Albawaba.com
Cairo
Yahya Al Fakhrani is not an ordinary star by any standards. He is a human being with a big sense of humor. But despite of all of this, the renowned Egyptian actor is saddened by the circumstances prevailing in the Arab World. This situation has inspired him to offer performances attempting to reflect what is going on around us. Yahya was called many times to the studio during the interview, which made the interviewer feel that he would need another interview with this famous actor.
The following are excerpts of the interview:
Q. What is your latest TV news?
A. I have been known as a person who does not accept to do two things at the same time. This is the first time for me to perform two projects at the same time. After my role in the “Opera Ayda” serial had been filmed, I went the next day to film the second part of the serial “Zizinia“ composed by Osama Anwar Aukashah and produced by Jamal Abdul Hamid. This is because Zizinia crew had been waiting for me to finish with “Opera Ayda” and because the character I am playing in the new serial is not new to me. I am well aware of my role from the first part, and so I found no difficulty in performing the second part. But it is the first time for me to finish one project and go to a second one the next day.
Q. Your TV performances are many in comparison to your rare cinema performances; do you notice that?
A. In fact, this is beyond my control.
Q. Meaning?
A. I mean I am a first-class actor who does not care for the means through which he reaches people. This is not my problem now. What is more important is the theme through which I can deliver my art to people regardless of the means. You may not see me on TV, big screen or theatre but you may hear me over the radio. Eventually, my job as an actor requires that I should play my roles and care for delivering my message to my audience in the most suitable manner.
Q. Is there any relation between what is going on now in the Egyptian movie industry, and the rarity of your movie work?
A. Certainly there is. What is going on in the Egyptian movie industry is not as bad as the industry’s worldwide problems. The American movie industry is an exception to that because it uses the most modern technologies and “a sexual formula” that we cannot afford to do in Egypt. I consider myself lucky as I have recently starred my film “Mabrouk and Bulbul” which was preceded by the film “Dream Land.”
Despite the recession in the movie industry, I find myself on the screen.
Q. Part two of “Zizinia” was screened during last Ramadan at the same time of screening your new drama “Opera Ayda”; how did you accept screening the two at the same time?
A. I was keen on showing only one of my works in Ramadan but the decision to screen two was not mine. The two series are different and “Opera Ayda” is considered an addition to the state-of-the-art.
Q. Was it also new to Yahya Al Fakhrani?
A. Yes, it was.
Q. How do you explain the biter criticism of your latest theatrical performance “Kimo and the Blue Dress”?
A. The play was severely attacked at the beginning, but the audience started to appreciate it in no time. The criticism was against the play’s promotional poster and not its content. It is known that the producer usually chooses the play poster. I personally cannot do anything if the producer chooses that type of poster for promotional purposes. Despite that, I interfered by rejecting this style which made the producer change it. Later on, I was astonished, as other people were, to see the old poster published in the newspapers. From the beginning I expressed my concerns regarding the play and requested its performance should be restricted to adults only. This is due to the fact that the play deals with sensitive issues such as infidelity and because it discusses the incident of President Clinton and the White House former trainee, Monica Lewinsky. But the censorship authorities refused that saying that the play is one of the most civilized shows at present and the children should enjoy watching it just like the adults.
Q. What are the major achievements in your long career?
A. My two films “ Al Awbash [the dirty guys]” and “Alkaif [drug ecstasy]” have achieved great success. My film “The Return of a Citizen” has been picked up by ART German and French channel which insisted on screening it. This means that my film has gone beyond the boundaries of the Arab World into internationality. My film “Gone and Never Returned” is highly popular with people and will remain so for a long time. As for the film “Love Has a Last Story,” it is considered one of the best 100 films in the history Egyptian movie. Despite the fact that my former two films gained a larger audience, I consider the latter three as more successful.
Q. What are the criteria, in your opinion, for success?
A. The artist’s continuous search for what is best and presenting it to his or her audience.
Q. Some observers say now that Fakhrani is a school for teaching natural performance; does this bother you as it did at the beginning of your career?
A. I cannot stop there and I am not sure whether this is real or not. In my opinion, an artist should work in the same way as he plays in a spontaneous manner. I forget being praised very quickly but I cannot forget failure easily. Therefore I consider failure as a very useful thing for the artist who should face it so that it won’t happen again.
Q. Do you mean that your rejection of being described as a school for teaching performance came as a result of your fear of becoming a traditional artist?
A. Certainly.
Q. But your acting in certain series such as “ Liali Al Hilmiyyah [Nights of Hilmiyyah” is enough to make you a boring character such as Suleiman Al Badri, which you played?
A. All my fears were concentrated on that point but it was a challenge for me at the same time. I am very sensitive to the issue of being traditional. I am an artist who likes continuous change. When I felt that the serial “Liali Al Himiyyah” will be too long, I requested to stop the performance after part three, but I discovered that the author Osama Anwar Okashah had already finished with part four, to be followed by part five, in which I took part unwillingly, and for two scenes only.
Q. We have read a lot about a new TV project in which you play the character of late [Egypt’s] King Farouq; what is the latest news about this project, which we know as being written by Mrs. Fakhrani?
A. In fact this project has been delayed too long. No author can afford to wait for eight years as my wife did in writing the story. This is in addition to the funding I have been providing for the project from my own pocket. My wife has completed the project in 20 episodes. I refused to present the project to any agency for production despite the fact that many sides have made offers in that regard. I insisted that the Egyptian TV should produce it because the it explores the biography of the late King Farouq. As for me, I will play the late king’s character only in the last third period of his life. I have asked the Egyptian TV to ensure that the serial would be a documentary drama by reviewing it historically.
Q. In your latest film “Mabrouk and Bulbul” we saw Yahya Al Fakhrani working under the leadership of a young female director, Sandra Nashat; why would you do so?
A. Sandra is not the only novice director with whom I have worked. This has happened before with more than one director including Omar Abdul Aziz, Atef Al Tayyeb, Sharif Arafa, and Saeed Hamed. All the aforementioned are still successful directors, which proves that my decision to work with them was never wrong.
