'El maslaha' tops UAE box office

It's rare to see an Arab film make it into the top three in the UAE box office, but that's just what happened last weekend with Al Maslaha coming second in between Men In Black 3 and The Avengers. There's no doubt that the film's star power has something to do with. After all, the thriller features two of Egypt's biggest superstars: Ahmad Al Sakka and Ahmad Ezz. tabloid! caught up with Al Sakka. You haven't been to the UAE for a while now. You even missed the launch of Mohammad Al Sagheer's salon at Dubai International Financial Centre (Al Sakka's wife Maha Al Sagheer is heiress to the Al Sagheer beauty empire). I love Dubai, and love what's on offer in the country. I love the people as well, and it is always a pleasure meeting fans. In terms of the Al Sagheer salon launch, I couldn't come with Maha because I was filming. Tell us more about your role in Al Maslaha. It's a different type of role for me, while it is also a different type of role for Ezz. I am really proud of the movie, and it was a pleasure working with Sandra Nashaat, who is an extremely talented filmmaker. And Wael Abdullah could not have provided a better script. I play a police officer in the movie, but I am not going to go into the story in detail as I would prefer for everyone to watch the film and judge for themselves. This marks your first film with Ahmad Ezz. Yes. It was something we were dreaming of for about three years. People assume that we are rivals and not friends, but he is like a brother to me. You're a bit of a stuntman... Who says? [laughs] Well, you did all your own stunt work in previous films. Yes, previous films when I was younger. For this film, I didn't carry out any of the tough stunts. Don't think I am able to do that any more. Al Masalaha has already been leaked online. What's your take on film sharing? It's stealing — pure and simple. I do not agree with it, and it is killing the industry, because even though I thank God that my films do well in the cinema, you still see lower box-office revenues, and then that affects everyone in terms of covering costs and pay. It's not fair on those that work in the industry. I would love to see the government clamp down on this. The government has other priorities right now. Are you worried about having a religious party take charge of Egypt? (This interview took place prior to the results of stage one of the Egyptian presidential elections). I am a trained actor, it is my job, it is what I studied at college, and my whole family is artistic. This is who I am. Ezz is a political sciences guy so you can talk to him about that But all I can tell you is that we will just have to support whoever the people of Egypt want. What's next for you? I have another film coming out this summer, possibly planning for an Eid release. Isn't that the same time Ezz releases his own film? Yes, so I ask him if it is OK that I do so. [Ezz says: "No, I don't agree to this. If you release your movie at the same time, I will never talk to you again!"]. Finally, there are a lot of people out there that pretend to be stars on Twitter and Facebook. Do you use social media? Nope, I do not have a Twitter account, and I do not even run or monitor any Facebook fan pages. [Ezz says: "Neither do I. You sometimes have fans run a Facebook page, but I personally do not run one. I also do not have a Twitter account"].