ENTERTAINMENT

Photography: Farah Hosny Dress: Zeina Hosny Couture Stylist: Yousra Alzahar Hair: Rabei Murad MUA: Soha Khoury Jewelery: Elmawardy Retoucher: Ahmed Kamal Hotel: Ritz Carlton

BASMA MOTHERHOOD CHANGED ME

No wonder that we missed her exceptional performance and her untraditional choice of roles. This month Basma returns to the big screen with two movies, Belm El Wesool and ‘Ras El Sana’ written by none less than Mohamed Hefzy. Amira Tharwat talks with the stunning inside out Basma about the reasons behind her absence, how her six year old daughter Nadia changed her notion towards life and her first step towards universality.

What was the reason behind your absence for four years? I had to go with my ex-husband at that time because he had work, and my daughter was very young so, you can say that it was the family circumstances that made me work in the United States. Do you feel that being away for a while affected your position as a front row star? People say ‘what is out of sight is out of heart,’ but at the same time there are people who disappear for a while for whatever reasons, and they come back. Tell us more about your latest movie ‘Ras El Sana’.. ‘Ras El Sana’ is written by Mohamed Hefzy after a long break. Mohamed Hefzy is an old friend and a brilliant script writer, I was keen not to miss the opportunity of working with him after that long break. This is the first project for director Mohamed Sakr, who is a producer as well, and I like to work with directors on their first projects because they tend to be enthusiastic and motivated, which results in unexpected work. I worked with Amr Salama in ‘Zay El Nahrda,’ which was his first work as a director, Mohamed Amin in ‘Leilet Sokot Baghdad,’ and many others. I was very happy to watch the movie, it’s extremely interesting and catchy, you’d be entertained to watch it and watch the different stories in the movie, and it has a message as well. I was chosen for a role that I have never done before, and I wanted to work with such a great crew including, Eyad Nassar, Ahmed Malek, Shereen Reda, Ingy El Mokkadem, Ali Kassem, to name a few. All the elements of working on this movie were irresistible. You participated in ‘Naseeby We Esmetak’s’ story ‘Ahmed Ya Omar,’ which was a great hit, did you chose this story in particular? No, actually Ahmed Abdel El Atty gave me the choice between 2 stories, I really liked the one that I didn’t participate in, but I wasn’t going to be in Egypt at that time. I also liked ‘Ahmed Ya Omar,’ which was written in a very different and attractive way. It is very simple yet, interesting. In your opinion, what is the main reason behind the high rate of divorce in Egypt nowadays? In fact, the divorce rate is high all over the world not just in Egypt. There are cities that exceeded 50 percent of the divorce rate. Reasons vary from one case to the other, you can’t generalize. There are economic, social, religious and many other reasons that people get divorced for. In Egypt, women became more independent and they are not obliged to stay in a relationship because they are dependent on their partner. I believe that there isn’t any reason that should make a couple stay together if they are not happy. Describe your prince charming, and does getting older change the criteria of choosing a partner? With every stage in your life and with the age difference you definitely change your mind about certain criteria of your partner. We have to differentiate between prince charming in movies that we create and in real life; it’s certainly different. If you believe that we as human beings change with every stage in our life then, definitely our priorities in our partner change too. How has motherhood changed you? I changed completely in every way. I am a totally different person. I never believed in the saying that motherhood

is built in and it’s a natural feeling, but in fact it is. It’s definitely true 100 percent, you change without you noticing or knowing. Your reactions become different, and you actually find yourself repeating what your parents used to tell you especially your mother. People used to tell me that they never thought I would turn to be this kind of mother, who is very interested in every detail of her daughter’s life, I love the fact that we are friends; we play together and learn from each other. Nadia, my daughter, is now 6. What is the best and the most stressful things about being a mother? The most stressful thing is knowing that you are preparing a human being to be able to live in this life. I keep questioning myself when I refuse that she does certain things, what I am expecting from this in the future. Yes, you can’t change someone, and it’s not right that parents think that they can change their kids. But again, I keep questioning the way I am shaping her character, will she be strong and independent or not? That makes you become very detail oriented. The best thing about being a mother is the whole experience, and specifically, when your child sleeps in your arms, it’s a priceless feeling. How did you lose pregnancy weight right after delivery? I gained around 18-19 kilos during my pregnancy, and I had to limit my calorie intake after delivery. What are your health tips that you would like to share with your followers? My main health tip that I would love to share is that it’s not right to deprive yourself from certain things as it will lead to negative consequences. You shouldn’t deprive yourself completely, but you should limit your choices and your portions. If you were a Goodwill Ambassador, what is the cause that you would like to fight for? Either education because I believe that education is the main reason behind any progress, or women empowerment as I also believe that strong women are capable of changing the society around them. At the end of the day, the bigger part of raising the kids becomes the mother’s responsibility. Half of the society is women, which means that if half of the society is weak, the result will be a weak society. What have you learnt from the political events that Egypt witnessed in the past years? I learnt that change can take a long time and that the results can be felt after a while, and we should learn to accept slow changes just like the idea of dieting. If you lose a lot of weight quickly and in a short period, you will regain them back quickly too, but if you lose them slowly, you won’t gain weight easily. What is the role that you have watched when you were away from the screen and wish you have done? A lot! Without mentioning specific roles, and I am not trying to be idealistic, but if I liked a certain role it’s because the actress playing the role has succeeded to make me fall in love with the character. I really liked many series in the last period including, El Rehla, Zay El Shams, Grande Hotel, and many more. I also liked a lot of movies including, Nawara. Actually, I don’t want to forget any names, these are just off the top of my head.

During your stay in the United States, you participated in some international projects, would you like to share them with us? I participated in one project, an American series called ‘Tirent,’ season 3. I think it was a very important experience to me, we say all the time that they work in a more professional way than us; in fact, the difference is not that big and so are the talents. They are definitely more organized than us, which makes them more advanced. I learnt that any good work at any place will be well received and rewarded. They wanted to test me first so, they started with short scenes, and then, when they became more confident, they gave me bigger scenes until they had full trust and they actually gave me a very difficult scene, which was repeated around 15 times for technical reasons, and when I finished all of the location clapped for my performance.

Do you believe it’s difficult for an Arab to head to universality? It’s actually very easy, you should work on yourself and your language and it will be very easy. At the time being, internationally, Arabs are wanted more than before for different roles. Our ethnicity became more desirable to them, as well as our school of acting. They appreciate different school in a different way lately. Hend Sabry was chosen as one of the board judges in Vience Festival. We are now appreciated more than ever before. What is the role that you dream of? Many roles, I want to act in different roles. With every different role I play, I wait for a different and a more challenging one. What are you currently working on? ‘Esmety We Naseebak’ Part 3 and a movie called ‘Mako’ directed by Mohamed Hisham El Rashidy, it’s an adventurous movie that is based on a true story. The cast includes, Nahed El Sebaay, Monther Rayahneh, Mohamed Mahran, Menna Fadaly, Sara El Shamy, the Turkish actor Murat Yildirim and star Kosai Khauli.

JAMILA AWAD A FREE SPIRIT

Since her exquisite performance in ‘Taht El

Saytara,’ Egyptian young actress Jamila Awad took us by storm, this month Amira Tharwat goes upclose & personal with the gifted actress to know more about her relationship with 80s beauty icon, actress and mother Randa, the countries she enjoy visiting the most and her latest movie ‘Banat Sanawy.’

How were you nominated for your role in ‘Banat Sanawy? I met with author Ayman Salama in a workshop in the American University in Cairo, and he told me about the idea as a whole before sending me the script, which was really appealing to me. He then sent me the script and that’s when I started looking into the character ‘Sally’ in depth. Since your first performance in ‘Taht El Saytara’ till now, how do you feel Jamila Awad has changed? ’Taht Al Saytara’ was with no doubt, a landmark in my career path and the project that gave me the initial push. Be that as it may, I didn’t want to play this drug addict persona in order not to limit my options or to put me in one specific place, which is why my main concern at this point was to expand and be able to play different roles. Not so long ago, I played a role of a character named ‘Aya,‘ who got out of the same experimental phase as the one in ‘Taht Al Saytara,’ but found herself in a detrimental relationship with a man who was older than her. There was another movie named ’30 Years,’ where I played the role of a divorced woman. There was also the role of ‘Farida’ in the movie ‘Al Deif,’ which was about a girl who is torn between her family and her loved one, and she faces a constant struggle trying to find the harmony between their different perceptions in life. In ‘Banat Thanawy,’ I found myself returning to the same role that of the experimental wild persona; however, the character comes from a lower class than the one in ‘Taht Al Saytara,’ which makes the role entirely different. Thankfully, I was able to notice several improvements and changes in me as an actress. What is the most valuable advice your mother actress Randa gave you before joining the field? My mother always tell me that I’m stronger than her and that I have the ability to choose my work, but of course her comments and remarks never fail to come in handy with every single role that I play. Her advice to me be it on work or in general is to stay strong and be precise planning my dreams and achievements. How were you influenced by her acting style? A lot of my mother’s spirit is in me especially the way she reacts and speaks, which definitely shows in our acting.

Why doesn’t she appear on the artistic scene anymore? My mother is kind of moody when it comes to this, and she has always been like that. At times, she wants to be in the show business and at other times she avoids the spotlight. Another thing we have in common is our need to distance ourselves and our need for space. If you can describe your relationships with your mom by a movie title, what would it be? I would say the movie ‘Soul Keeper.’ You have a signature hair, would you ever consider cutting it? I actually did before and it was very well received. What inspires you when it comes to fashion? Generally, I like the pieces that fit my personality, and simpler is always better. What is the role of your dreams? I believe that it’s a difficult question to answer, but I generally like to play a different character with every role. You can say that it’s interesting to play a character that’s a bit mentally unstable, whose mental and emotional health are complicated. Any coming TV serials this Ramadan? I’m still reading a couple of scripts, and I haven’t made any decisions. Do you aspire to universality? Who are the actors you would love to act with? It goes without saying that everyone dreams about being known on an international scale, and I love Brad Pitt and Will Smith. You seem to be a free spirit and enjoy travelling a lot, tell us more about your travels and the country you enjoyed visiting the most… I do love travelling and adventures very much. I love India, Cuba, Bali, Cambodia, Kenya and Vietnam. What is your favourite book? And writer? My favourite book without hesitation is ‘The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari,’ and I think that the author would be Robin Sharma. What is the novel you would love to turn into a movie the most? I would have to say ‘The Notebook.’ I love the details of a love story in a novel more than watching it on screen.

You mentioned before that you don’t like social media, would you tell us why? I’m honestly not a big fan of social media as I believe it can consume a lot of my energy and waste a lot of my time. I use it sometimes to get in touch with my fans, but I don’t do it that often, and more often than not I find myself forgetting to check my social media platforms. However lately, I started being more active on social media because I have account managers who help me with that. What are you working on? Like I said earlier, I’m still reading several scripts both for TV and cinema. However, I still didn’t make any decisions as I find myself preoccupied with how the movie ‘Banat Thanawy’ was received.

Mercedes-Benz Achieves Increased Unit Sales For Nine Consecutive Years & Remains Number One Among Luxury Car Brands

2019 was the ninth consecutive record year for MercedesBenz, with growth of %1.3 to a total of 2,339,562 units delivered worldwide. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz maintained its leading position among the luxury car brands for the fourth year in a row. Last year’s model offensive with a total of more than ten new or revised models led to a significant boost in unit sales, particularly of Compact Cars and SUVs, and contributed to the overall sales growth.

• Mercedes-Benz delivered 2,339,562 cars last year, achieving the highest annual sales volume in the company’s history (%1.3+) in a challenging environment for the automotive industry. • Since 2016, Mercedes-Benz has been the number one among the luxury car brands and was able to confirm this position once again last year. • “The ninth consecutive record year underscores once more the strong demand for Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

The Stuttgart-based company with the three-pointed star finished the year with the highest annual unit sales in its history, as well as its best quarter ever (614,319 units, +3.2%). In the fourth quarter of 2019, Mercedes-Benz sold for the first time more than 600,000 cars within a quarter. The SUVs were Mercedes-Benz’s strongestselling segment in 2019 driven by the new GLC and GLE. The GLC was once again the best-selling SUV in the model portfolio in 2019. The A-Class Saloon and the new B-Class worldwide as well as the new CLA Coupé made significant contributions to the segment’s growth. The best-selling members of the Dream Car family last year were the C-Class Coupé, followed by the CLS Coupé. The S-Class Saloon was the best-selling luxury saloon in the world last year. Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG: “The ninth consecutive record year underscores once more the strong demand for Mercedes-Benz vehicles, even amidst far-reaching changes in the mobility landscape. In addition, Mercedes-Benz continues to be clearly the number one in the luxury market – this proves how valuable our brand is. The next two years will also be characterized more than ever by the transformation of our industry. In this challenging environment, we intend to further increase our unit sales and set the course for long-term competitiveness. With investments in new technologies and profitable sales growth, we are paving the way for Mercedes-Benz to lead the global luxury market as a pioneer of sustainable luxury also in an era of CO2-neutral mobility.” Britta Seeger, Member of the Boards of Management of Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz AG responsible for Marketing and Sales: “The ninth record year reflects, among other things, the success of our model offensive with Compact Cars and SUVs, which have delighted new and existing customers all over the world. We offer a broad product line-up with innovative technology and emotional design, which means we have the right vehicle for every customer. This year, we want to further rejuvenate our product portfolio with more than ten new or revised models, including a specific focus on electrified models.”