Egypt's Charlie Chaplin lived through revolutions, wars, and still found the punchline.
Season 1 • Episode 31
LatestThe series deals with the life story of the great artist Naguib Rihani since childhood, and highlights the human and social aspects of his life, and the political life he lived, especially the revolution of 1919, the First and Second World Wars, the Constitution of 1923, and the English occupation of Egypt.
Acting
Amr Abdel Gelil disappears into Rihani's physical comedy and broken soul.
Production
Recreates 1919-1950s Cairo with obsessive period detail.
Writing
Balances biopic beats with the messy truth of being a public clown.
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Rihani essentially invented Egyptian social realism in theatre, mocking upper-class Arabic while the British watched. The show films in actual historic theatres he performed in.
Director Mohamed Fadel waited 15 years to make this, originally planning it as a film before realizing 31 hours still couldn't contain this man's chaos.
EG
