20 years after she left the small screen, Egyptian actress Sherihan (real name Sherihan Ahmed Abdelfattah al-Chalqati) made a comeback during Ramadan 2021. In a 4-minute commercial for Vodafone Egypt, the star repeats the choreography and music from an emblematic series “Fawazeer Ramadane” (The Riddles of Ramadan), first broadcast in the 1980’s during the iftar of Ramadan. In that series Sherihan, nicknamed “the Butterfly”, danced, sang and performed in the most extravagant costumes and make-up. The commercial, which her fans found deeply moving, showed the milestones of the actress’ life, from the first episode of Fawazeer in 1985 to her car accident and her battle with cancer, which forced her to cut short her career in 2002. Her reappearance was widely greeted on the social networks. According to the Egyptian newspaper The National News it was the second most-viewed video on the YouTube page in Egypt.
Sherihan made her stage debut in “Sakk Ala Banatak” with superstar Fouad Al-Mouhandes. In 1977, at the age of 12, she starred in her first film, “Mohamed Ali Street”, with the legendary Farid Shawky. Although she appeared in more than 20 films, television raised her to iconic status in Egypt.
In 2020 she announced plans to return to the stage to play Coco Chanel in one of Cairo’s biggest theatres, followed by a TV adaptation.
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Sources: middleeasteye.net, arabnews.fr, en.vogue.me, thenationalnews.com, egypttoday.com
