JEDDAH, 28 November 2004 — Doctors treating well-known Egyptian actor Sabri Abdul Meneim for cancer at the Sulaiman Fakeeh Hospital here are hopeful that he would be returning to Cairo by February and resume his acting career.
Meneim is undergoing chemotherapy for cancer of the diaphragm and the Saudi surgeon, Wael Fetiha, treating him feels that 80 percent of the cancer is in remission and the patient is well on the road to recovery.
Meneim, whose room is on the same floor as another Egyptian actor Sayed Zayan — undergoing treatment for a stroke at the hospital, had earlier undergone chemotherapy for lung cancer. He is being treated from August.
Meneim has been an inspiring figure in the Arab showbiz. He has acted in many serials and films, but picks “Naïve Abbas in the Dark Days”, aired in Ramadan on 2003, as one of his best roles. He acted in two other serials “Mahmoud Al-Masry” and “A Girl from Shubra” during that period before cancer sidelined him.
“Naïve Abbas..”, broadcasted over several channels, was a popular serial. He acts as the landlord of the building where Abbas lives and the intricacies and problems in the serial mirrored day-to-day life. “I like to act in different roles and not stick to one character. In this serial (“Naïve Abbas..”) I was an overbearing landlord and it was well received by the masses. I have acted in period dramas and also as a Jew,” he said.
When asked about his role as a Jew, he said: “We are not against Judaism, we are only against Zionism. We are all believers and believe in all of our prophets.”
On the rush to produce more serials during Ramadan, he said “There should be more organized distribution of serials, but it is the same every Ramadan when producers flood different channels with so many productions that many good serials either are missed due to scheduling clashes or just do not see the light of the day. Ramadan is a great month to air serials, and the producers gear their work to that,” he said.
Meneim said he has no problem working in present day movies, especially with a new generation of films taking root in Egyptian cinema. However, he thinks the industry should promote different genres.
Meneim, on recovery, is hopeful to work in many more serials and movies when he returns to Egypt. He will be giving priority to the serial “Burning Butterflies”, in which he will play the role of the famous novelist Ihsan Abdul Qodos.
