The People’s Idol

Shadia (1931-2017), born Fatma Shaker, played various roles and nailed movie genres that range from the political to the comic farce, but in addition to her diverse roles, Shadia was also a prolific singer whose songs also remain favorites on many playlists. In fact, 25 years after retiring and completely disappearing from the limelight, her song Ya Habebty ya Masr (Egypt, My Beloved) became the voice of the January 25 uprising.

But more than a talented show woman, Shadia managed to encapsulate just about every issue facing the Egyptian woman; from young love and jealousy to struggling between careers and families, and all the way to women’s honor, poverty, prostitution, oppression and uprising against injustice. This month as we commemorate the Year of Women, Egypt Today recognizes Shadia not only for her vast contributions to the entertainment and cultural scene but also as a strong female figure representing the everyday Egyptian woman.

One of her most iconic roles was Soheir, the famous actress who falls in love with the less prominent Ibrahim (played by Abdel Halim Hafez) in the romantic classic Maaboudet El Gamahir (The People’s Idol), which also features Fouad El Mohandes, Youssef Shaaban, Hassan Fayek and Zeinat Sedky. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the movie, but we still memorize scenes from it by heart. And when we ride our bikes, we still playfully sing one of the most popular duets in Egyptian cinema Haga Ghariba (A Strange Thing).

So in celebration of the year of women, an iconic Egyptian cinema classic, and an even more iconic Egyptian artist, we take a look back at the most prominent steps along Shadia’s long-spanning, rich and diverse career.

Shadia debuted her acting career in 1947, at the age of 16, and was often cast in the role of a lively young girl. Then in 1953, she debuted her singing career and started taking on more dramatic roles, having just suffered the loss of a fiancé to the war. Shadia’s career turning point came when she married actor Emad Hamdy, who was 20 years older than her, but the marriage only lasted three years. After her divorce from Hamdy, she married Fathi Aziz but also got divorced two years later. Her last and longest marriage was that to her on-screen love interest Salah Zulficar. That marriage lasted six years but ended in divorce in 1967.

After her last role in La Tas’alni Man Ana (Don’t Ask me Who I am), Shadia officially announced retiring in the late 1980s, turning the page on her artistic career and dedicating her life and time to worship and looking after orphans and her nephews, never having had children of her own. Shadia told the media back then that she preferred her fans to remember her as the young woman they knew, and doesn’t want them to see her old and wrinkled, and she has ever since remained true to that statement, having made very rare public appearances since her retirement.

Shadia starred alongside mega stars like Abdel Halim Hafez, Farid El Atrash and Kamal El Shennawy, with whom she co-starred in more than 30 films.

El Setat Maye’rafoush Yekdebo (Women Can’t Lie), 1954

Bored of her lies, Kamal (played by Shoukry Sarhan), travels on a business trip, leaving his wife Laila (played by Shadia) on a bad note. She thinks of a clever way to get back on his good side and tells one more lie; that she’s pregnant. In one of her earlier leading roles, Shadia discusses typical marital issues like trust and struggling to get a busy spouse’s attention. Costarring Shadia, Shoukry Sarhan and Ismail Yassin, this film is written by Badi’ Khairy and directed by Mohamed Abdel Gawad.

Erham Hoby (Spare My Love), 1959

In a role that is rather new to her ever-sweet girl persona, Shadia plays an ambition-driven woman who steals her sister’s lover, marries for money and then cheats on her husband. Shadia costars with Mariam Fakhr Eddin and Emad Hamdy. The film is written and directed by Henry Barakat.

El Zoga El 13 (The 13th Wife), 1962

In one of Egyptian comedy’s most memorable movies, Shadia plays Aida, starring opposite another cinema sweetheart, Roushdy Abaza. Aida marries Mourad but soon enough learns that he is a playboy who is driven by his lust and has married 12 other women before her, with a pattern of quick divorces and quicker transitions. Aida, with the help of his ex-wives, is set to save their marriage from his rushed divorces, but not before she teaches him a lesson in the value of a wife.

This is one of Shadia’s most-remembered comic roles, and the starlet makes the audience fall in love with her with natural ease, so much so that we all winced in sheer anger when Mourad dared slap her in one scene. But through humor, Shadia demonstrates the strength and wits of women, portraying a character who seemed pretty naïve but quickly turned into a scheming mastermind to defend her pride and love. The movie also depicted the effects of sexualization of women and reducing a wife to a mere object of passion and desire rather than a woman who is looking for a deeper, more meaningful relationship and companionship. The film was written by Ali El Zorkany and Aboul Seoud El Ibiary, and directed by Fateen Abdel Wahab

El Les Wel Kelab (The Thief and the Dogs), 1962

In the classic tale of corruption, power and greed, Shadia plays the role of the prostitute Nour, the lover of the protagonist Shoukry Sarhan whose wife left him after getting jailed to marry the person who betrayed him. Nour is the depiction of loyalty, dedication and the power of love and sacrifice. Costarring Kamal El Shenawy, and Shoukry Sarhan, this is the screen adaptation of iconic writer Naguib Mahfouz’s novel by the same name. Directed by Kamal El Sheikh.

Meraty Modir Am (My Wife Is the General Manager), 1966

We all related to her when she was rushing to cook lunch for her husband after telling him off at the office in Meraty Modir Am (My Wife Is a General Manager). The movie follows the never-ending struggle of career women juggling a job and a family. The comedy costars Salah Zulficar and was written by Saad Edine Wahba and Abdel Hamid Gouda El Sahhar. Directed by Fatin Abdel Wahab.

Shei’ Men Al Khof (A Bit of Fear), 1969

With the line “Gawaz Atris men Fouada batel” (Atris’s marriage to Fouada is void), the classic drama has become an iconic depiction of oppression and people’s revolt against corruption and authority. The line was even chanted during the January 25th uprising when crowds reenacted the scene of the villagers rising against their leader and repeating the line “batel.”

Shadia played the role of Fouada, an ordinary citizen whose simple act of opening the waterways that the village leader, Atris, shut down to punish the villagers brought about injustice and oppression upon her and the villagers, who later end up revolting against Atris in unity with Fouada. Shadia embodied the strength and resilience of the average Egyptian woman in her role, the woman who isn’t afraid to rise up and challenge authority when hers or her family’s safety and livelihood are threatened. Costarring Mahmoud Morsi and Yehia Shahin, the script for this movie was written by Abdel Rahman El Abanoudy and the movie is based on a novel by Tharwat Abaza. Directed by Hussein Kamal.

Miramar, 1969

In a multifaceted political narration, this Naguib Mahfouz classic revolves around Zahra, who escapes a forced marriage and runs away from her family to Alexandria where she works at a motel. There, she meets people from various walks of life, each depicting a segment of society, from the activist to the literati and all the way to the bourgeois segment who loathes revolutionaries. Zahra is the epitome of a hardworking, average Egyptian girl who has little means but a good head on her shoulder and a desire to learn and develop. Costarring Emad Hamdy, Youssef Wahby and Youssef Shaaban and directed by Kamal El Sheikh.

Nahno La Nazra’ El Shok (We Don’t Plant Thorns), 1970

In the social drama, Shadia plays the role of a woman who is abused, mistreated and raped, descending into prostitution to make ends meet. Her character, Sayeda, is that of every Egyptian woman whose husband abuses, cheats on, steals from her and then toss her aside: she represents Egyptian women struggling in abusive relationships where she’s the primary breadwinner and is yet mistreated and cheated on by a husband who reaps all her hard-earned gains. Costarring Salah Qabil and Mahmoud Yassin, the film was written by Youssef El Sebai and directed by Hussein Kamal.

Raya and Sekina, 1983

One of the most popular plays ever in the history of Arab theater, Raya and Sekina tells the story of the two notorious serial killers operating in Alexandria and who kidnapped women to rob and kill them. In this comedy, though Shadia appears as a murdered, she manages to make us fall in love with her character, Raya, nonetheless. We laughed wholeheartedly when Raya was flirting with her husband to get him to remove the bodies from their living rooms, and we cried just as wholeheartedly in the last scene when Raya discovers she just killed her very own daughter.

In a humorous take on a notorious case, Shadia and El Bably have truly given the performances of their lifetimes, playing the roles of two, traumatized women, who are trying to get by on their own in a tough, unforgiving world. Costarring Abdel Moneim Madbouly, the play is written by Bahgat Qamar and directed by Hussein Kamal

La Tas’alni Man Ana (Don’t Ask Me Who I am), 1984

Poor and unable to feed her children, Aisha finds herself pregnant again and has no recourse but to sell her daughter, Zeinab (played by Yousra) to the wealthy Sherifa (played by Madiha Yousry). Aisha then works as Yousra’s nanny and raises her alongside her adoptive mother, Sherifa. In her last, and one of her most emotional, performances, Shadia portrays the struggle of motherhood and poverty, and that of class divide, adoption and the multifaceted sacrifices of a mother. The movie is written by Ihsan Abdel Koddous and directed by Ashraf Fahmy.