The Real Winners of Ramadan 2023

There are two ways to judge the success of any TV series; the critics review and the opinion of ordinary people on the street and this Ramadan two series’ have met these criteria, Jaffar ElOmda and Taht El Wessayia.

 If we are being honest and if we have to rank the series’ then Jaffar ElOmda will have to be placed at the top – number one – in all its elements; casting, director, in its simple yet gripping plot and the whole atmosphere it had created amongst people from celebrities like Mo Salah who throughout the month of Ramadan was posting footages of the series on his Instagram story and he even called the fabulous Hala Sedki to congratulate her on the role of SafSaf.

Similarly at an event few days ago Amr Diab called out ‘Wedad and SafSaf’ Hala Sedki and Jory Baker and praised their exceptional acting and even sang to ‘SafSaf’, he did not do the same to the other stars that were present at the even though he did congratulate Yousra but he didn’t mention her character’s name or the series she was in, which indicated that he didn’t watch it and was just being polite.

Amr Salama and Hala Sarhan were the other celebrities that also praised Jaffar ElOmda and its director Mohamed Sami. As for the ordinary people – the viewers, who matter the most in judging how well a series is doing then we can safely say across the world Arab viewers and especially Egyptians took the series into their heart with many celebrating any happy occasion that occurred in the series with videos and celebratory drinks being distributed amongst people.

Jaffar ElOmda brought different segment of society together; working class, middle class and upper class which rarely happens. 

According to ‘Media Hub’ Jaffar ElOmda has gained more than 296.7 million viewers over the month of Ramadan while That El Wessayia managed just over 61 million viewers. 

Taht El Wessayia dealt with social issue impacting single mothers and the legal authority they have over their children, the series gained a lot of positive feedback from celebrities like Asala, Sherihan, Mohamed Mamdouh, Riham AbdelGhaffour and many others who all praised the exceptional performance of Mona Zaki. But it didn’t have the same impact as Jaffar ElOmda across the arab world. There are many reasons for a series to be less successful than others, sometimes its luck or timing but with That El Wessayia it lacked the mixture of stars that Jaffar ElOmda boasted, though Mona Zaki is a phenomenal star but she needed another star alongside her to make the series stronger.

Another reason, is the fact that last Ramadan, Nelly Karim starred in a series that raised similar issue of guardianship and women rights. 

Ahmed Saad has proven once again that he is the most sought after singer for any big project and Ramadan series will not be the same without his voice and choice of songs. This was another successful factor in Jaffar ElOmda series, the presence of Ahmed Saad who has collaborated with Mohamed Sami many times before.

Souk ElKanto created an atmosphere of nostalgia to a beautiful period but sadly failed to meet the high expectations that many predicted, though it had exceptional stars but the weak storyline and dialogue limited its success. The few that stood out were Amir Karara, Maha Nassar and Ahmed Salah Hosny who were all very convincing and acted their roles to perfection.

A’alaka Mashrou’a was a difficult series to follow due to its pointless storyline and the fact that we have become accustomed to a certain standard from Yasser Galal which this series did not meet at all and it is puzzling as to why he accepted such a role. The opposite can be said for Mai Omar and Dalia Mostafa who both came out of their shells with a totally different characters to what they have become known for.

Ghada Abdel Razak, an actress that is has far more potential than what we have witnessed in the past few years, and this year series of ‘telt el talata’ has to be one of the worst TV series’ that has graced our screen. The plot was a disastrous attempt at creating suspense or some kind of thriller, the acting was very weak and the casting was quite puzzling, in the sense why would Laila Ahmed Zaher accept such a minor and pointless role after the huge success she had enjoyed at her other projects, such as ‘El Fitwa’ and ‘Fi Bayetna Robot’. The second question is aimed at Mai Salem, when will she opt for a role other than the lover of a married man? Isn’t about time that she shows her real talent and potential rather than rely on her looks and the director’s typecasting.

You might be surprised to learn that Suhair Ramzy had a series shown during Ramadan, it was so badly advertised that very few knew about it and even fewer followed it. ‘Layal Um ElBanat’ is a recycled tale that has been narrated a hundred time before, with poor casting and even poorer acting. It is sad to see someone of Suhair Ramzy calibre and rich history of acting in some of the best Egyptian films of our time is reduced to this series.

Yasmeen AbdelAziz, you are loved by so many but you must branch out, you were a success with Ahmed EL Awady but you are repeating yourself, and the same goes El Awady, you are one of the best actresses of our time and deserve a much better TV series.

El Adel group; please aim for variation next year, people are bored of the usual trio;Nelly Karim, Riham Hagag and Yousra with the same outline of plot.