WHEN I first asked Nur Al-Shareef, the famous Egyptian actor, what grade he gave himself for his acting, he said, “7 out of 10.” I then asked him to whom would he give 10 out of 10. Without hesitation, he answered, “Ahmed Zaki.” When a highly competent and talented actor such as Nur Al-Shareef talks in this way about Ahmed Zaki, this should give us some idea of the man’s talent and standards. Nur Al-Shareef did not exaggerate; he was telling the plain truth. Ahmad Zaki was an actor who dedicated his life to acting and paid the price for it. He worked very hard to attain what he attained before he died.
Ahmed Zaki sold his apartment and furniture in order to produce the film, ‘Days of Sadat.’ His goal was to produce a fine film that was an accurate portrayal of people and events. He spent more than five years preparing for the movie; he borrowed money from banks and friends so as to make his vision a reality. He was not concerned with whether the film would be a huge financial success or not; his desire was to show Sadat’s personality, a personality which influenced the Arab world and changed both the region’s map and its politics.
People who did not like President Sadat attacked Ahmed Zaki because, in their opinion, Sadat was the reason for many of today’s problems in the Arab world. They believed that Ahmed Zaki had only presented the positive side of Sadat. Ahmad Zaki, however, did not hesitate to confront his critics. He said, “This is what I feel about the man and I am presenting it to the public in this film. His life was rich in stories and events and those who do not like my film about Sadat can make their own and present what they see as his negative side. They are free to do this and nobody will stop them.”
Ahmad Zaki acted in more than 60 movies and each one meant a great deal to him whether he starred in it or not. In the film, ‘Darb Al-Hawa’ (The Way of Love), his message was sharp and uncompromising. He described political fornication as worst than the physical variety.
In the movie, ‘Love Over Pyramids,’ he reflected on the suffering and continuous frustration of youth. He described how powerless young people often are when they try to achieve the simplest human demands. In his movie ‘The Innocent’, he played a simple farmer who knew nothing except how to make a living. When he was recruited to work in a prison, he beat up prisoners based on orders from his superiors. He was told that all prisoners were enemies of the country but when he realized the truth, he burned the entire prison, sacrificing his own life.
There are many movies in which Ahmed Zaki expressed what normal people could identify and empathize with. He spoke sadly of his very successful film, ‘Caboria.’ Despite the film’s huge success, the only thing that many people took away from the film was the haircut. All over the Arab world, it was said, every man who went into a barbershop wanted the Caboria haircut. Ahmed Zaki said, “This film is about about people in the third world. The main character is someone named Hudhud. He is a man of no social standing whose dreams have been destroyed. He and his friends are practicing boxing in public. They may dream but they do not have the ambition to achieve their dreams. We the people of the third world are eaten by other countries and when they have finished with us, they throw us in the garbage.”