Egyptian comedian Younis Shalaby held a number of sessions with the cast of the comedy play “Al Iyal Kibrat” (The Children Grew Up) excluding Egyptian actor Ahmad Zaki. Younis plans to begin preparations for the third sequel of the play trying to unite most of the original cast.
The sequel will be called “Al Iyal Kibrit A’awi” (The Children Grew Up A lot) and scheduled to performed in the summer. Said Salih and Hassan Mustafa will costar with Younis and talks are underway with the producer of the original play Samir Khafaja to produce the play.
According to the Egyptian weekly Al Nojoom, Zaki had refused to take part in the play in addition to declining a number of offers to star in other plays saying his scheduled over booked. Zaki intends on freeing himself completely to be able to begin shooting scenes for his latest movie depicting the life of music icon Abdul Halim Hafiz. Zaki announced his participation in the film at a press conference held in Tunisia explaining that the movie will only tackle Abdul Halim's personal and human aspect, as opposed to his musical career and its success, Zaki went on an intensive diet to loose 15 kgs to fit the role.
On a different note, the 26th Cairo Film Festival awarded the 'Best Actor' award to Ahmed Zaki for his role in the movie "Ma'ali Al Wazir" (His Excellency, the Minister), directed by Samir Saif. Zaki received a standing ovation by the audience as the president of the festival, Sherief Al Shobashi, awarded the star his prize.
For his part, Zaki thanked the festival and the audience, expressing his gratitude for the award, being the second such honor for the actor– the first being at the 19th Cartage Film Festival.
Earlier last September, Zaki called on all the Arab stars to play a more positive role in expressing their opinion toward the political events that are taking place worldwide. "Why don't we all agree on producing a movie that tackles the Palestinian issue," said Zaki, who showed willingness to take part in such movies even if his participation would be limited to one scene only. - Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
