Mahmoud Abdel Aziz to Play ‘Bairam al Tunisi’

Egyptian actor Mahmoud Abdel Aziz has deferred his final agreement on starring in a TV series on the life history of poet Mahmoud Bairam al Tunisi until the Egyptian TV production department meets the conditions he stipulated. 

“The TV being the series producer should guarantee to air it next Ramadan,” Abdel Aziz revealed that as one of his conditions adding that the scenes should be shot at their natural sites in Egypt, Paris and Tunisia. This is in addition to allocating enough budget so that the series will come out in its best forms. 

The contract is expected to be signed by the end of this week particularly in view of the fact that the Mahfouz Abdel Rahman has wrapped up the script in preparation for shooting the series after designating a director. 

“I have adored the figure of Bairam since childhood and I am currently searching for his full scripts and all what was written about him in order to have a complete picture about his character and life,” Abdel Aziz told the London based Arabic daily Al Sharq Al Awsat. 

Bairam al Tunisi was born in Alexandria and was called Tunisi because his grandfather was a Tunisian. He was exiled to Tunisia for an article in which he took a swipe at the husband of the late king Fuad’s daughter. Then he moved to Paris to work as a porter for two years after which he returned to Egypt.  

Due to his violent poems in which he criticized the local and imperialistic authorities at that time, he was exiled to France where he lived homeless, hungry and very poor. But he continued writing his poems, which depicted his people’s suffering and their poor conditions. Then he returned to Egypt and wrote many famous literary articles. 

The renowned late Egyptian singer Umm Kulthoum sang many poems written by Tunisi and composed by Zakaria Ahmed. The poet died of asthma in 1961 – Albawaba.com