November 12 marks the 90th anniversary of the birth of Marilyn Monroe of the East, artist Hend Rostom. The star who shone in the sky of art since the beginning of her entry into the field, and became an icon of seduction in Egyptian cinema, and the dream girl of many men for many decades. On her birthday, let us learn together about the most important milestones in Hind Rostom’s life.

Her birth and upbringing

Her real name is Nariman Hussein Murad Rostom. She was born on November 12, 1931, in the Moharam Bey neighborhood in Alexandria, to an aristocratic family consisting of a Turkish father and an Egyptian mother. She studied at Saint Vincent de Paul School, then moved to Cairo in 1946, after her parents divorced and her mother married again.

Coincidence played a role in her artistic beginning

Hind Rostom’s artistic beginning came by chance. In 1947, she went with a friend of hers to the acting tests held by the United Film Company to select a group of new faces to participate in the film “Flowers and Thorns.” She impressed the director, who chose her to play a small role opposite the artist Yehia Shaheen.

In 1949, Hind Rostom played the role of an extra in the movie “Ghazal El Banat.” She appeared for two minutes riding a horse behind Laila Murad in the song “Atmkhatri, ya horse.” Then she performed many small roles until she began her journey to stardom with director Hassan Al-Imam, who presented her in a number of films that met with great success, such as “Ibn Hamido, Struggle in the Nile, You Are My Love, Iron Gate, A Word of Honor, Sayed Darwish, and The Sweet Aziza.” .

A diverse artistic career

Because of her beautiful features, slender figure, and extreme attractiveness, Hend Rostom became famous in Egyptian cinema for playing seductive roles, but she did not drift into the abyss of depravity and blackmail. Among the most famous of these roles were “Conflict on the Nile, Rumors of Love, I Do Not Sleep, and Ibn Hamido.” Therefore, critics and the public gave her several nicknames, including “Marilyn Monroe of the East” and “Queen of Seduction,” a title that Hind Rostom hated and rebelled against, so her film roles varied and she presented many serious films, most notably “Bab Al-Iron, Shafiqa Al-Qibtiya, Exit from Paradise, and The Nun.”

The secret of her distinctive walk
Hind Rostom conducted a press interview with Akher Saa magazine in 1975, in which she revealed her rejection of the title “Queen of Seduction” because it limited her to this role only, while she believed that she had performed many other important roles. Hind Rostom confirmed that she does not resort to nudity to excite the audience, but she performs excitement scenes based on certain movements and looks that have a stronger effect than nudity. She also pointed out that her distinctive sexy walk, which critics talk about as one of the factors of temptation that Hind Rostom resorts to, is not intentional or deliberate at all. Rather, it is the result of a car accident in which she was injured and resulted in a permanent disability that made her walk this way.

Clever trick to get rid of a fan
Hend Rostom had a strange comedic situation with one of her fans, where she got rid of his annoyance with a clever trick. When she was spending her summer vacation in Alexandria, and while she was on the seashore, a rich young man belonging to a well-known family in Alexandria surrounded her, and the young man continued to chase her until Hend Rostom became annoyed with him, and she knew He recently broke off his engagement to a girl in order to get closer to her, as she knew about the new house that the girl's family had rented. So she thought about a smart life in order to get rid of the young man chasing her, so she expressed her response to him and her admiration for him and gave him her father’s address to ask for her hand. When the young man went, he was surprised that it was the new home of his former fiancée instead of the home of Hind Rostom’s father. After they were astonished, the young man spoke to the girl, and they became engaged again, and he stopped chasing Hind Rostom. In addition, the young man and the girl went to visit her after their marriage to thank her for reconciling them again.

Her personal life

Hind Rostom was married at the beginning of her artistic career to director Hassan Reda. Their marital life continued for 5 years, and she gave birth to her only daughter, Basant, but she separated from him during her pregnancy. After her mother died of cancer, Hind Rostom became obsessed with contracting the same disease. At that time, she met Dr. Muhammad Fayyad, a gynecologist, who helped her overcome her fear of illness. The two exchanged feelings of love and got married in 1961. She lived with him the most beautiful years of her life until his death in 2009.

Retire from art
Hind Rostom stayed away from the limelight at the height of her fame, and disappeared from sight at the height of her position on the throne of stardom. She presented her last work in 1979, which was the film “My Life is Torment,” after which she decided to retire from art permanently. Her husband, Dr. Muhammad Fayyad, was the reason she retired from art because she wanted to take care of him. She wanted to be the wife who waited for her husband to return from work, to provide him with comfort and care at home. After her great stardom, she did not mind working after her retirement as her husband’s secretary, organizing his patients’ appointments. She also did not feel upset because he left her in the middle of the night to follow up on patients or perform urgent operations.

Her death

After the death of her husband, Dr. Muhammad Fayyad, in 2009, Hind Rostom fell into a state of severe depression, until she suffered a severe heart attack and died on August 8, 2011, at the age of 80. Leaving behind a large artistic credit of nearly one hundred films.