Top Egyptian Actresses Dominating the Box Office
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Khalid Al Mansoor
- . July 9, 2025
- . Update: July 9, 2025 7:16 pm
The born Cairo native was a singer before she was a filmmaker. Thanks to director Togo Mizraahy, she learned how to forget about her uneasiness about the camera and became a film star. Together with her husband, actor Anwar Wagdy, they formed a legendary team in Egyptian filmmaking.
Referred to as the “queen of temptation” in Arab films, Hend Rostom starred in many films that consistently received considerable revenue in the 60s and 70s.
In the 80s, Nadia achieved true star status, and her powerful female roles, helped make her a box perceptible supersucceed-er, even defeating male stars with box office revenue, earning her the nickname: “Star of the Masses.”
Nabila was Nadia’s prime rival in the 80s, fighting for top billing for box office revenues.
In the late 90s, Yasmine was winning audiences is such films as: Dada Dodi (2008) and Miss Mami (2012), and like Nadia and Nabila before her, she has simultaneously proved to male and female audiences that she can contribute to box perceptible revenues, and even defeat some male actors on box perceptible revenues.
A Shift in Egyptian Movie Star Culture
There has been a change in the film world in Egypt. According to critic Khairiya El-Bashlawi, the era of a single star carrying a film is on the decline. With the invention of social media, fans are more engaged with actors than with the films, and success comes from collaboration and good narrative arcs.
Films such as Welad Rizk 3 and Al Serb exhibit that group-led cinema is increasingly becoming more successful than film-led stars. The age of iconic solo performers such as Adel Imam or Mahmoud Abdel Aziz is being replaced by teamwork and newer voices.
Emerging Young Female Talents
Critic Walid Saif remarks that the era of girl stars is emerging. Names such as Salma Abu Deif, Asmaa Galal, Mayan El-Sayed and Mirna Gamil are gaining high-profile roles in forms that connect them with youthful viewers. However, they too will need opportunities. Making the right choices, having adequate mentorship, and moving into riskier roles will allow them to have successful careers and revive the form in Egyptian cinema.
Where Are The Female Box Office Stars Today?
Writer, Samir El-Gamal believes that when Nadia, Nabila walked away from the box office in the early ’90s, this signified the end of the strong, female-led box office hits within Egyptian cinema. Nowadays, people see female stars everywhere – in ads, in interviews, or online – and as a result of their ‘accessibility,’ the lure of them in film, diminishes.
Further, the quality of the scripts and lack of noteworthy stars has adversely impacted female-led box office performances. Nowadays, people want good stories, not stars. For example, Al-Harifa made EGP 75 million or more at the box office soley based on the script ideas and the in-experience of the cast, rather than star power.
