Shah Rukh, Amitabh, and Indian Food: What Brings India and Egypt Together
As Egypt’s President Sisi visits India on Republic Day, The Quint looks at what ties the two countries culturally.
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“Besharam is going viral in Egypt right now! Extremely, more than you can imagine. I am listening to it on a loop. Every DJ is playing Besharam. We love Bollywood too much,” exclaims Cairo resident Maiosh Khafagi who is planning a large watch party at a cinema when Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Pathaan releases in Egypt.
“Shah Rukh, I love him! I watched My Name Is Khan six times in the cinema. He has big (many) fans in Egypt. I also like all the movies of Aamir Khan. But Amitabh Bachchan – Big B – oh my God! I memorised all the songs and dialogues of Mard without knowing the meaning,” she adds.
A young Amitabh during his visit to Egypt.
India Gate restaurant in Cairo
“We know some Hollywood actors, but we don’t talk about Hollywood much except that the actresses are beautiful. But we love Indian films and India,” says Mohamed AbdelKarim, co-owner of a popular travel company Wings of Isis, named after an ancient Egyptian goddess.
Such closely tied are India and Egypt cultures that Egyptians believe Indian movies are talking about them and their culture. AbdelKarim says people in Egypt are fans of Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Salman Khan, but the popularity of Shah Rukh and Amitabh is above everyone else's.
Coming out of Cairo’s bazaars and monuments, Indian travelers are pleasantly surrounded by affectionate chants of ‘Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan!’
Varshney family at the ancient Karnak Temple in Luxor.
(Photo: Savita Patel)
“Everyone on the streets seems to know the name Amitabh Bachchan. Our young travel guide also turned out to be a Bollywood fan,” says Yash Varshney, an Indian who visited Egypt in December 2022, referring to their Egyptologist Mohammed Hussin who clicked pictures while guiding them through centuries old pharaonic history, proudly including the exact locales where ‘Katrina Kaif danced to Jee Karda’ at the Karnak temple in Luxor.
When Amitabh Bachchan ‘Converted’ to Islam
Indian cinema is understandably popular in countries with significant diaspora populations, but Egypt is an exception. The chairman of the Indian Community Association in Egypt, Ashish Walia, says, “Bollywood in general is big here even though there are only approximately 5,000 Indians in Egypt.”
Walia is a steel industry entrepreneur and has been living in the country with his family for over 17 years.
Egyptians got hooked to the traditional Indian formula movies with a villain, a heroine in distress, a hero who saves the day, interspersed with songs and dance, many decades back.
Going back a little, Karim remembers everyone around him waiting for months for them, “When I was 5-6 years old, whole of Egypt would wait yearlong for Eid and the fasting Eid, the only two days in a year when Indian movies were shown. It was like a celebration. The whole country would watch movies of Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra.”
Mohamed AbdelKarim, co-owner of Wings of Isis travel company.
(Photo: Mohamed AbdelKarim)
AbdelKarim, who is in his early 40s, laughingly shares an anecdote when his family started believing that Amitabh Bachchan had converted to Islam.
“One day my grandmother called my mother. My brother and I were playing chess. As soon as she hung up the phone, my mom started shouting with joy – Amitabh Bachchan has become a Muslim! She spread the news to everyone in the whole building and on the entire street. Everyone was so, so happy," says AbdelKarim.
"We believed it for 6 months till we realised that it was only because of a scene from a movie in which Amitabh was running away from bullets, entered a mosque to hide, a flag covered him, saving his life," he adds.
When Traffic Came to a Standstill for Big B
Walia reminisces an unexpected but not surprising scene from the actor’s Cairo visit, when he was to escort the ‘megastar’ to an event: “When I brought him from his hotel room down to the lobby, at least 25 Egyptian women were standing in front of the elevator. They swooned over him, rushed to touch him. They were all shouting in Hindi: ‘Amit ji mein aapko bahut pasand karti hun, Amit ji aapka swagat hai (Amit ji, I like you a lot! Amit ji, we welcome you)’. He was very gracious and found time for pictures with everyone.”
Egyptian women fans expressing their affection for Amitabh Bachcan during his 2015 visit to Cairo.
(Photo: Facebook screen grab from ICAE)
Bachchan was invited to Cairo by the Indian embassy for the launch of the ‘India by the Nile’ festival in 2015, a cultural experience feeding on Egyptians’ inexhaustible thirst for Bollywood.
"Amitabh Bachchan with Ashish Walia and Indian Community Association in Egypt in 2015
(Photo Courtesy: Ashish Walia)
Indian American Neha Dewan, the VP of Operations and General Counsel for Indiaspora, a prominent international network, was surprised at how ‘invested people were into Bollywood’ when she visited Egypt in 2009. “Every shop I visited had an old Amitabh Bachchan movie playing in the background, and if not, when I entered, they would scream Amitabh Bachchan’s name,” she says.
‘India by the Nile’ brought Indian movies back to Egyptian cinemas after 25 years. Even though it had been decades from his angry young man days, Egyptians gathered in large numbers wherever Bachchan went.
Bollywood Music and Parties in Egypt
Maiosh Khafagi with Big B in Cairo in 2015
(Photo Courtesy: Maiosh Khafagi)
Khafagi, who says she assisted the embassy with the ‘India by the Nile’ festival, fondly shares that she saw Big B five times on that trip. “Big B is a slogan (icon) for us yani my childhood,” says an excited Khafagi, sharing that her love for Bollywood and longing for India started early.
The Indophile, who used to rent one movie a day during summer vacations, started dreaming of visiting India early in her life. The event organiser’s desire materialised in 2012 when she put together a group of 14 travelers.
“I felt that my heart would stop beating. Oh those 10 days in Delhi, Jaipur, Ranthambore, and Agra! I was really crying at the Taj Mahal! I feel a different energy when my plane lands in Delhi,” says Khafagi, who is now in her 40s.
She has now ‘become famous’ in Egypt for visiting India 27 times since then.
Along with cinemas in Egypt screening the latest, there are round the clock Bollywood film and music TV channels plus films and soap operas online. Historical dramas and conventional formula features are favoured over realistic gritty movies. Despite the language barrier, generations of Arabic-speaking Egyptians feel affinity with the ‘culture and drama of family relationships’ in Indian flicks.
Maiosh Khafagi celebrating Holi.
(Photo: Maiosh Khafagi)
Egyptians enjoy Bollywood style dance groups that perform at local events – Holi parties are a rave. Popular on social media, Khafagi organises ‘India-themed’ events in Cairo which have included another Holi party at the Indian embassy.
Kriszta Veres, co-owner of travel company Wings of Isis, is ‘deeply influenced’ by Chingari - a Sushmita Sen and Mithun Chakravarty starrer. “I have seen that film over and over, some scenes more than a hundred times for their Kali dances and transformation. It took me on a powerful journey of how to deal with sacred anger and not get swallowed by it,” says the Hungarian who has made Cairo her home.
Bollywood and Food
Indian films and their stars also find their way into desi food. Next only to “Egyptian and Lebanese food we prefer Indian over Western, Mexican, or Chinese,” says AbdelKarim. The sought-after ‘Maharaja’ restaurant has 12 outlets in the country, besides other Bollywood-themed eateries.
“An Indian restaurant we found in Luxor was run by an Egyptian. It was heartening that the manager mentioned ‘garam-garam rotis’ while serving us freshly cooked ones as we ate.
In Alexandria, the ‘India Gate’ restaurant by the Mediterranean Sea, had Shah Rukh Khan painted on the wall overlooking our table with Shahrukh-Khan-Chicken on the menu,” says Yash.
Exterior India Gate restaurant in Cairo.
A Shahrukh Khan fan posing beside the star's face on the wall at the India Gate restaurant In Alexandria.
Guests at Cairo's India Gate restaurant posing in Indian clothes.
A young Bollywood fan and a travel guide Mohamed at the Alexandria location of India Gate restaurant.
Indian food being served at India Gate restaurant.
Indian dance at an event at the India Gate restrauant in Cairo.
India-Egypt Ties: Endless Opportunities
India and Egypt have many things in common – historically and culturally. Both are advanced ancient civilisations, are now developing countries with growing populations, and their friendly ties go back to the non-alignment movement. But Egyptians are quick to point out the difference in economic progress. The Egyptians are not just ‘obsessed” with Bollywood, but are also impressed with India’s economic growth.
Old Poster from a Bachchan film Picture Courtesy Mohamed AbdelKarim
(Photo Courtesy: Mohamed AbdelKarim)
Raising his hand upwards, Mohamed AbdelKarim gestures, “Our president [Abdel Fattah El-Sisi] is very impressed by India and the Indian Prime Minister [Narendra Modi]. He wants Egypt’s economy to go up like India’s.”
The stars will have much to shine for.
(Savita Patel is a San Francisco Bay Area-based journalist and producer. She reports on Indian diaspora, India-US ties, geopolitics, technology, public health, and environment. She tweets at @SsavitaPatel.)
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