After an official acceptance was received from the international Lebanese-Colombian singer Shakira Mubarak for using her name in a new Egyptian film “Shakira Fil Muneera” (Shakira in Muneera), and preparations began to take effect with Egyptian actress Hanan Turk nominated for the role of Shakira, a bomb was dropped by film director Hamid Said claiming that the story of the film belongs to him and that Nihad Abdul Aziz had stolen it from him.
According to the Qatar based daily, Al Raya, president of the Egyptian Censorship committee was shocked when he was presented with legal documents that state that Hamid is the official writer of the script for the film. Hamid demanded that he is given his full rights being the owner of the film and asked for actions to be taken in his favor.
Hamid added that it is a sad fact that the film industry has been split into two those who have taken over full control and those who are considered to be the small fish of the sea trying hard to make mends meet. Hamid revealed that this incident is the second one in which his work is stolen by a bigger fish and used without any mentioning of him.
The director said that he had at first presented the idea for the film to Nihad and began to talk seriously about its script. Hamid was in shock after working extremely hard on the film to find out that Nihad had taken the script to the Egyptian censors and claimed it to be hers and had deleted any reference to Hamid. Nihad had also threatened Hamid that if he does not cooperate with her and not mention he is behind the story of the film, she will make sure he is out of a job.
On her part, Nihad claimed that Hamid falsely accused her of stealing and in fact the story for the film is hers to begin with, and that Hamid is the one who did the stealing. She added that Hamid is known to be a trouble maker and not many people like working with him.
The Egyptian Censorship committee will further investigate the matter but for the time being has ordered that all preparations for the film come to a complete halt. The film had created a commotion with the Egyptian censorship committee previously, due to its title and the fear that a lawsuit may be faced. Even though the film does not directly interfere with the singer's persona, officials felt that it is in the best interest to take precautions against any expected legal suit by the singer.
The film is about a young girl who is infatuated with Shakira. The girl is so into the singer that she sings and performs in exactly the same manner, in addition to looking a lot like the singer. –Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
