Hanan Sabra casts an eye over Ramadan TV schedules Ramadan has long been the highlight of the television year, the month in which soaps are showcased and faces more often associated with the big screen are beamed into the nation's living rooms. And at no time more than this year, when two Ramadan serials are actually extended bio-pics of stars. Mona Zaki returns to the screen after a two year absence in Cinderella, in which she takes on the role of cinema superstar Soad Hosni. She has been absent since playing opposite Yehia El-Fakharani in Guha El-Masri (Egyptian Guha). The role is a challenge for Zaki, though critics have referred to her since the outset of her career as the new Cinderella, a moniker that had hitherto been reserved for Hosni, but which latterly Zaki has shared with Hanan Turk. The serial presents a complete biography of Hosni, from childhood to stardom and up to her untimely death in London. It showcases Hosni's public persona as well as her private life, including her marriage to filmmaker Ali Badrakhan and her relationship with the poet Salah Jahin. The serial is scripted by Mamdouh El-Leithi, directed by Samir Seif, and includes Ghada Ragab, Ahmed Helmi, Ragaa El-Geddawi, Abdel-Aziz Makhyoun and Aida Riyad alongside Zaki. Warda is another star returning to the small screen after a considerable absence. She plays the leading role in Aan Al-Awan (The Time is Ripe), a serial centering on an Arab singer who, at the height of her career, decides to abandon performing in despair at the falling standards of Arab song. She goes on to found a musical institute in an attempt to uncover and promote new talents only to discover that her son-in-law, who has been appointed the director of the project, is using his position to produce commercial pop and in the process amass a fortune. Aan Al-Awan is scripted by Youssef Maati, directed by Ahmed Saqr, with Khaled Selim, Hassan Hosni, Nashwa Mustafa and Zeina acting alongside Warda. Hadrat Al-Muttaham Abi (Respected Culprit, My Father) is this year's Nur El-Sherif vehicle. The actor takes on the role of an idealistic headmaster who goes out of his way to provide his pupils with pastoral care while at the same time neglecting his own son. When the boy falls foul of a minister who abuses his power to harass both father and son, the child accuses his father of failing in his parental duties. Written by Mohamed Galal Abdel-Qawi and directed by Rabab Hussein, the serial also stars Maali Zayed, Samir Sabri and Tawfik Abdel-Hamid. Four veiled actresses -- Soheir El-Babli, Sabrein, Soheir Ramzi and Hanan Turk -- return to the screen this year. In Awlad Al-Shawari' (Street Children), Turk is no doubt hoping that her role in the serial, her first since taking the veil, will replicate the success of Sarah, the soap last Ramadan in which she played the title role. In Awlad Al-Shawari', which will be aired on Dubai TV, Turk plays opposite Amr Waked, Hanan Metawi, Wahid Seif, Aida Riyad, Maha Abu Auof, Inas El-Naggar, Heidi Karam and the young actress Ashraqat, whom Turk predicts will be a great hit this Ramadan. The serial addresses the plight of street children through Zeinab, played by Turk, who meets and falls in love with a student -- Amr Waked -- from the American University in Cairo who is doing a research project on homeless children. The production of the soap was riddled with well-publicised problems, including the defection of the original director Omar Zahran, as well as on-going gossip that Turk, having opted for the veil, would fail to carry the vehicle. The actress, though, is upbeat about the serial's prospects especially, as she told Al-Ahram Weekly, after Sherin Adel took over from Zahran as director. It is scripted by Shahira Salam. Yehia El-Fakharani has long been a Ramadan fixture, one of the season's most popular television stars. This year he plays Mustafa El-Hilali in Sikkat El-Hilali (Hilali's Path), a professor of Arabic literature who is deeply concerned with the moral values of the young people he teaches. The phenomenal success of Virtue, the political party El-Hilali founds which seeks to address the problems faced by young Egyptians, convinces him to run for parliament. Once he does, however, he finds himself being attacked by members of other parties whose smear campaign includes a host of fraudulent charges against him, including tax evasion, falsifying school certificates and the fathering of an illegitimate child. El-Hilali suddenly becomes a symbol of corruption and ends up sentenced to 10 years in jail. Sikkat El-Hilali is written by Youssef Maati, directed by Mohamed Fadel, and the cast also includes Minna Shalabi and Nehal Anbar.
