Now as we are heading towards the last days of Ramadan, it is still very hard to find out what was the most popular Arabic drama that had the biggest percentage of viewers during the month. One thing for sure this year is Egyptian actor Nour El Sherif, who has been leading the competition for the past two years, is not part of the most watched and popular Ramadan TV dramas for this year.
The previous works by Nour were light, satirical, and family content drama that used to have the highest percentage of viewers throughout the Arab world. This year the actor is only taking part in one work, which is a historical drama about one of the great generals of Islam. The drama is witnessing some success but nothing compared to his previous works.
This year all TV dramas that are being aired on screens enjoy the same quality regarding the means of success offered to them. They are competing since the beginning of the holy month and up until now, none of them was able to lead the race of the most popular TV drama of the year. The reason behind this situation this year, is that the Dramas present different stories with different issues that attracts various kinds of viewers, the thing that makes it very hard to decide which is the most popular drama.
According to the London based daily, Al Hayat, options are still open for the public to decide on who best fits the title of most watch TV drama and is considered to be the most successful work in this year’s competition. Despite some rumors that state that if the first two quarters of the drama were not able to decide who is leading the race, then definitely the last episodes of the dramas will end the race in favor of only one or two dramas.
Noor’s retreat from leading the race is not due to the low quality of his new drama, but to the fact that the public tends to watch new dramas that talk about contemporary problems than watching historical ones. The public needs drama that speaks about its daily life and deals with current problems without denying the value of the historical dramas and what they symbolize.
A center for protection of human rights in Egypt has accused Nour of offending Christian Copts through his Ramadan historical TV drama series “Rajul Al Akdar” (Man of Powers). The Copts have demanded from the Minister of Information to stop the airing of the series, which revolves around the life of the great military leader Omar Al Aas.
Head of the center, which protects the human rights of Copts in Egypt, lawyer Mamdooh Nakhleh, stressed that the series displays Christian religious men as condescending, deceiving, and not true believers. Mamdooh added that the series tries to paint a positive picture of Islam, while ruining that of Christianity.
On his part Nour denied such accusations made by the Human Rights Center, stressing that if he had for one second felt that the series insults anyone in any way he would not have agreed to take part in it. He added that the main character in the series treats those who represent the religion of Christianity in a very civilized manner and does nothing to show any bias or prejudice.
Recently, Nour left the ICU room at the Cairo Pyramid hospital and was taken home after surviving a Cobra bite while filming scenes from his upcoming historical drama series “Rajul Al Akdar” (Man of Power) in one of the deserts of Egypt. Numerous tests were made on Nour to ensure his heart was functioning properly, especially since the accident had caused his blood pressure to increase tremendously.
Nour was rushed to hospital and placed in the ICU after he was bitten by the Cobra, which he was trying to place in a bag for one of the scenes, but the snake fell to the ground and bit him. The actor was bitten by the snake in his right arm and after he restlessly fought to remove the snake along with two other people from the cast who were also bitten and all three were rushed to hospital as they fell to the ground.
The bite was so severe that the actor fainted and was no longer conscious of his surroundings. Nour along with the two men are under observation and doctors are trying to determine how severe the poison from the cobra is in order to treat their bites in the proper manner. The snake, which is over a meter and a half long, was also taken to a veterinarian in order to try and figure out what kind of poison it inserted into its victims.
Nour has completed shooting most of the scenes for the series, which is due to be aired during the holy month of Ramadan. The series revolves around the life of one of the greatest legendary leaders Omar Bin El Aas, and is a historical story. A budget of over 10 million Egyptian pounds has been set aside for the drama and over a 150 actors are to take part alongside Nour. –Albawaba.com
