Lebanese singer Miriam Faris will appear in her first film next week called “Hala Wal Malik” (Hala and the King), written by Ghada Rahabani and the Rahabani Brothers.

According to the London daily Elaph, the new film is produced by Syrian Nader Al Atasi and directed by Hatem Ali.   The film also stars Antoine Karbaj and Rafiq Ali Ahmad.  Filming will take place in Syria in September.

The film is an adaptation of the play “Hala and The King” that featured the famous Lebanese singer Fairouz. The play opened for the first time at the “Al Bikadily” theater, and then at the Arz Festival in Lebanon, and then in Damascus in 1967. fairouz

The first production of the play also starred the late Nasri Shams Al Deen, Eli Shwairi, Huda, Muhammad Marie, Joesef Nasif, William Hasawani and Melhim Barakat.

The story of the film revolves around a city that holds a yearly celebration called the “Disguise Celebration,” where everyone who attends has to wear a mask to disguise their identity. The king, originally played by Nasri Shams Al Deen, decides to hold the celebration in a different way, because he heard news that a princess in disguise will attend the celebration donning a mask and she will be the future wife of the king.

The king orders everyone to remove their masks to find out who is the mysterious princess.

Meanwhile a poor young woman, Hala, originally played by Fairouz, comes to town with her father Hab Al Reeh, originally played by Eli Shwairi, to sell masks to people to wear for the celebration.

Instead of selling masks, Hala decides to put on a mask and head to the celebration. The people in the city think that she is the mysterious princess and they take her to the castle to see the king.

The king loves Hala, but she tries telling him and everyone else that she is not the princess.  However, they do not listen.
The king decides to hold a forty day celebration for their wedding, yet Hala refuses to get married. The king then disguises himself as a commoner to try and find out the real reason behind Hala’s refusal.

Nader Al Atasi tried to produce the play in the 1980’s and nominated the Egyptian actress Sharihan and the Syrian actor Duraid Laham to star in it, but Sharihan became ill.

© 2008 Al Bawaba