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Come on, Shaban! (Atla Gel Şaban)

Come on, Shaban! (Atla Gel Şaban) (translated)

Movie · 1984 · 10 people

Atla Gel Şaban, a Turkish comedy from 1984, was directed by Natuk Baytan from a screenplay by Aydemir Akbaş. The 83-minute Cem Film production, produced by Yahya Kılıç and shot by Rafet Şiriner, stars Kemal Sunal, Nevra Serezli and Dinçer Çekmez. Built around horse racing, betting coupons, a minibus and the underworld, it is a family comedy that traded on Kemal Sunal's popular "Şaban" persona.

At the centre is Niyazi (Kemal Sunal), a poor man in need of money who discovers an uncanny talent for predicting horse race results. A mafia circle that learns of the gift kidnaps him to have betting slips filled out on its behalf. But Niyazi can only predict correctly if the minibus where he usually fills in his coupons is recreated exactly, down to the song playing inside. Nevra Serezli plays Niyazi's wife Zehra, Dinçer Çekmez is Kazım, Reha Yurdakul is Halim Bey, Zihni Göktay is Halil and Turgut Özatay is Davut; Nezahat Tanyeri is his mother-in-law.

The title hides a curiosity: no character in the film is called Şaban, and Sunal plays a man named Niyazi. The actor recalled that the company mistakenly put "Atla Gel Şaban" on the posters and lobbies, yet no viewer pointed out the mismatch. In his words, audiences knew him as Şaban anyway.

DirectorNatuk Baytan
Production companyCem Film

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Cast

Kemal Sunal Kemal Sunal Film actor · died at 55 Niyazi Nevra Serezli Nevra Serezli Actor · 82 years old Zehra Turgut Özatay Turgut Özatay Actor · died at 74 Davut Ünal Gürel Actor · 1935 – 2002 Butcher Metin Çekmez Metin Çekmez Actor · died at 76 Kazım's Man Natuk Baytan Natuk Baytan Film director · died at 61 Yarışsever Ekrem Dümer Ekrem Dümer Actor · died at 71 Mahalleli Ahmet Kostarika Ahmet Kostarika Actor · 1927 – 1994 Greengrocer Nizam Ergüden Actor · died at 70 Yarışsever Selahattin Fırat Selahattin Fırat Film actor · died at 88 Selahattin

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Through different eyes

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

Say "Kemal Sunal film" and nobody at home objects. Atla Gel Şaban is a comedy made for family viewing, built around horse racing, betting slips and the underworld. There is a kidnapping, but it is played as part of the comedy. At 83 minutes it suits children's patience. You may want to talk to the kids separately about the gambling and betting. Grown-ups and little ones alike will laugh.

Yeşilçam Nostalgic A viewer raised on the classics, looking for warm storytelling and strong acting.

Perhaps nothing captures Kemal Sunal's bond with his audience better than this film's title: there is no character called Şaban, Sunal plays Niyazi, yet nobody minded the poster mistake, because audiences knew him as Şaban anyway. That alone shows how an actor of those years could be loved like a member of the family. The odd ritual that has to be rebuilt right down to the song playing in the minibus gives the story a fairy-tale flavour. Nevra Serezli and Kemal Sunal have a warm rapport, too. I would not count it among Sunal's strongest films, but it is a Yeşilçam comedy you can watch with an easy heart.

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

Aydemir Akbaş's script rests on a neat comic idea: Niyazi's horse-racing predictions only come true when his minibus setting is recreated exactly, right down to the song playing inside. Handled well, that superstition mechanism could have produced an absurd comedy that escalates scene by scene. Natuk Baytan, though, leans on the Şaban persona audiences already knew instead of developing the idea; the fact that nobody minded the name mistakenly printed on the posters sums up how strong that image was. The result is an easy-going but formula-bound comedy of its era, 83 minutes long. Sunal's timing and the familiar faces of the supporting cast carry it, while the storytelling falls short of the inventiveness its premise promised.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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