Lebanese singer/actress Maya Nasri has been on a number of tours around different Egyptian cinema houses to see cinema goers reactions to her new film "Code 36", in which she stars in alongside Egyptian actor Mustafa Shabaan.
At every cinema house the singer visits, she is surrounded by fans and the media, who were invited by the singer's production company Rotana to cover her visits.
According to the London based Elaph, the film has so far made one million Egyptian pounds in profit, which is considers to be a very good amount for a film released at such a time, that is considered to be the low season in the film industry. The one thing that was odd in Maya's tour was the fact that the star of the film Mustafa was not present at any visit.
Due to the over crowding of the Egyptian cinema industry with the influx of films, in addition to the ongoing disputes between film distributors that had exploded two months ago, the screening of the film had been postponed for release this month.
The film had previously been postponed from the first Muslim holiday Eid Al Fitr to Eid Al Adha. The film is among many that had been eliminated from the holiday movie race.
Recently, Nasri had expressed her extreme anger for disregarding her name in the credits of the film, which is her first cinematic experience and was previously titled "Abiad Aswad" (White and Black).
Maya stated that Mustafa had intentionally highlighted his name on the credits and disregarded other actors. She added that her name was written in a bad manner making her seem as insignificant.
Maya had requested director Ahmad Sameer Faraj to alter the credits or to remove her name from it, but he refused stating that only Mustafa has the privilege to do so, since the producing company gave him the right to alter the credits in the way he feels suitable.
The situation has created tension between the two actors and Maya is considered to be the third actress to feel this way about Mustafa. Previously actresses Muna Zaki and Muna Shalabi had stated that they will never work with Mustafa again for doing the same thing in the film "Ahlam Umrina" (Our Life's Dreams).
Maya’s dream of acting had finally come true with this film, which she acts in alongside Egyptian actors Mustafa, Ahmad Saeed Abdul Ghani, Muhsin Mansour and Muna Al Maraghi.
The film, written by Nader Salah El Din, is directed by Ahmad Faraj, his first feature length film, and is produced by Hisham Abdul Khaleq.
In the film, Maya plays the role of a singer and aerobics instructor who, after a severe accident, is forced to hire a private body guard played by Mustafa. This new relationship marks the beginning of their romance.
