القشاش

Sayed El-Qashash (Mohamed Farrag), an orphan of unknown parentage raised in juvenile shelters, was adopted by shelter employee Wafiya (Afaf Rashad) to grow up alongside her two daughters like a brother. Reaching adulthood, he mastered carpentry, excelling at the craft, and became engaged to Wafiya's younger daughter, Rasha (Mona Mamdouh). While carrying out minor carpentry work at the villa of businessman Mostafa (Ehab Fahmy), an ill-fated moment strikes when Mostafa discovers that his wife (Titiana) is pregnant by his friend. Mostafa murders her in the swimming pool, and to deflect suspicion from himself, conspires with security guard Mohamed Abdel Hady El-Bendary (Mohamed El-Sawy) to plant a large sum of money in the room of carpenter Sayed El-Qashash and testify to detectives that he saw him entering the villa on the day of the crime. El-Qashash is arrested, and Chief of Detectives Moataz El-Rouby (Mohamed Salman) charges him with murder in the course of theft. However, an armed assault launched by a gang targeting the Gomrok police station in Alexandria to free one of their detained members enables El-Qashash to escape. Detective Officer Galal (Mohamed Ali) pursues him, but El-Qashash manages to leap onto a train heading to Faiyum. The Faiyum police department is alerted and boards the train to apprehend him, but El-Qashash jumps off and takes refuge in a rural hut where a young woman, Zahra (Marwa Abdel Moneim), is going into labor. He carries her to Faiyum Hospital to deliver her baby, but she passes away; before dying, she implores El-Qashash to deliver the newborn to her friend, the festival dancer Zeina (Horeya Farghaly), in Beni Suef. Detectives learn that Zahra was frequented by a festival thug named Salah El-Shayeb (Mohsen Mansour), who is currently in Beni Suef. El-Qashash meets Zeina to hand over the infant and crosses paths with Salah El-Shayeb, who has been blackmailing Zeina and extorting her money, as his late thug father had been married to her dancer mother. Mistakenly believing El-Qashash intends to steal Zeina from him, Salah attacks him, but Zeina strikes Salah over the head, knocking him unconscious, rescuing El-Qashash, and fleeing with him. They head to Zahra's family, where El-Qashash meets her father, Sheikh Youssef (Hassan Hosny), and mother, Khadija (Hanan Youssef), hands over the newborn, and informs them that Zahra's body is at Faiyum Hospital. Coveting the reward, Salah El-Shayeb informs the police of El-Qashash's whereabouts. El-Qashash and Zeina manage to escape, though El-Qashash is shot in the arm. Zeina seeks refuge at a monastery where her friend, Sister Mary (Heba Magdy), resides. Father Daniel (Ahmed Bega) decides to treat the wounded fugitive and harbor him upon hearing his story and becoming convinced of his innocence, ultimately helping him flee to Qena after El-Qashash learns over the phone from his friend Farag (Alaa Morsy) that the false witness is staying with his family there. Sheikh Youssef refuses to disclose any information about El-Qashash, firmly believing that a man who risks his life to save an infant cannot be a murderer. With Zeina's assistance and money, El-Qashash stays at a local inn and takes a job at a carpentry workshop owned by El-Hajj El-Qett (Ahmed Seyam). He manages to furnish the bedroom of a groom named Ashour (Magdy Badr), who mistakes El-Qashash for Awad—the brother of his bride Sabah (Hanan Motawie)—who had fled to Afghanistan, due to their striking resemblance. Ashour alerts Sabah and her blind mother (Dalal Abdel Aziz). Meeting El-Qashash, Sabah notes the uncanny resemblance to her brother Awad and asks him to bring joy to her mother by pretending to be Awad and walking her down the aisle as her male guardian to hand her over to Ashour. El-Qashash agrees to the compassionate act, overseeing Sabah's wedding and delighting the mother, who embraces the ruse despite sensing he is not truly Awad. El-Qashash meets Sheikh Hassib El-Bendary (Samy Maghawry), who informs him that Mohamed Abdel Hady hails from the Bendariya clan of Aswan and directs him to Sheikh Safwan El-Bendary (Ahmed Fouad Selim) in Aswan. However, Officer Galal manages to capture El-Qashash, who pleads with him for a chance to uncover proof of his innocence; Galal releases him, assuming full responsibility. Sheikh Safwan tracks down the guard Abdel Hady, who confesses everything before Chief of Detectives Moataz. Meanwhile, Salah El-Shayeb discovers Zeina's whereabouts and attempts to rape her, but she stabs him in the left eye, blinding him, and he is arrested. El-Qashash is exonerated, waiting for Zeina's trial, where she is acquitted on grounds of self-defense. Everyone El-Qashash and Zeina encountered along the way attends the trial. However, Salah El-Shayeb lies in wait to exact revenge on Zeina, opening fire on her beloved El-Qashash, leaving her to spend her life grieving over him just as she believed happiness was finally within her grasp. ("El-Qashash")

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