Ramadan is in full swing and competition is already heating up between Arab actors and producers over whose TV drama is set to steal the region’s silver screens during the holy month.
Though certainly not as old a Ramadan tradition as sunset’s iftar meal, the month-long dramas we’ve gathered here have in recent years become almost as central to the month of fasting as, well, fasting.
This year’s batch of Holy Month soaps range from historical dramas to romances to cross-cultural collaborations, as well as the escapist, cheap laugh-mill from Egypt's Borat-Ali-G-fashioned hoax artist, Ramadan's Ramez. Check out our roundup of series to keep an eye out for while you’re feeling fasting-fatigue and in need of some serious sofa-slumming this Ramadan.
Today’s summer season of soap shows are far from the simple traditional hikaye tales passed down in Arab households of the past - Ramadan TV has become a multi-million dollar industry brimming with glitz, much like the holiday-themed Christmas specials you’d expect in the West.
But unlike Christmas specials which are festively themed, the themes and subjects Ramadan dramas touch on are eclectic, edgy, educational and even exhilarating in order to draw as many viewers as possible. Last year, we saw an Egyptian love story between a Muslim and a Jew in “The Jewish Neighborhood,” and hilarious social commentary in the parody show “Selfie,” which poked fun at Daesh.
