Eman Ibrahim
The Syrian writer Bilal Shehadat confirms that he did not write from the series “Akhira” for his two heroes, Nadine Najim and Qusai Khouli, except for his story, and that he was busy with two new works, so he was not even able to follow it on the screen.
He refuses to compare “Finally” with the series “Twenty Twenty”, which he wrote three years ago, stressing that the similarity, if it occurred, is borne by the director.If you sense a similarity, then this is probably due to the spatial choice, the choice of costumes, and the performance of acting, which are the elements that approached the atmosphere of twenty twenty.
And about the drama steeped in misery, despair, and melancholy, Bilal says that the writer is not separated from his reality, and that the drama of the mafias is the most popular.
An-Nahar met Bilal Al-Ghariq writing two works that will see the light in Ramadan 2024, and this meeting was with him.
The series “Finally” in Lebanon occupies the first place among the most watched series in the month of Ramadan. How much do these numbers mean to you?
What is in Syria? Assi Al-Zind ranked first. Finally, I do not have much in it to follow and adopt.
What we know is that the series was written by you, and it was intended to be 30 episodes, to become 15 episodes. What happened to reduce the number of episodes?
You will receive answers that you may not expect. In fact, I presented the story of the series to be 30 episodes, I met with the director and the heroes, and told them the story of the series and it was adopted, and I wrote for them the heads of pens about it, its course, and the dramatic lines, then I was associated with other projects with the company itself, and as a result of time pressure I left them the story and started with two new projects for Ramadan 2024, I should have started preparing for them long before.
So aren’t you the script and dialogue writer?
No, I only presented the story that could last 60 episodes, or 30 condensed episodes.
According to your information, who wrote the script and dialogue?
I do not know, it is said that the director Osama Obaid Al-Nasser is the one who wrote, and with him a workshop that wrote the script and the dialogue. The members of the workshop are my friends, but I think that Osama is the one who carried the authorship after I moved to another project.
The series still bears your name, as if today you disavow it?
The story is not that I disown him or adopt him. As I said, I presented the story and got busy with projects, so I did not know what was going on. I have to watch it as a series whose story I gave, but I do not guarantee that the director will have additions that he did not tell me about, or that the stars added something.
Do stars usually add their own touches to the script?
When the star reads the text, he adds some suggestions. In the end, the stars are business partners, and it is impossible for the star to be devoid of opinion or point of view.
Weren’t you curious to know how the tale you presented came out in its final form? At least in the paper stage before filming begins?
I would ask from time to time. But what happened to me is as if one of them is in the process of constructing a building, then he is asked to build two towers, and the time that he devoted to the two towers takes him away, so that he does not have the opportunity to follow up on the first project. With regard to the work, for example, when I say that the heroines are being kidnapped by a gang that traffics in women, this gang may take several dimensions as writing, as a scenario and as details. And if I sat down to follow the details, I would not have been able to complete the work required of me, so I was somewhat out of the atmosphere.
I mean, in short, you say that the “Al-Sabah” company asked you for two works for Ramadan 2024, so you left “Finally” to the director?
For the director and the writers’ workshop, because the director alone could not write a series, especially since he was constrained by time.
We notice a great similarity between “Finally” and “Twenty Twenty”, the series that you wrote two years ago and also starred Nadine Njeim and Qusay Khouli. Did you feel while writing your story that you were still living the atmosphere of “Twenty Twenty” and the second season that was not completed?
The story, as events, chronology, and heroes, certainly has nothing to do with “Twenty Twenty.” But if you sense a similarity, this is probably due to the spatial choice, the choice of costumes, and the performance of acting, which are the elements that approached the atmosphere of the series. As for the story, I can portray it in places and moods with costumes with Details and caricatures far from “twenty-twenty”. In “Finally” I’m talking about the women’s trade, a gang that kidnaps women and engages them in prostitution. What does this matter have to do with the previous series?
What we have seen so far is a gang dealing drugs?
My story is about a women’s trafficking gang. This drug is a common occurrence in any gang, unless the director focused on this part a lot. This has become a directorial choice that has nothing to do with my story.
Why are soap operas flooded with mafias, kidnappings, drugs, and all this misery for an exhausted Arab viewer who is experiencing endless social and economic crises? Is it the direction of the production companies, or is it just an exchange of ideas between the writers?
There are comedies, but to be honest, we are not as good at comedy as the Egyptians. Most of our comedies are more like clowning. As for the Ramadan series, there is a recipe that is guaranteed to succeed, so you find everyone resorting to it and playing on this chord, revenge, gang, treachery, prostitution… There are topics that we guarantee will attract audiences, and at the same time there are comic topics. But let me ask you, does the writer himself not live in the same conditions as the citizen? Is he isolated from the earthquake, the financial crisis, the war and the grief that Lebanon and Syria are experiencing?
Should the drama turn into something like a newscast, or into a space to which the viewer escapes?
The news bulletin gives you an event and information, and the drama gives you stories. When Syria is engulfed in war and the Syrian citizen does not find his daily sustenance, a girl is forced to work in prostitution, or a gang is formed that lives by exploiting the suffering of girls who have no families. We shed light on the repercussions of the news bulletin, which says that an earthquake occurred, but it does not enter every house to convey the stories of its residents. I have been devoted to drama, theater and literature for 23 years. If we do too much comedy, voices accuse us of separating from the pain of the people, and if we do too much tragedy, they accuse us of drowning in melancholy. The tyrant today is the drama of crime and misfortune, but I have never written a light or comedy series, all of my works are heart-breaking tragedies.
In the two works that you write for Ramadan 2024, we will be facing two works steeped in melancholy? I mean, will you cut our hearts?
(Laughing) Yes, a lot. I can’t isolate myself from this mess around me. There is an illogical relationship between man and reality in Syria and Lebanon. There is a state of absurdity, people are dying, and there are tragic accidents. I give you an example. In the series “You Shati Ya Beirut,” you wrote about the bombing of a petrol tank in Akkar. After a scene like this, how will you write a comedy series?
Away from comedy, we are talking about social series, even these works are mired in their blackness and misery?
In social works, the writer must multiply his heroes, and diversify his stories. Personally, I have never presented a story revolving around a murder without touching on the social problems within it. In “Twenty Twenty,” all the characters who revolved around Safi El-Deeb shed light on her social problems.
You met when you started writing “Finally” with Nadine Njeim and Qusai Khouli. Weren’t you afraid of repeating this duet for the third time?
The story you presented did not make me apprehensive about repeating the same dichotomy, because it is completely different, but I do not know what happened and how you apply this matter. I think that the force of “Twenty Twenty” has taken hold, to the extent that the audience will link and compare the two dichotomy. It would have been more useful if they moved to a second environment, as happened with Tim Hassan, who moved to a completely different environment, a Syrian environment in a different time. He worked on a folk tale and epic, and then he completely left. Mt character.
You mentioned “Assi Al Zind” twice. Do you watch the series?
No, but I know his story since he was a paper.
Nadine Njeim complained that her scenes were cut, and you disavowed to some extent from the series. Is the intention to load the director alone with the result of the series?
No, I did not complain about anything, but I know that the director is still a beginner, so it is normal for mistakes to happen. This is his second experience, he is not a professional director and mistakes are possible.
What is the difference for drama makers between success in Ramadan and success outside the Ramadan season?
There are a few series between the two Ramadans that are lit up among the dozens of series that are shown, and this is a mass marketing matter. The Ramadan season has turned into a marketing season that entices drama makers to prepare their work for it, as people are free to watch. As for after Ramadan, the pressures of daily life keep people away from television.
In Ramadan 2023, do you consider that you are participating in the Ramadan drama or not?
Very important question, honestly I don’t know. But I do not think that I am participating in the Ramadan drama because when I adopt a project, I present its story, write its scenes, adopt it, defend it, explain it, follow up with the director, and these are tasks required of the writer. As for presenting the story, it is tantamount to laying the foundation stone for the building.
Does touching your text bother you?
What do you mean by touching the text?
Does it mean that you write a text and then find it modified?
Of course I do not accept. I accept that the director says, “This scene, how can we develop it,” or “I liked this line, so how can we expand it?” This is a natural and legitimate matter. As for me going home and returning and finding the episode written in a different way, of course I do not accept this, and this is something I call betrayal, but it did not happen. With me or with Rami Koussa.
Who is the father and mother of work? Is he the writer or the director?
A director without a good script, what does he do? Does he improvise? Does he explain to the actors? The director does not enter the location if he does not have a strong text in his hands.
And if the paper is strong and the director is weak?
The story is the foundation, and the strong story, if it was filmed with a Nokia camera, you can watch it, but the weak story that even Scorsese cannot advance. So you find the director focusing on paper, because without paper he cannot present anything.
Today, we are watching on the screens a Lebanese drama from within the Lebanese society, signed by a Syrian writer. To what extent can the Syrian writer be faithful to the details when he writes a novel that takes place inside Lebanon?
I have been living in Beirut since 2012. Almost half of the year I spend in Beirut and the other half in the Levant. Our problems are the same, our dialect is the same, our pain is the same, and the cultural heritage is also common. But I cannot live for two years in Tunisia and write a Tunisian drama. We are talking here about a few kilometers that separate us, and perhaps not. I follow the news of Lebanon, I sit with my Lebanese friends talking about the details of their daily suffering, so I, as a Syrian writer, have become more familiar with the Lebanese crises in their details.