CAIRO, 1 May 2005 — Egyptian folk-singer Hakim caused doctors at Qasr Al Aini hospital in Cairo to go into a rage when he sang non-stop for three days while filming indoor scenes for his upcoming film “Ali Spicy.” Hakim, who began filming inside the hospital was shocked to see patients leave their rooms and gather around to watch him while filming and asking him to sing requests for them.
The hospital premises “turned into a nightclub” with singing and dancing. Doctors were outraged and demanded an instant halt to the chaos. They stressed that the disturbance was deleterious to patients and was inappropriate behavior for a hospital. The hospital administration, after complaints, halted the filming.
Director of the film Mohammad Al Najjar was forced to relocate in a different hospital.
More trouble came Hakim’s way when he was forced to stop the filming after being slapped hard in the face by actor Jamal Ismael resulting in severe bruising to his eyes. Hakim had insisted that Jamal slap him hard to make the scene more realistic. Hakim kept re-shooting the scene until Jamal’s slaps were so strong it resulted in an all too real injury for the singer.
