“We enjoy believing that we are the most religious, intelligent, talented and our children are the most brilliant!”
Mohamed Kheidr we Rabbena Yostor has been an online show since March 2011, and it used to present various ideas that popped to Kheidr’s mind, developed and written to speak to a small number of audience. One year later, The 2 minute show was presented to a massive audience who were thrilled to see a one of a kind show that spoke their minds, when he signed a contract with Tarek Nour to be aired on daily basis in Ramadan!
1) Your internet episodes were an outcome of a one man show, tell us how was it like transferring your idea to a bigger scale with a larger viewership?
I had to gather a small team at the beginning to be able to achieve this goal. Hebah Nabeih, the GM of kheidr.com is on top of this team and she’s the one who’s in charge of most of what you see on screen. All the preparation for this 2 minute show can never be done without her help. In addition we have on board Ahmed Samir, one hell of a genius writer and he’s kind of the Mastermind behind most of the new episodes, we also have Mona Motawi who’s a real Egypt lover and cares about nothing but the safety of her daughters and the Goodness for our country. With such a team I am not worried at all about the program, especially that we all share the same motive ‘Egypt to a better future’.
2) The show was very informative yet funny and comic, do you think funny is money nowadays?
The show wasn’t meant to be funny, yet it’s supposed to be informative, despite the fact that I don’t sound serious at all, but the words just come out of my mouth realistically, so maybe the body language and the editing inserts are the heroes of this show, nothing more!
3) How do you evaluate the media scene in Egypt today?
I really don’t want to talk about that profoundly but it was well known that in the days of the old regime you can clearly differentiate between the tabloids and the newspaper that supports the government and the regime from other newspaper that is anti-regime and taking the people’s side. So it was easy to know who you should believe and who you shouldn’t. Today, Seriously, I would recommend that we must not believe anything we read anywhere. As it’s been said, do not believe All what you hear and half what you see!
4) With millions invested in TV this Ramadan, do you think we made the right balance between serials and hot TV shows?
Your questions are hitting directly my main concerns with television this year. We barely follow something! I mean with all this money invested and with all these advertising campaigns wasted in all channels, they could have balanced budgets to fulfill Egyptian TV and the Satellite Channels throughout the whole year instead of concentrating the dose during Ramadan and let the Turkish Series dominate the rest of the year! That’s waste of time, money and effort!
5) We were surprised by your screen charisma and performance; did you always want to become a TV presenter?
Actually I’ve never been into TV at all, my after studies in the states were directing, Editing, Visual Effects, Special Effects, Acting and Acting Instructing, so TV was not one of these, but when Tarek Nour told me he wanted the TV show to be exactly as the online version, I thought why not; let’s do it the same. I took it from here, be yourself and forget about the fact that maybe someday 100 million viewers might be watching you! Oh My God!
6) Do you mirror practice at home?
Actually here’s the trick, mirror practice is inaccurate, in fact, it sabotages all the effort. Once you mirror train you won’t be able to look at the camera lens easily. This The best practice is -and let’s consider this an advice- is to camera train all the time and forget about the mirror practice, especially that mirror requires a direct eye interaction, but the camera can allow you to look left and right without having to look directly at the lens.
7) What are the common myths about Egyptians that we always tend to believe?
We as Egyptians enjoy believing that we are the best in everything, we enjoy to believing that we are the most religious, that we are the most intelligent, that we are the most talented, that our children are the most brilliant and we really hate to be judged. We also hate to hear the truth, especially when it’s hurtful and we refuse to be criticized. If only we got a little humbled and accept the fact that we are normal human beings and that human beings are allowed to do mistakes, believe me life in Egypt will be way better.
8) Do you have any vision about Egypt in the next decade?
I really wish to open my eyes and wake up to see all Egyptians are hate free and for our country to love us as much as we love it!
9) A lot of people are getting to flee away and leave the country, have you ever thought of that after the Revolution? What will make you take a decision like this?
Honestly a couple of years before the revolution I had a super offer to go live and work in Los Angeles, and I was going to accept the offer, but at the last minute it hit me that I can’t stay away from this country more than a month, so I decided to pass. But after the revolution, no way! I am staying. (laughs).
10) There is a strong negative energy in the air that is affecting everyone of us, how to overcome this as individuals? Are you still optimistic?
I am always optimistic, even in my darkest times, the thing that makes people around me get crazy and make myself sometimes lose credibility. I always believe that light comes right after dark. Besides, being optimistic scares away the craws if you know what I mean!
