Umm Kulthum is depicted as stingy, obsessively auditing accounts in a vulgar manner, and exaggerated into a calculating, chain-smoking opportunist, while her legendary generosity and unquestionable national sacrifices are wilfully ignored. Even more damning is the film’s dialogue, which bears no relation whatsoever to the historical period in which Umm Kulthum lived. How can the vast legacy of a woman of Umm Kulthum’s stature be reduced to such a grotesque and degrading image? Audiences perceive the film as a direct insult, portraying Umm Kulthum as a chain-smoker, unfilial and opportunistic, raising urgent questions: why this distortion now, and in whose interest is it to dismantle our national symbols so brazenly? The creators of Al-Sett–Marwan Hamed, Ahmed Mourad, Mona Zaki and the producers–have committed a cultural crime against an immortal Egyptian icon.

Source: Daily News Egypt December 24, 2025 17:11 UTC