The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Despite having endured public humiliation in
Tahrir Square earlier this year during the January 25th revolution,
pop star-turned-actor Tamer Hosni was reportedly undeterred in starring in Adam alongside
Affaf Shoeib of all people.

The Ramadan TV series is directed by Mohamed Samy
and written by Ahmed Abu Zeid, and features a star-studded line-up that
includes May Ezzeldin, Dora, Mahmoud El Gendy and Karim Abou Zeid. However,
there’s no doubt that Hosni and his eponymous character are the focus of the
story; a change to the usual style of multi-stranded ensemble shows.

Title character Adam is a simple,
hard-working and down-to-earth student who works as a delivery guy to help
support his parents (Shoeib and El Gendy) his fifty-year-old uncle, and his
sister whose husband has been caught up in the conflict in Libya, and is
imprisoned there.

Outside of his home, Adam is in love with
his neighbour Hana (Dora). Like any great love story, obstacles hinder their
love; namely Hana’s father who sees his daughter’s future with a more
successful and richer man.

In a separate plot, May Ezzeldin plays the
role of an affluent decor gallery owner, whose life is thrown into despair when
her fiancé is killed in a car accident on their wedding day. The incident
leaves her traumatised and in a state of hysteria. She tries to immigrate to
Italy, and it isn’t yet clear how her path will cross with Adam’s.

A large element of the first few episodes
focuses in particular on two members of the Egyptian State Security. By looking
at the characters’ personal lives, the series attempts to form an explanation
that can be attributed to their attitude and conduct in light of the January 25th revolution. This is relevant because, based on what’s been leaked about the series;
Adam will fall into trouble with some kind of an alleged terrorist plot, and will
subsequently have a run-in with the state security forces.

As a
Ramadan production, Adam is a solid series.
However, it could do with a little more subtlety: issues of secularism and
religious tolerance are shoved in your face, and Adam’s constant wearing of the
Palestinian scarf feels like producers are trying to portray him as some kind
of martyred victim who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Given
Hosni’s much publicised opinion on the January 25th revolution, the
show’s use of the work of revolutionary folk-hero poet Ahmed Fouad Negm feels
incredibly conceited and insincere. This has been reflected by a rather large Facebook
campaign to boycott the show; not only on account of Hosni, but also of Affaf
Shoeib. That being said, if you can
stand Hosni’s acting then this isn’t a bad watch.