Egyptian folk singer Shaaban Abdul Rahim’s life and rise to stardom will be portrayed in a new film dedicated especially for him. Director Tareq Al Habith, who recently just completed shooting the last scenes for his movie “Falah Fi Harit Al Banat” (A Farmer in a Girl’s Neighborhood), announced that he will begin working on his new movie about the life of the folkloric singer.
According to the Qatar based daily, Al Raya, Tareq chose young Egyptian actress Monalisa and Egyptian comedian Hussain Al Mamlook for the leading roles in the film. The film, written by Mahmoud Abo Zaid, is to be a comedy with events revolving around Shaaban's sensational rise to fame, as an unusual Egyptian story. Events in the film will begin with Shaaban as an ironer – a traditional profession for working class Cairene men, who use an iron strapped to a shoe rather than the hand-held variety. Events will escalate as he begins to juggle his day job with an ever-expanding circuit of working-class venues.
The movie will also show how his "Anti-Israel" wave song "Ana Bakrah Israel" (I hate Israel) recorded a hit in the market of Cairo and beyond, replacing the typical love songs that people used to listen to and bringing him the fame he was dreaming of. The singer rose to prominence after his release and his album sold more than five million copies.
Shaaban has expressed his willingness to work with the screenwriter, director and producer giving them any information they feel is necessary to complete the film.
Shaaban favors a wet-look perm and loud suits and who makes more than a dozen live appearances on television each week, and has had pre-recorded versions of his songs banned from the airwaves by the national censor. – Albawaba.com
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
