Egyptian actress Jala Fahmi has filed a lawsuit against the Egyptian Broadcasting Union for not paying her wage for the television drama “Al Farashat Tahtariq”. Jala and director of the series Ali Badrakhan were in shock when they discovered that they have been eliminated from the drama after having shot most of the scenes.
According to the Qatar based daily, Al Raya, Jala and Ali were both replaced with two beginners, despite the fact that the drama’s budget was almost four million Egyptian pounds. Jala requested the head of the actors association to investigate the matter and find out why the network had acted in such a way.
On a similar note, the verbal rivalry between Jala and her ex-husband executive producer Omar Hijazi of the drama series had gone to extremes after Omar revealed documented evidence against the actress. Jala stressed that her ex-husband is the reason why the series was stopped and that neither she or the director the series Ali Badrakhan had anything to do with the matter, which is contrary to what Omar was claiming.
Omar had submitted official documents that prove Jala was the one to blame and that she had refused to come to the shooting scene of the drama when he had requested her to do so. Omar stressed that numerous requests were sent to Jala, but she refused to obey all of them a matter that to the stoppage of the drama. He added that he and the producers of the play “New Look”, which the actress is also taking part in, filed different lawsuits against Jala for her sudden withdrawal from the play and refusal to continue acting in the drama series.
Jala stressed that her withdrawal from the play came due to the fact that the advertising campaign that was done was very weak and so there was small numbers of people who came to attend. She revealed that since she is the leading actress in the play she feared that the noticeable failure of the play would reflect on her and her career and so decided to pull out before any further damage was done. Sources revealed that the real reason behind Jala’s quitting is because one of the cast members had intentionally humiliated her on stage in front of an audience.
Jala justified her refusal to continue in the drama series by stating that the producers had suddenly changed the director without notifying her and after she had worked numerous hours with the previous one. The actress stressed that she will not change her mind regarding her quitting unless the original director, Ali Badr Khan, is brought back to continue directing the series.
Head of the Egyptian actor’s Syndicate, Yousif Shabaan, stated that Jala’s withdrawal from the play is justified according to a contract between her and the producers, which states that in the case that the advertising campaign is weak, she may withdrawal without any prior notice. Jala sent Yousif a copy of the contract and proved to him that not enough people were coming to see the play because of the poor campaign that was made.
