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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 14 - 20 September 2000 Issue No. 499
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Hooligan with a heart
By Tarek Atia
Ask anyone what their favourite part of Alaa Walieddin's new film Al-Nazer was, and they'll inevitably say one of two things, or even both: Walieddin playing the role of his mother, and Al-Limby, played by Mohamed Saad.
As Al-Limby, the completely drugged-out former schoolmate of Salah (Walieddin), Saad has created a character who virtually eclipses Al-Nazer's star. Salah and his friend, both innocent geeks, seek out Al-Limby, an old schoolmate kicked out of school for beating up their teacher, in search of advice on becoming more streetwise. The two track down Al-Limby, only to discover that it's his wedding day.
Described to me by one film buff as one of the funniest, most surreal scenes in the history of Egyptian cinema, Al-Limby's wedding finds Saad sitting on the traditional kosha (the dais on which the couple are seated) with his bride, swigging beers and smoking joints -- as is everyone else at the wedding, including the bride's parents. Al-Limby, the hard-nosed street tough, can hardly see in front of him as he greets his old school buddies warmly. He then turns to his bride and gruffly orders her to prepare a couple of glasses of tea for the new guests. A brawl ensues, and the short-lived marriage ends in divorce.
Al-Limby moves in with Salah and proceeds to give him a crash course in being streetwise, and the audience ends up really liking this tough guy, who is actually not so tough. A good guy at heart, he runs away at the threat of a fight. But he does steal the film right out from under Alaa Walieddin.
His turn as Al-Limby has certainly poised Mohamed Saad for becoming a big star, although it has been a slow road for him so far. Saad has been through the play circuit, has done TV series, and even a fawazeer, Ramadan's famous riddles programme. People who have seen him in those roles know him to be a good actor, but Al-Limby is a role people will remember for a long time to come.
I was not sure what to expect when I met Saad in his small flat in New Maadi. Would he be as funny as Al-Limby? A stoner-type like his character? He hosted us in a reception room with gilded granite walls, a pinkish accordion door and matching pink and green curtains and couches. Somehow, all this still manages to give off an elegant, homey feel.
As he continuously comes in and out of the kitchen to ask seemingly pointless questions -- whether we want our tea in mugs or glasses, in big or medium size glasses -- I remember the first time I phoned him up on his mobile to get the appointment. "I'll have to check my agenda when I get home," he said. "I'm driving right now ... See? ..." And then he beeped his horn a few times to prove it.
"I can't describe how happy I am with this role," Saad says. "When [Al-Nazer director] Sherif Arafa's assistant called me and said he had a great role for me, I read the part, and felt like it really was written for me." And maybe it was, for scriptwriter Ahmed Abdullah and Saad are actually long-time buddies. "We did plays together back at school," Saad confirms.
photos: Sherif Sonbol
Once he took the role, Saad started living with Al-Limby everywhere he went. Originally from Sayeda Zeinab -- where, he notes, there are a lot of characters like Al-Limby -- Saad reached back into his past for memories. But he also went a step further: back to the old neighbourhood to sit around with several real-life Al-Limbys and pick up some honest-to-goodness Al-Limby-style dialogue.
"I had to tailor the role," he says, "I worked on the details of the details. It's like clothes; I don't want to look like a piece of lettuce wearing a fancy shirt," he says, using what might be the weirdest metaphor I've ever heard anyone use.
I asked him how he avoided doing the clichéd "druggie tough guy" role we've all seen and forgotten in hundreds of Arabic films and TV shows.
"I'm so glad you brought that up," he says. "It was something I worried about day and night. Everyone's done it. So I decided to do a baltagui (hooligan) who's also a comedian."
Saad also made a point of doing the role in a way that would not offend any member of the audience: little kids, sisters, grandparents -- the way "Ismail Yassin would have done a bedroom scene," he explains. "You want everyone to be relaxed, to not worry that there's going to be an embarrassing, off-colour moment."
"It's bankruptcy to get the cheap laughs by doing dirty stuff," he adds. "And inevitably parents will shake their heads and say, 'What a shame, he used to be respectable.'"
So when did he first know he wanted to become an actor?
"I used to love being a troublemaker in school, just to get a few laughs," he recalls fondly. "Even the teacher would laugh, but he'd still have to punish me."
The hard work and dedication seem to have paid off for Saad. He has signed a three-film deal with Al-Nazer producer Magdi Al-Hawari, and his next film 55 Isaaf, in which he plays a doctor, is almost a star-turn. When signing him, El-Hawari remarked, "You won't regret joining us," and Saad probably won't, considering how much El-Hawari seems to relish the process of making new stars.
Saad sees his success as a gift from God, crediting a religious upbringing, where he saw his mother "praying constantly", as one of the factors that has inspired his strong sense of morality. "I can't see a fight in the street without getting extremely nervous," he says. "'Why are they doing this?' I ask myself."
Actor Mustafa Metwalli's recent death at age 49 has also put Saad, 35, in a more fateful state of mind. "The guy had just hugged me and told me what a great job I'd done two days earlier at the premiere of Al-Nazer."
Before we leave, we ask Saad to give us a quick taste of Al-Limby. He makes it look so easy: just a hunch of the shoulders, a dumbing of the eyes, and there he was.
