The rave reviews that greeted the biographical drama about Umm Kolthoum ushered in a wave of televised biographies that is not over yet, says Kamal Sultan First there was the life of Umm Kolthoum; then King Farouk starring Syrian actor Tayyem Al-Hassan; and then Gamal Abdel-Nasser with Magdi Kamel playing the former president. Next to be screened in the Ramadan TV season will be the lives of two of our most beloved film stars. One is Laila Murad, played on television by Syrian actress Safaa Sultan, and the other is Ismail Yassin played by the talented Ashraf Abdel-Baqi. Abdel-Baqi was born in Cairo in 1963 and studied at business school before attending the Higher Institute for Theatrical arts. He appeared in several plays while in college, and was already making a name for himself when in 1986 he decided to study acting in a more disciplined way. Soon afterwards Abdel-Baqi met the director Hani Motawei, who gave him a role in the play Khashab Al-Ward (Rosewood). This was the break Abdel-Baqi was waiting for. He went on to star in several successful productions including Hadret Al-Mohtaram (Mr Respectability), Malayib Shiha (Shiha's Tricks), Hekayat Zog Moaser (Tales of a Modern Husband) and the popular sit-com Ragel we Sett Settat (Man and Six Women). Now he plays Yassin in Abu Dehka Genan (The Man with the Crazy Smile). Ismail Yassin was born in Suez in 1912. After his mother died, his father remarried and the new wife began mistreating the young Yassin. Practically thrown out of his own home, he went to live with his grandmother, who did not treat him much better. In the early 1930s Yassin came to Cairo to look for a job as a singer. His less-than-attractive appearance did not help him much, and it was not until he began singing comic songs, or monologues as they were called, that his oversized lips and large ears suddenly became assets. He landed a job as a comic singing monologist in Badiaa Masabni's Club, at that time one of the city's key nightspots. Yassin's first salary at Badiaa Masabni's was LE8 a month, a huge sum for the impoverished boy (the value of the Egyptian pound was then higher than Sterling). Yassin was not to keep the job for long. Differences of opinion with the manager of the club led to his dismissal. Eventually his friend Abul-Seoud El-Ibyari, already a well- known playwright, interceded on his behalf and secured his return to his singing gig at the club. Naguib El-Rihani, the leading comedian in those days, saw Yassin performing during this period and correctly predicted a brilliant career for the young comedian. Yassin went on to become a top name in the comedy world, and by 1945 he had established himself as a first-class nightclub performer and an aspiring actor of the silver screen. In the history of Egyptian cinema, only two film stars have had a series of films bearing their names: Laila Murad and Ismail Yassin. The comedian-turned-actor starred in Ismail Yassin Yeqabel Rayya we Sekina (Ismail Yassin Meets Rayya and Sekina), Ismail Yassin fil Geish (Ismail Yassin in the Army) and Ismail Yassin fil Bolis (Ismail Yassin in the Police Force), among others. His films are still appreciated by fans of all generations. Yassin went on to form his own theatre company. Between 1954 and 1966 the Ismail Yassin Company put on more than 50 stage plays. Yassin acted in supporting roles with most of the leading stars of his day, including Kamal El-Shennawi, Hussein Sidqi, Mohamed Fawzi and Farid Al-Atrash. His first leading role was in Al-Millioneir (The Millionaire), which was produced by his friend, the actor Anwar Wagdi. Abdel-Baqi's impersonation of Yassin is captivating, but the show is not flawless. I did not like the fact that we do not see Abdel-Baqi until the sixth episode. Yassin's childhood takes up the first five episodes, which I found tiresome. Another disappointment was that the producers decided to skip Yassin's first two marriages and focus on his third marriage to the woman who became the mother of his only child. This third wife was apparently spending money so fast that Yassin often needed to act in more than 10 films a year to keep up with her expenses, but this part of the story was conveniently ignored to avoid distressing the family. The casting was brilliant. You can say what you want about Abdel-Baqi's acting, but there is no doubt that he was the best choice for the role. Director Mohamed Abdel-Aziz gave substance and vision to the production, while Salah Abdallah was convincing in his portrayal of the playwright Abul-Seoud El-Ibyari. Samir Ghanim did justice to Naguib El-Rihani, and Ahmed Bedeir played Mahmoud El-Meligui with considerable skill. And Lotfi Labib played Yassin's father with astounding ease. The director used the original voice of Ismail Yassin for the songs, and Ammar El-Sherei's musical score was just right. The show is, in my opinion, one of the best biographies dramatised for Egyptian television so far. The show was written by the sons of Ismail Yassin and Abul-Seoud El-Ibyari and the script was based on the memoirs that Yassin himself read out on the radio in 1956. Abdel-Baqi listened repeatedly to the memoirs before taking on the character. "I am a big fan of Ismail Yassin, and I have watched every single film he made. I also read about him a lot, which helped me understand his character," he says. Lebanese make- up artist Claude Ibrahim is to be credited for making Abdel-Baqi look so much like Yassin. Abdel-Baqi says that he spent considerable time rehearsing the easygoing reactions of Yassin and his trademark laugh. The script by Ahmed El-Ibyari and the late Yassin Ahmed Yassin gives prominence to the tough years of Yassin's life. We learn from the script that after his arrival in Cairo, Yassin was so poor he was forced to sleep in mosques. There is one scene in which Yassin chases off a cat and steals the fish it was eating. "To tell the truth, I empathised a great deal with Yassin, who was known to cry real tears for the slightest reason. People would think that when they met him he would be all laughs and jokes, and they would be stunned to find out that he was just another man, full of worries and troubles," Abdel-Baqi says. In playing Yassin, Abdel-Baqi tried not to go for the straightforward imitation. "I tried to reach out for the real man, the man with the difficult childhood, the man who needed the help of Badiaa Masabni to start his career, then went to work in Lebanon when the going got tough in Egypt." Abdel-Baqi says that showing Yassin's childhood in detail was helpful. "By the time I appear at the end of the fifth episode, the viewers are already sympathising with the character. I felt it personally when I met people, because they were all so excited about the show. I am waiting for their final opinion after the end of the whole series." Was he taking a risk by doing a biography of a contemporary figure? Abdel-Baqi believes that this particular show was above controversy surrounding Yassin, especially in that it was written by his son and the son of a close associate. He stresses that not all biographies are risky. "Some biographical shows have been quite successful, such as those on Umm Kolthoum, King Farouk and Sheikh Shaarawi. Of course, other shows didn't make it, and this happens too," he says. Would he do more biographies? "I love these stars of the past and I believe that their lives have a lot to offer and a lot that people want to know. Finding the right producer, I would be glad to do it again. Think of people like El-Rihani, El-Kassar and El-Nabulsi, all great comedians who made us laugh from the heart and who transcend the harshness of their own lives."
