CAIRO – 17 February 2019: The Egyptian drama started to conquer Netflix. In April 2018, the Egyptian series "Grand Hotel" became the first Arabic series to ever be featured on Netflix.
This series is based on a Spanish show of the same name, thus prompting the Egyptian version’s name to be changed to "The Secret of the Nile" on Netflix.
Written by Tamer Habib, the series stars Amr Youssef, Ahmed Dawoud, Anoshka, Amina Khalil, Dina Elsherbiny and Mohamed Mahmdouh.
First premiering in Ramadan 2016, "Grand Hotel" became a smash hit.
The drama follows a young man named Ali in the 1950s; Ali visits a prestigious hotel in the beautiful city of Aswan to search for his missing sister, who had been employed there as a maid.
As he gets a job as a waiter to find out more, his journey takes him into the secret world of the hotel's rich patrons, who live a life of passion and intrigue. Ali finds love in the Grand Hotel.
In 2018, other Arabic language series were included on Netflix, including its first Middle Eastern production, a stand-up comedy show by Lebanese comedian Adel Karam. The first Netflix original Arabic series, titled "Jinn", is currently in production.
In 2019, Egyptian drama started to get a significantly bigger share with four Egyptian soap operas, “Tayea”, “Ekhtefa” (Disappearance) , "Khalsana Beshyaka" and "Hazaa al-Masaa" ( This Night), featuring on Netflix.
Tayea poster
“Tayea”
The Egyptian star Amr Youssef plays Tayea, a young man from Upper Egypt who graduated from the faculty of medicine.
Tayea has a strong opinion concerning revenge customs in Upper Egypt and he suddenly finds himself involved in a number of crimes, including antiquities smuggling.
Seba Mubarak, Amr Abdel Geleel and Soheir el-Morshedy co-star in this series directed by Amr Salama.
Ekhtefaa poster
“Ekhtefaa”
Nelly Karim teams up with Hisham Selim in “Ekhtefaa”, where a university professor (played by Karim) searches for her husband who suddenly disappears.
In her journey, she uncovers many surprises. Basma, Mohamed Mamdouh and Mohamed Alaa co-star in this suspense drama written and directed by Ahmed Medhat.
Khalsana Beshyaka poster
“Khalsana Beshyaka”
The successful comedy series which witnessed the unprecedented cooperation of three mega comedians, Ahmed Mekky, Hisham Maged and Chico, is now featured on Netfix.
The “comedy bomb” is divided into two parts. The first part revolves around three friends who live in the same neighborhood, and because of their recklessness, they go through many problems and comic situations.
The second part depicts human conflict, the break out of WWIII and the fear of human extinction.
The actors co-starring with the trio are Mohamed Osama (Osos) and Hussein Abo Hagag. Dina el-Sherbiny, Dina Mohsen (Wizoo) and Malak Kora also participated in the series. The series is written by Farouk Hisham and Ahmed el-Mohamady, and directed by Hisham Fathy.
Hazaa al-Masaa
"Hazaa al-Masaa"
The series presented the story of a well-off married couple, Akram and Nayla, who find themselves at a standstill in their relationship.
Their life seems to be perfect, but we soon see Akram visiting a therapist to discuss his sexual relationship with his wife. It appears that their lack of sexual or intimate activities has left Nayla suspecting him of having an affair, which he strongly denies.
In an attempt to save their marriage, Nayla suggests they take a break from each other and see other people.
They agree that if either of them got romantically attached to someone, they must tell one another. Akram refuses, but eventually gives in to his wife’s demands.
As the events of the series develop, Akram visits his chauffeur’s alley where he meets and gets attracted to his cousin Abla, falls in love with her and marries her to complicate things further.
Samir, Akram’s chauffeur, at the end turned to be a phone-hacker. The drama addresses a contemporary issue; one that the smartphone generation knows only too well, namely, the dangers and impact a small device can have on daily life.
Men hack into females’ devices stealing photos and videos, while some send spam links that enable them to monitor their mobile phones too, eventually threatening to expose the women and blackmail them.
“Haza al-Masaa” stars a variety of actors, including Eyad Nassar, Arwa Gouda, Ahmed Dawood, Hanan Motaw’a, and Hani Adel, among others.
Netflix has become a global monster, bringing together audiences to enjoy series from all across the world. And now, with Egypt at the forefront, the world will get a taste of Arab talent with the wildly popular series.
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