Mohamed Ramadan: I made sure my character resembled "Abdo Mota" because straying from that might hurt me

In a very short period of time, Mohamed Ramadan has been able to gain a huge amount of success and fame, in untradtional ways. Some describe this success as a result of luck and timing, but others attribute it to intelligent choices of roles that resonate with young people in Egypt, and starring in films that are highly anticipated and somewhat controversial. This year, Ramadan stars as the protagonist in " Qalb al Assad," and we talked to him about his thoughts about the film, how his character compares to previous ones and more:

What message did you want to convey with "Qalb al Assad"?

The film sends a message to politicians that you can't underestimate the mentality of the Egyptian citizen, no matter the life circumstances; also it looks at the exploitation of the poor and the bad conditions that can happen in pursuit of political interests. Also the film criticizes politicaisn through the character of a Parliament representative, played by Hassan Hosni, who uses his immunity to conduct arms trafficking, of course at the expense of the people.

How do you see your character, Faris el Gin?

When I read the script for "Qalb al Assad", I found a young guy who lives in Nazlet el Seman (a neighborhood in Giza) who has this idea of what he wants his life to be like and is searching for it but can't find it, so the script really appealed to me and thank God, I'm very happy with the reception of the film.

What's the secret behind el Gin's yellow hair in the movie?

El Gin is a young guy from Nazlet el Seman, so we thought we would combine the appearance of the horse with the yellow hair, and the imprint of the lion on his hand, so it was a mixture of the two. It distinguished the character, and brought me closer to him.

This character does strongly resemble your previous characters in "Abdo Mota" and "Al Almany," so why didn't you go for a different character?

Faris el Gin is a very prominent character in our society; it touches on the reality of many young people and this is why there is a resemblance between him and Abdo Mota and Al Almany, but all of the characters are based in reality. " Abdo Mota" grossed huge revenues and the audience really connected to it, so it would be difficult to radically shift away from that character because it could hurt me and I hope that " Qalb al Assad" will be even more successful than " Abdo Mota".

Why do you always make sure you're in a film with a mahraganat song?

Mahraganat songs and shaabi songs are a part of the charms of the film, and they have become incredibly appealing to audiences, so in " Abdo Mota" for example the song "Hot Eido Ya" achieved an unusual level of success, so we decided to include a song in " Qalb al Assad", and we found that a song was an ideal way to draw in the audiences.

This is your third collaboration with Horeya Farghaly?

I don't deny that there's a chemistry bewteen the two of us, and I feel that there's also an artistic match, and she is a very distinctive actress. When we work together, I feel that she complements me artistically, and this is the first, and this is the first time that our characters are really different and far away from the love story that brought us together in " Dawran Shoubra" and " Abdo Mota".

The film is being released alongside four other films. How do you see the competition unfolding between them?

An artist does not feel successful until your work is released among other films, and besides that films that signify the return of Egyptian cinema especially in light of the uncertain political circumstances that we're living in these days. I'm very happy that people are going out to the movies, though, and it proves that it's possible to overcome any circumstances and what's beautiful is that " Qalb al Assad" is different from all the other films out now, and is contributing to some diversity for audiences.