It was the Egyptian novel people couldn't stop talking about and now, it has become the Egyptian film no one can stop talking about.
Less than a month after its release in Egyptian cinemas, "Hepta: The Last Lecture," the romantic drama based on Egyptian novelist Mohamed Sadek 's bestselling novel "Hepta," became the highest grossing romance film in the history of Egyptian cinema.
The film, which recently hit theaters in the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman, has been as well-received critically as it has been commercially. Directed by Hadi El-Bagoury and distributed by Cairo and Abu Dhabi-based Mad Solutions, the film features a stellar ensemble cast.
It includes veteran Egyptian actor Maged El-Kedwany and the promising young talents Ahmed Malek, Ahmed Dawood, Amr Youssef, Yasmine Raeis, Dina El-Sherbiny and Jamila Awad . It also features appearances from Nelly Karim .
"Hepta:The Last Lecture" explores the complexities of love and relationships through the eyes of a prominent psychology professor named Shukri Mokhtar, who is played by El-Kedwany. In one lecture, Mokhtar thoroughly explains what he believes to be the seven essential stages of love, which is where the title "Hepta" comes from, as it is the Greek word for the number seven.
From the “beginning” stage to the “encounter,” the “relationship,” the “realization,” the “truth,” the “decision” and finally the “hepta” stage, the film follows four paralleled stories of different couples at different stages in life.
Hani Osama saw the potential in the novel and produced the film through his production company The Producers, "Hepta" was perfect for the big screen.
"The screenplay was written in a very cinematic way, so it was easy to make the decision to adapt the novel, because Mohamed Sadek wrote it as a screenplay more than a novel," Osama told StepFeed.
"Nothing changed in the story, the story is exactly the same. We changed very little aspects of the plot twist in the film, so that the film adds something to the plot of the novel, but we made sure that the addition was not useless, but essential to the story and not just for the sake of change," the producer added.
However, while Sadek's writing made for excellent source material, the pressure to do the immensely popular novel justice didn't make the process of adapting it any less challenging.
"The biggest challenge was writing the screenplay, that is the first and most nerve-wracking process of creating any film," said Osama.
"How to preserve the novel and not change it, but at the same time we should feel that it is... not (necessarily) better but there are always comparisons between the novels and the films, so we didn’t want anyone to say that the film was inferior to the novel."
"Thankfully, during the writing process and after getting many people’s reactions to the script, many have said that the screenplay is even better than the novel."
Like many of adoring fans of "Hepta," Osama believes the story's strength lies in its ingenious approach to its timeless and universal subject.
"I think that most romance stories are simply full of romance, but 'Hepta' is a romantic story that is also realistic and has a message. It touches everyone, it’s not simply an imaginary love story," he said.
"Every person is able to find themselves in one of the stages, or one of the characters, or one of the stories. This, I think, is what differentiated 'Hepta' from any other romantic film. People saw themselves in the story. Everyone saw something of themselves, or a relationship, or a stage in their lives in the film."
"It revolves around love and how it is one of the most important things in our lives, it also points out that it is not easy, so there must be sacrifices and compromises to move forward. No one is always right or always wrong, so we must learn to co-exist in the name of love," Osama added.
Fully aware of the film's potential, Osama said that he did expect the film to be successful, but that he didn't expect it to reach the level of record-breaking success it has achieved so far.
He added that he was "extremely happy" with the public reaction to his film adaption, even the ones that weren't overwhelmingly positive.
"Of course there is no perfect project, there will always be mistakes. There always has to be guidance, because at the end of the day we’re involved in the project, and some people looking in from the outside might not see all we’ve been through, and they do have their own perspectives, but I’m speaking about constructive criticism," Osama said.
"So, I was happy with all the reactions, whether positive or negative criticisms, as long as they’re constructive."