This Ramadan, Egyptian drama series have proven to be most watched by viewers in and outside the Arab world. Approximately 18 Arab local and satellite channels have bought rights to air Egyptian drama series. This month also experienced major cuts and omissions of scenes and certain lines from scripts before airing any work. The censors were practically cutting left and right excluding the drama series “Ameera fi Abdeen” (Ameera in Abdeen) (starring Sameera Ahmad, Hanan Turk, and Mohammad Riad), which did not undergo any censoring censorship.
According to the UAE daily, Al Bayan, the censorship’s scissors which did not know mercy, gave the biggest share of cuts to the drama “Faris Bila Jawad” (Knight Without a Horse) starring Mohammad Subhi, in which over 40 scenes were omitted. The Egyptian censorship omitted certain political scenes that is based on the book “Protocols of the Elders of Zions”, and other scenes where religion was a sensitive issue especially towards Judaism. President of Egyptian Media and Production commented that the omitted scenes are a display of harmony present in the Islamic religion that does not call for violence or hate against any other religion.
The daily added that viewers who were not very impressed with the omission of political scenes rushed to coffee shops to view the drama on the Lebanese Islamic satellite channel Al Manar (Backed by the Lebanese Hizballah Islamic Movement). Al Manar did no omit any political scenes but instead omitted some romantic and musical performances by Simone.
“Ayna Qalbi” (Where is My Heart) starring Yusra was awarded second place by the censors with the omission of over 30 scenes. Most of the scenes that were censored were for the actor Muna Shalaby for her indecent attire as a high school student. Scenes from several fights between married couples were also deleted as not to give a bad example to the married audiences.
Third in line was “Juha al Masri” (The Egyptian Juha) starring Yahia al Fakharany, in which 25 scenes were omitted ranging from political conversations, love scenes, and a dance performances at a graveyard. The censors also attacked “Al Atar Wal Sabaa Banat” (The Spice Dealer and his Seven Girls) starring Nour El Sherif. In the “Spice Dealer”, many belly dancing scenes were omitted as they do not fit the holy month’s spiritual tendency and other improper scenes by Rania Farid Shawqi.
Not only did the censors omit scenes from entertainment series, but their cuts have also reached religious dramas like “Emam Al Da’iyah” (Biography of Sheik Sha’rawi). The scene that was omitted was celebrating the Islamic holiday Eid al Fitr and the Christian holiday Christmas simultaneously saying that this scene does not add anything to the drama and only causes controversy between the two religions.
Officials at the production companies announced that such cuts and deletions have cost the producers 5 million Egyptian pounds and it is a loss that the Egyptian TV has to undergo. –Albawaba.com
