Khaly Balak Men Zizi (Take Care of Zizi), was the talk of the town this Ramadan! The show shone a light on important concepts like mental illness, divorce, dysfunctional relationships and much more. Everything from the script to the cast was powerful, not to mention how each character began with baggage and insecurities and built themselves up by the show’s finale. Not only was the series entertaining, but it also reached the audience on an emotional level. eniGma’s Nouran Deyab talked to Aly Kassem, who surprised everyone with his brilliant performance as Hesham. Here are excerpts of the discussion which show Kassem’s opinions on the controversial topics covered in Khaly Balak Men Zizi.
In the scene where Zizi attacked Hesham, had the roles been reversed, do you think viewers would sympathize with Hesham as a victim the way Zizi was portrayed?
If viewers see that Zizi is a victim, that’s mainly because from the second episode Hesham is a cheater. If he hadn’t appeared with Yasmine that wouldn’t have been the case. But some people see that Hesham is a victim too; he dealt with a lot during the years he was with Zizi and even if it’s immoral for him to cheat, it’s not a surprise – for him to find someone else. Neither Zizi nor Hesham can take the full blame when it comes to who was in the wrong.
If Hesham had three options to choose from, either staying with Yasmine, going back to Zizi who is changing, or staying single and working on himself – which option would you choose for him as Aly?
I would never be in Hesham’s situation from the first place, but if I would choose for him what to do since the beginning it would be to either try to fix things with Zizi or leave the relationship. If I were to decide for him, I wouldn’t file a lawsuit against my wife or cheat – I would deal with everything differently.
When Hesham tells his boss, he is quitting his job at the university, the boss says, “women decide everything, we are all for her!” What do you think about this phrase?
I hate phrases that generalize stereotypes about women or men and I also hate phrases that give each gender a specific role. I don’t like stereotypes; everyone is who they are based on their personality, not gender. Anyone can do whatever they want.
What were the most fun and most challenging scenes for you?
The fight scene between me and Zizi at home that ends on the couch is the most fun one for me. It was a very colourful and important scene for the story. The most challenging scene was when we were on motorcycles on the route that leads to El Sokhna. It was terrifying! They were driving extremely fast and taking U-turns, and I had never driven a motorcycle before. I learnt to drive it on the show. It was actually very easy, like driving a manual car.