‘If only I done things differently, I would be much better off now.’ Don’t you ever find yourself telling yourself that? Futile, we know.
You can’t change the past. But what if you found a magic whistle that could? Would you change your past?
In the series El-Sofara (The Whistle), which is being screened during the holy month of Ramadan, Shafik (Ahmed Amin), a young man who works in a tourism company, has created a mobile application to promote tourism. The application idea is praised by his manager, who throws a party and invites businessmen to celebrate and gather funds for the new project.
When Shafik’s colleague Alaa (Hatem Salah) learns that Shafik will be promoted and travel to Dubai to be manager of the company’s branch, he decides to steal his success. Alaa locks Shafik in the toilet and presents the app idea to the businessmen and gets the Dubai job.
Shafik falls into depression for six years. He leaves his job and sells souvenirs in pyramids. He then finds a magic whistle with which he can return to the past at any specific moment he chooses, but for only three minutes to change whatever he wants and then enjoy the results.
The only moment that Shafik wants to change is during the party when he was supposed to present his project and get the promotion. So, he whistles and concentrates on that moment and tries several times. However, each time Shafik returns to the past and changes whatever he wants, and comes back to the new future which he should enjoy, he finds that this future is not what dreamed of.
One time, he finds himself a very rich, but he also obese and unloved by his family because he gives all his time to work and neglects his health. The second time, he is a famous singer. His younger brother is negatively affected by his lifestyle and his mother is not proud of him. Another time, Shafik finds himself a father of three.
The idea of El-Sofara is similar to the comedy-drama movie Click (2006) directed by Frank Coraci and starring Adam Sandler. The movie tells the story of Michael Newman, a workaholic architect who receives a magical remote control that allows him to fast-forward different events in his life. With this remote control he is able to skip the unpleasant moments of his life. But at the end when he becomes an old man, he finds that he missed the important events and ruined his relationships with relatives and family.
However, El-Sofara directed by Alaa Ismail offers many enjoyable events and characters that come from Egyptian society. In one episode, Shafik is a popular singer called Nawnaw and his brother Wagih (Taha Desouky) becomes his assistant. The decor, costumes and even the dialect of the actors matches the lifestyle of this segment of the society.
Although there are still more episodes to come, this series has proved to be one of the best comedy series this season.
The acting and good script has contributed to the success of the series. Promising young actor Taha Desouky, who plays Shafik’s brother, has shown his great potential and ability to change from one character to another smoothly and creatively.
As for Ahmed Amin, he confirms his talent and shows that he can play any role with simplicity and credibility. Last year, he played the Sufi Arafat in Gazirit Ghamam series who believes in love and peace, while this year in el-Sofara, he plays Shafik, the depressed person who goes through different changes. In both series, his talent stands alone and each time he astonishes us with his natural performance.
With very few good series this season, El-Sofara is worth watching as it not only offers good comedy but also provokes the audience to think about their life and the things that they think they have missed.
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