The Star Appeal of Farid al-Atrash and Yusuf Wahbi Assignment

The Star Appeal of Farid al-Atrash and Yusuf Wahbi - Assignment Example Farid’s mother had to work as a singer in private functions like parties and weddings as her children also did jobs as they went to school. Farid and his young sister Amal took an interest in their mother’s love for singing and thus she encouraged them to sing as she taught Farid how to play the oud. Early in their youth, Farid and Amal (who later became Ashmahane), began drawing the attention of composers and song-writers who were amazed by their musical talents and beautiful voices. Soon, they were singing in radio stations and in large gatherings. The cinema also opened a door for success for Farid and Ashmahane after they starred in two films. Unfortunately, tragedy struck and Ashmahane died after being involved in a grizzly car accident. It was rumoured that she was involved with the British intelligence (IMDB 1990). Farid’s quick success brought him into a life of night clubs, love affairs and gambling in which he got involved. Soon, he went into debt and w as abandoned by his mother. It is during this time that his sister died (IMDB 1990). According to Sis.gov, Farid studied the lute at the public service department of the Institute of music and at the same time worked as a driver to earn a living. This was a time of financial difficulty for him and his family. Some of his teachers were the renowned composers Safar Ali and Mohamed al-Qasabgi. Farid later worked in the night club called Badie'a Mosabni. During Farid’s time in 1952, there was a revolution known as the 23 July Revolution. It began on 23rd July with a military coup d’etat by the Free Officers Movement. This was a group of army officers led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser. This revolution was initially aimed at overthrowing king Farouk I but later went on to abolish the constituional monarchy and aristocracy of Egypt and Sudan, establish a republic and finally secure Sudan’s independence that was governed as an Anglo-Egyptian condominium. Thi s revolutionary government established a republic and among its goals was to secure the independence of Sudan. This revolutionary government adopted a staunch, nationalist, anti-imperialist agenda that came to be expressed mainly through Arab nationalism and international non-alignment (Khan 2010). Farid was a mixture of the oriental music’s originality and modernity of Western music. He was the best lute player of his age and one of the first to introduce the show business to Egyptian movies. He died in the year 1974. Indeed, Fareed Al-Atrash was a legend that will always be remembered throughout in history (Sis.gov). Yusuf Wahbi Yusuf Wahbi was an Egyptian stage and film actor and director who was a leading star of the 1930s and 40s. He was one of the most prominent Arab stage actors ever. Born the son of a pasha in 1898, Yusuf was expected to become an engineer like his father but his passion for acting took him to an unexpected direction. He joined the circus and this bot h surprised and enraged his father. He became someone whose testimony was not acceptable in court and he was considered a disgrace to his family. He was expelled from home by his father who later enrollrd him in an agricultural school in order for him to be reformed (Kanema 2008). Wahbi ran away to Italy where he changed his name to Ramses and only