2023-05-17 17:22:32
On the seventeenth of May, Egypt and art lovers in the Arab countries celebrate the birthday of movie star Adel Imam, who is considered by many to be a milestone in the history of Egyptian art.
But the “leader”‘s celebration of his birthday, and his eighty-third birthday this year, coincides with another memory that is more attached to the history of Egyptian art. 60 years ago, Imam’s talent emerged for the first time, when he appeared on stage in front of the giants Fouad Al-Mohandes and Shweikar in the comedy play “I and He”. It, which was produced in 1963.
the beginning
Imam tells in a television interview the story of the beginning with the role of “Desouki Effendi”, at the time he was a recent graduate from the Faculty of Agriculture at Cairo University, at the age of 23, and he dreamed of entering the world of art after he participated in many roles as a hobby at the university.
But things were not going well for Adel Imam, as the “TV Theaters” authority dismissed him for not completing his identification papers, and he waited for an opportunity, before offering him a small role in a comedy play with the two famous stars.
In “Me, He, and She,” Imam played the role of a tramp lawyer who deals with people with arrogance that is not commensurate with his miserable situation, so he attracted everyone’s attention immediately, and laughter erupted interacting with his distinctive way of performing, despite his appearance in limited scenes.
Imam’s undoubted talent was embodied from the first moment, with great attention to detail. He remembers that before the show, he searched in television stores for an old worn-out jacket, a fez, and a shirt that he tore with his own hands to fit the modest social status of the attorney’s attorney.
His voice was heard for the first time when it appeared at the beginning of the second act, while the viewers had not yet settled in their seats after the break.. The phone rings, and “Desouki” picks up the phone and utters the phrase that became famous after that: “Here is the office of Hamdi Attia, the lawyer.. I am Professor Desouki, the agent. his own.”
The spontaneous laughter that surprised Imam erupted, but he proudly notes after many years how the audience applauded him strongly when he left the stage, while no one had applauded him when he entered, “because no one knew me.”
Thus, the comedic presence of an imam was embodied from the first scene, and according to Fouad Al-Muhandis’ testimony, an imam was chosen from among more than 20 actors to perform the role in which he succeeded in a remarkable way.
After that, Imam went, according to the engineer’s expression, to “work, work, and work”, and be himself and his personality, and it was a stage that took a little while until he turned into a “star” or a star, and his stardom was established in the late seventies and early eighties.
In the shadow of the hero
Between the first appearance and reaching the threshold of absolute stardom, Adel Imam lived for years in the role of the second hero, or “Sinead” in the usual Egyptian expression, whether on television, theater or cinema.
However, according to the scriptwriter and writer Bilal Fadl, during that period he did not show sure signs that he would become “No. 1 in Egypt”, because he was trapped in a limited space of roles imposed on him by the directors.
The late writer Mahmoud Al-Saadani says in his book “The Stooges”: “Adel Imam was able to impose his conditions in this market (..) but Adel, due to compelling circumstances, acquiesced to their conditions and handed his neck over to directors who need compulsory study in cinematic literacy classes to put him in the role of Al-Sineed next to The hero, conveying to him the news of the girls or giving him disappointed advice (..) and instead of making his way to the championship roles, he accepted this situation and was content with the roles that he is led to and the pounds that heap on him.
Al-Saadani added: “If Adel realized how talented he is and how much he is required, he would have escaped himself from the ambush that they had prepared for him.. and (even) if he could not quickly escape from this corner in which he is crammed into the championship role (..) this would not diminish his talent and would not degrade him. Of his ability as a brilliant, talented and great actor.”
Rebellion.. and stardom
Al-Saadani wrote those words in the early seventies, and shortly thereafter, and fortunately for Adel Imam and the Egyptian art, the talented actor finally rebelled against his situation, and, according to Fadl, began his new stage after another play in which he participated entitled “I, She, and His Highness.”
At that time, Adel began to insist on the “starring role”, and participated in several plays, most of which failed, until the famous play “The School of Rioters” was shown in the first half of the seventies.
This controversial work launched the stardom of many of those who participated in it, including Imam himself, Saeed Saleh and Ahmed Zaki, but Imam in particular began to appear differently, especially after the play was broadcast on television, and it won widespread fame and success.
And just as his first start was in the play “I and He is Her”, his stardom was finally established years later on the stage, specifically in the famous work “Watch No Need”, which continued to be shown for several years starting in 1976, and during that period he was caught by the cinema screens until he became with The end of the seventies, the first champion, and almost no competitor.
With an intense appearance that reached, for example, 3 films in 1979, 5 in 1980, and the same in 1981, Adel Imam imposed himself on the box office accounts and audience tastes, then his appearance began to decrease intentionally when stardom and wealth enabled him, according to what he himself said to Bilal Fadl, From possessing the “power of refusal”, to begin the stage of careful selection of the roles and characters that he wants to present.
Imam’s stardom, which finally exploded, was supported by changes in the means of display, and the emergence of video recording devices that moved Adel Imam from the stage and the cinema screen, and also introduced him to the homes of Egyptian families and established his stardom.
curling star
During that period, Imam, with innate intelligence mixed with his talent, chose his cinematic works carefully, during which he diversified between the role of the Egyptian youth crushed by the conditions of society, to the popular hero coming with his courage from the bottom to the top, and from the lover of women to the knight coming from the Middle Ages, and the blind who sees What the sighted do not see, all of this within a framework affecting issues pressing on the lives of Egyptians, such as terrorism, high prices, corruption, and even dictatorship (without explicit reference to the Egyptian presidency).
Throughout those years and until his latest cinematic work, “Alzheimer’s” in 2010, Adel Imam remained, with little exception, the “king of the net” and the one who sat on the throne of stardom even with his advanced age, regardless of the profound changes that struck the “cinematic market” over the decades. Stars disappeared and others appeared, and techniques changed and others appeared, while Imam remained preserving his position, then chose, with his cinematic distance, an annual date on television in Ramadan to overlook his audience through comedic dramas, most of which succeeded in the masses.
Absence and prophecy
Imam says that the basis of the “successful comedian” is that he originally be a real actor, then comes the talent of laughter that is neither acquired nor taught, and he is a careful analysis demonstrated by his busy career in which he combines the famous comedic roles and the serious ones in which he excelled.
And with the advent of his 83rd birthday, on Wednesday, Imam’s fans have become accustomed to his recent distancing from the limelight, amid separate and conflicting conversations about his health, and rumors appear from time to time about his death, and his family and those close to him denounce it. His children, grandchildren and close friends.
A few days ago, Egyptian media published a significant story told by his old friend, the star Salah Al-Saadani, dating back to their study period together at the university.
Al-Saadani says: “I have a tape (cassette) recorded by Adel Imam at the College of Agriculture, as if he was reading his dreams in it (..) in which he talked about that he will be the most important star in Egypt after graduating from the College of Agriculture and becoming a professional actor (..) and the relationship between him and people will be open Without Borders.. as if it were a personal prophecy he made more than 60 years ago, and most of it has already been fulfilled.. and more.
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