Sherihan was born more than once
Her stardom did not fade for her to regain it in a few minutes, but in moments she brought the audience back to the sweet nights of the riddles, proving that despite the years of separation she is still the beloved of the masses and the pearl of the screen. Sherihan is an extraordinary star, her life is extraordinary, her brilliance is extraordinary and her sorrows are extraordinary.
I got to know her closely because of her friendship with my father Badih Serbey. Their relationship was not one of a journalist and a star, but rather extended to friendship, love and respect with her family even before she was born. He considered her one of his daughters and she also appreciated his pen and professional ethics. Even after his passing, my friendship with Sherihan continued, to the point that I remember her telling me that we, his daughters, must bear the responsibility of continuing Al-Mawed magazine after his passing, and she said: “Even if there is news about me that is considered a journalistic scoop, publish it without telling me. What is important is Al-Mawed’s permanent success.”
Sherihan used to visit Beirut a lot, and every time we met she gave me a press interview for Al-Mawed readers, she would speak to her audience spontaneously and was confident that I would convey her words honestly without adding spices and seasonings of excitement. Our sessions were family sessions, to the point that every time I conducted a press interview with her, she would ask me not to have a professional photographer and she would say to me: “Bring your camera and let’s take pictures.” I would tell her, “I don’t do photography.” She would say, “Don’t worry, we’ll take a lot of pictures and something will definitely come out of them.” And indeed, this is what happened every time. She used to put up with me taking a lot of pictures of her without studio lighting, professional cameras, retouching, or filters, and the pictures spoke for themselves as spontaneous and natural pictures and decorated the pages of Al-Mawed.
Sherihan was born more than once, from the womb of sorrows, setbacks and challenges, she created a world of hope, every time she tasted the bitterness of days. In her childhood, the issue of her paternity was the first page of sadness she opened in her life, then came the tragedy of the death of her half-brother, the late guitarist Omar Khorshid, who was her role model and support. At the height of her artistic career, Sherihan lost the source of tenderness, she lost her mother, and she had to complete the journey and overcome the difficulties of separation.
In 1989, at the height of her stardom, Sherihan was involved in a car accident on the Cairo-Alexandria desert road, which resulted in a fracture in her spine. From here, she began her journey of suffering, treatment, and multiple surgeries to implant screws in her back to stabilize her vertebrae. She was forced to wear a plaster shirt for a long time after that to protect her back, which caused her constant distress. Despite the tears of pain and suffering, the rumors did not spare her, and some of the press pens were harsh on her and attacked her violently. Sherihan, while fighting the disease to regain her life, had to maintain her morale from the destructive arrows that were morally deadly. Despite that, I remember that while she was on her sickbed, she was planning her life if she could not walk or even regain her ability and flexibility to perform the Ramadan riddles. When she arrived at the Pitié Salpêtrière Hospital, she brought the riddle videotapes so that her doctor, Roy Camus, would know that she was a showgirl and that her life depended on regaining her profession again. I remember that I visited her with my father after she returned from her medical trip to Paris, and she was in Alexandria was still wearing the protective shirt on her back and her talk was from the heart to the heart... This is how confident she is in herself and in the love of her audience for her, and the days and challenges go on.
Even in her studies of law, which she chose to follow in the footsteps of her father, who was a legal authority, her work and the events of her life, made her study period longer, and with the recovery of her health and her return to art, her first marriage failed and there was a divorce, then she went through the experience of marriage again to Alaa El-Khawaga, who was the husband of the artist Esaad Younes, and the arrows returned to wound her again, and perhaps the first real joy in her life was the birth of her daughter Lulwa, and with motherhood, Sherihan opened a window of hope that life would be with her again, but she fell again into the grip of the violent waves and the disease attacked her fiercely and she entered again into the cycle of bachelorhood and the treatment period was prolonged, but Sherihan does not master the language of despair, after years of struggling with the disease, she recovered, and during her illness journey she discovered hearts that loved her, and her rival, the artist Esaad, supported her during her period of ordeal and a friendship and love were born between them, and the happy event in her life was when she gave birth to her second daughter, Talia Al-Quran, despite the doctors’ warnings, but Sherihan removed from her forehead She lost hope and returned to bear the title of mother again, and remained away from the people until the audience saw her in Tahrir Square expressing her opinions as a citizen. In a celebration in Cairo, Sherihan announced several years ago her return to art through the play Coco Chanel, which has not been shown yet.
And as millions of her fans used to gather around the screens in Ramadan to follow her in Fawazeer Alf Laila, Fawazeer Around the World, and Hajat wa Mohtajayat, millions sat this month to follow Sherinehan in a promotional ad, but it was a summary of her life journey in the way she loves, which is the show. A few minutes in which she eliminated all meanings of brokenness and planted joy and lit an oasis of candles of joy, bringing back the good old days, even for a few moments, and her fans carried cards of longing and gifts of love to welcome her back after her long absence, and for Sherinehan to be born as a star again.
My dear Sherie, live your life again and enjoy it. You deserve every minute of joy, and every heartbeat of love that your fans gave you, and thank you for all the moments of happiness that you spread to millions of your fans.