During its 1930s heyday, the Egyptian film industry was known as Hollywood on the Nile. Since then the emphasis has shifted towards Bollywood.
But Youssef Chahine adroitly combines themes from both mainstream sources to create a fond lampoon of the masala melodrama and the screwball comedy that still has time to pass occasional asides on class, age and gender prejudice.
Not since Bombay Talkie have musical numbers been pastiched with such pizzazz. But the plotlines involving movie star Latifa and gold-digging wannabe Ahmed Wafik, and her daughter Rubi and chauffeurs son Mostapha Chaaban, are perhaps just a touch too formulaic.
Its undeniably entertaining, but its appeal is likely to be specialised.