<span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">T</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="0" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">he UAE's first comedy film franchise could be in the making with the success of </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="0" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Edhay in Thailand</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">The screwball comedy, starring Emirati actor Ahmed Saleh, has received an enthusiastic response in cinemas across the GCC, particular in Abu Dhabi with packed sessions over the last weekend's Eid Al Adha break.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">The film marks the second instalment of a pair of films featuring the bumbling character Edhay (Saleh) and his sidekicks; the dim-witted Habban (Abduyla Bo Hajouz) and the cantankerous elderly Egyptian Hosny (played by screen veteran Hassan Hosny).</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Buoyed by the Gulf-wide success of last year's </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Edhay in Abu Dhabi</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">, part two is a bigger and slightly more polished affair with the comedic capers moving from suburban streets of the capital to the busy and smoggy streets of Bangkok.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">This time around, Edhay joins his uncle Obeid as he travels to the Thai capital for a medical check-up.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Meanwhile, the wily Hosny found himself a job as a bottom rung football agent who came to Thailand to organise a training camp for a Sudanese club run by Derdelie (Rabie Taha). </span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Before long, a kidnapping ensues, a suitcase of cash is misplaced and Edhay has entered a Muay Thai tournament.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">To say the film is nonsensical is actually a compliment. </span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">The charm here is not so much in the plot</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> but in the banter, which is essentially a showcase of the comedic styles of the various Arab nations represented in the film.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">The trademark dry sarcasm of Emirati comedy is channelled to fun effect by Saleh and Bo Hajouz. The veteran, Hosny, is almost a caricature of a grumpy Egyptian uncle – he is shouty, endlessly emotional and quick to administer a blistering tongue lashing</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">; while the Sudanese comic stalwart</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> Rabie Taha</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> is full of the laid-back colloquialisms unique to his homeland's humour. </span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">It all makes for a vibrant stew that gets occasionally spoiled when the film tries to shoe horn dodgy montages </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">to accelerate the plot. </span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Speaking to the press from the </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">gala opening last week at Abu Dhabi's Emirate Palace, Saleh said the anticipation surrounding the film is an indicator of a greater confidence sweeping the local film industry.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">"It really pleases me to say that it is flourishing," he said. "Two years ago people would show an Emirati film</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> and </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">would be almost embarrassed by it. The producers would be scared by the reaction. I feel </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">we have got a lot of self-confidence now. When </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Edhay in Abu Dhabi</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> came out last year the film stayed in cinemas for two months."</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Rakan, the writer and director of both films, said </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Edhay in Thailand</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> was completed at the fraction of the price of other Emirati productions.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="10" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">"Emirati cinema has always been present but it has taken either the path of Hollywood or Bollywood," he told Erem News. "</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="10" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Some simplicity, I find, is the best way to reach the people."</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">But that concept is relative</span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">In an interview with his homeland's leading television breakfast show, </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Sabahat Sudaniya</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">, Taha said </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Edhay in Thailand</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-track="15" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"> was the biggest production he ever been part of. </span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">"It was just a brilliant time and real milestone for me. We stayed in an area called Nana Square and that whole area is just ridiculous. I have never seen anything like it," he recalled. </span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">"It was a very smooth production. There was a team of 25 people and every day we would start at 7.30am. By that time, you need to have learnt your lines and you are ready to go."</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">Taha, a comedy theatre actor and star of the Sudanese version of </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Candid Camera</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">, </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">used a fair amount of improvisation to nail Derdelie. "When I got the script I found that it was written in an Emirati style," he said. </span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">"I flipped it around and did it in a Sudanese way. I made the character a typical 'zoul Sudani' [Sudanese guy]."</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">But Taha believes his addition to the film is a testament to the cultural ties shared by both Sudan and the UAE.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">"Our culture and arts is known there because Sudanese people have been living there for decades," he said. "You even find some Emiratis now using the word 'zoul' in their conversations."</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">While there have been no official announcement of another instalment, Taha said more are planned in the series.</span> <span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">"There is talks that another one could be shot in Europe," he said. "So perhaps there will be an </span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-fs="NormalItalic" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}"><em>Edhay in Spain</em></span><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]" data-atex-uat="{KerningMethod:JElEL09wdGljYWw=}">." </span> <em><span data-atex-cstyle="$ID/[No character style]">Edhay in Thailand is screening in UAE cinemas</span></em> ____________________ <strong>Read more:</strong> ____________________