We sat down with the writers behind “220 Days” script, Samar Bahgat and Nadeen Nader, the co-writers of the series, to discuss the journey of bringing this story to life. The new series “220 Days” has become a popular sensation. It is a testament to its raw and emotional writing and powerful performances.
“220 Days”
With the drop of the new series “220 days,” it gained a lot of traffic. The series follows Ahmed Fadl and his wife Mariam, played by Kareem Fahmy and Saba Mubarak, respectively. It tackles the hard topic of cancer in a new and original way. It’s directed and co-written by Mahmoud Zahran and produced by Kareem El-Adl. The series is like two stories merged, blending a drama-filled storyline with a lighthearted one.
Samar Bahgat says, “As you can see, the series isn’t just a cancer story. The protagonist, Ahmed, creates a whole new world to live in.”
The idea of tackling cancer is a hard subject displayed very well through the characters and events in the series. The writing of each character makes them realistic and shows how cancer affects the person and the people around them. Concentrating on how the people around the person with cancer deal with the hard situation, too. Moreover, the writers implemented a lighthearted subplot for the character Ahmed as his outlet.
Samar added, “The two stories are as if they were responding to each other.”
The Writers Behind the Series
Samar Bahgat and Nadeen Nader talked about how their collaboration dates back to 2022, when they first worked together on the script for “The Accused”. They quickly found a rare chemistry in their writing process, connecting both on a personal and creative level, creating fruitful projects like “220 Days” series.
Nadeen Nader says her passion for writing started when
“The writing was the first thing that struck me when watching something; I absolutely loved it. I was really curious; how did the writing process actually work?”
The Core Idea
Mahmoud Zahran, writer and director of the series, came up with the idea itself and sent it over to Samar Bahgat and Nadeen Nader, who walked us through the process of creating and broadening the characters, their personalities, and plotlines. They worked passionately and intensively, crafting the characters and merging the two stories. In this case, the imagined storyline of Bahiya Fadl, played by Lina Sophia, and the real storyline of Ahmed Fadl, played by Kareem Fahmy.
Samar commented on how they kept everything organized, from characters to events.
“We had a big whiteboard which we filled with maps and drew diagrams in the office with the help of Kareem El-Adl and Kareem Fahmy.”
They add, “Most importantly, what made this easier is that we took our time creating the characters and their story lines really well before the episodes.”
The Driving Factor
“The main driving factors in the series were cancer and time,” Nadeen said. In the series, Ahmed finds out that he has cancer at the same time he is going to become a father, giving him 220 days to become one. This jump-starts the show’s action, and the novel Ahmed is going to start working on.
Nadeen expressed that,
“Ahmed’s only hope is to be able to live the 220 days just to see his daughter, because he is realistic. He knows that there is a big chance that he might not see her, so he decides to live with her through his novel.”
As the series is mainly a drama series, Samar said “we were worried about the dialogue becoming cliché-looking,” expressing that “the process was hard, but extremely worth it in the end.” They kept writing and rewriting till they excelled.
Women’s Influence on Writing Characters
Ahmed’s character portrays what we want to see in modern men now, who show their emotions and don’t hide them. Particularly, the most important people in his life are his wife, mother, and Bahiya. In addition, Ahmed’s character is very deep and imaginative shown in the scene when he hears the recording of his child’s heartbeat.
Nadeen comments on this scene, “He wanted to have a daughter, so he believes his child is going to be a girl, and he follows his feelings.”
The Important Women in Ahmed’s Life
Moreover, the relationship between Ahmed and Bahiya was very refreshing to see on screen. It’s rare to see this kind of loving relationship between a father and his daughter. Their relationship is very close. For instance, Nadeen says, “he provides her with a safe space to make mistakes, knowing she can always turn to him for support.” Samar comments, “That Bahiya’s character, played by Lina Sophia, was the easiest and most hopeful part of writing the script; it was our favorite plotline.”
Even though her character exists in an imaginative world in Ahmed’s mind, her character becomes so real as if she is a part of the original plotline in the story, making fans love her and sympathize with Ahmed even more.
Furthermore, “everyone on set was very keen to make Mariam’s character not feel like a secondary character. Ahmed respects her and loves her; even in his hardest times, he still cared most about her happiness, looking for the photography competition for her,” Samar said.
Audience reaction
The show gained a lot of traffic and popularity. Samar and Nadeen were really surprised by the reactions. They express how seeing the show on TV was like the script coming to life.
Nadeen commented, “Even though we love episode 10, we were really scared of the audience’s reaction as the episode was very different and took a very different approach.”
In our culture, we love to interact with television characters as though they are part of our own lives. This series makes it especially easy, as the characters feel human, complete with relatable flaws.
They also addressed the speculations regarding a second season, suggesting it’s unlikely. They comment on the next step they want to do, saying,
“I believe that after a big step like ‘220 Days,” we have to think about our next step well. We have some things in mind, but we want to make something just as good.”