CAIRO - Dramas in Ramadan this year have a special flavour, not because of the recent revolution, but for tackling different issues and shedding light on various characters. One of them is the TV serial Ragol Men Haza el-Zaman (A Man of this Era), directed by veteran director Enaam Mohamed Ali and stars Ahmed Shaker as Mousharafa and actress Hana Shiha, The serial tackles the life of Moustafa Mousharafa. Moustafa Mousharafa Pasha (July 1898 ��" January 1950) was an Egyptian mathematician and physicist. He was professor of applied mathematics in the Faculty of Science at Cairo University and also served as its first dean. He contributed to the development of the quantum theory, as well as the theory of relativity, and corresponded with Albert Einstein. Mousharafa published 25 original papers in distinguished scientific journals about quantum theory, the theory of relativity and the relation between radiation and matter. He also published around 12 scientific books about relativity and mathematics. His books on the theory of relativity were translated into English, French, German and Polish. He also translated 10 books of astronomy and mathematics into Arabic. He was also interested in the relationship between music and mathematics and helped to establish the Egyptian Society of Music Fans in 1945. Mousharafa, who was given the title ‘Pasha' by King Farouq, declined the title, claiming that having a PhD in science was worth much more. Scientists are happy with this serial about Mousharafa, because scientists have so often been neglected in favour of literati and artists, they say. "This work could herald more scientific and sci-fi drama in the near future, something rarely found in the Arab world," says Hani el-Nazer, President of the Giza-based National Research Centre. "This trend is very important because the experience in the West shows that scientists implement many of the ideas proposed by sci-fi movies." Another Ramadan drama is Fi Hadret el-Gheyab, about the life of late Palestinian poet and writer Mahmoud Darwish (March 1941 ��" August 2008), a symbol of the Palestinian resistance. Darwish won numerous awards for his literary output and was regarded as the Palestinian national poet. In his works, Palestine became a metaphor for the loss of Eden, birth and resurrection, and the anguish of dispossession and exile. He published over thirty volumes of poetry and eight books of prose. Egyptian poet Omar Battisha says about the serial: "This drama is great, because his creative work reflects his life, his experience and his opinions about what he saw happening about him." Darwish had an Israeli passport, the nationality of the enemy, whom he attacks in his poems. "He suffered under the weight of a state, whose existence he rejected; the fact that he had an Israeli passport added to the irony of his situation," Battisha told the daily independent daily Al-Sherouq. Another Ramadan TV serial, starring Lebanese singer Karol Samaha, is about the life of Lebanese diva Sabah. Born in 1927, Sabah or Jeanette Feghali is a Lebanese singer and actress, whose career stretches from 1943 to the present. She has released over 50 albums and has acted in 98 movies, as well as 20 stage plays. She is among the most prolific Arab singers, with a reported 3,500 songs in her repertoire. Her colourful life is ideal for TV drama, especially as she's been married to many Egyptian and Lebanese men. The serial also sheds light on her relationship with her daughter Huwaida, a dance teacher in the United States. The singer is known to her fans by the diminutive Sabbouha, as well as ‘Al-Shahroura' (The Song Bird), which is the name of the new serial.
