Caroline Khalil defies mother-in-law in ‘Next-Doors’

Egyptian actress Caroline Khalil has finished shooting for the second season of her sitcom "Next-Doors" (el-Bab fel Bab). The first season was broadcast last Ramadan and was largely successful although it was different from the previously presented sitcom series. It is produced by Sony Pictures Television Arabia and will be screened on the al-Hayat channel. In the series, Caroline plays Dina, a "powerless" wife who is harassed by her interfering mother-in-law. Caroline says the character is very different from herself. “I represented the character the way I saw it in the script, and in the second season there will be a dramatic development in the role, as she starts using different and new tricks to get rid of her mother-in-law’s control over the house, as the second season is funnier and the situations are more interesting,” she said. About her work in "Next-Doors", Caroline said after her previous experience in sitcoms, she was excited to go work in them again, and she admitted her concerns about the series being based on a US series that will be "Egyptianised". She continued: “The team assured me that it will be different and that made me more comfortable. This series reflects Egyptian habits and customs, that’s why I decided to go through with it and I was very happy that there will be 'Egyptianisation’ of US sitcoms. There is a great attention to detail in the work from scripting, to editing and mixing.” "Next-Doors" is based on the US series "Everybody Loves Raymond" starring Ray Romano, which was massively successful in the US and ran for nine seasons. The show stars Sherif Salam, Caroline Khalil and Hesham Ismail with the veteran actors Ahmed Khalil and Laila Taher.  The writing workshop head is scriptwriter Wael Hamdy, and is directed this year by three directors: Ahmed el Gendy, Ahmed Samir Farag and Taghrid el Asfoury. The series revolved around Hesham and his wife Dina whose luck leads them to live next door to Hesham’s father, mother and brother. The mother-in-law interferes in their life and believes her son’s apartment is just a natural extension of her own house next door. The son in turn has to mediate between the clashes every day.