuck to first place, the movie has been screened in 30 cinema theaters in Cairo and other Egyptian cities. The young cast celebrated the successes of their film. Shot by a group of young men, including cast, director and screenwriter, and set in a spontaneous environment, the film managed to defeat the films of prominent stars.
The young director Sandra Nashat did her best to make her film, scripted by the young screenwriter Bilal Fadhel, a success. The film begins with two thieves: Hasan (Karim Abdel Aziz) and al Sibae’i (Talat Zakaria) who plan to rob a safe in which revenues from the Kaitby Fortress in Alexandria are kept. It continues with flowing rhythm and short inspiring scenes until Sibae’i is caught by the police. He bargains with his colleague Hasan to look after his small daughter Nasma (Maha) during his imprisonment in exchange of not revealing his name to the police as a partner in the robbery.
Life of the free thief begins to change gradually when he takes the child home. Her presence corrects his violent and uncivil behavior and he begins to feel responsible. He gets up from bed early in the morning to take the child to her kindergarten after he buys her all her school needs. He continues like that until he meets Miss Reem (Hanan Turk), the child’s teacher. The two fall in love with each other without the teacher knowledge of his background.
In an annoying funmaking and a thorny comedy situation the thief robs the school where the child is enrolled claiming that the school management exploits parents who work very hard to spend on their children. This suggests sympathy with the thief rather than with those who are robbed.
The film drew attention with its deliberate brief movement details; lack of interest in the topic sociology and jumping over events with rapid rhythm that may attract young viewers. -Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
