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Sultan of My Heart (Kalbimin Sultanı)

Sultan of My Heart (Kalbimin Sultanı) (translated)

TV Series · 2018 · 12 people

Star TV aired the Turkish-Russian historical melodrama Kalbimin Sultanı ("Sultan of My Heart") in summer 2018. It tells the fairytale-like love of an Ottoman ruler and a young Russian woman. Its first episode aired on June 13, 2018, and low ratings ended it with the eighth episode on August 6. On the Russian side it was produced by GPM KIT within the Gazprom-Media group and shown in Russia as a separate version with a much longer episode count.

The story is set in the 19th-century Ottoman palace. Anna (Alexandra Nikiforova), a Russian-born woman, is forced to enter the harem, which she finds primitive, as a French teacher. There she meets the reigning sultan Mahmud II (Ali Ersan Duru), and an unexpected love grows between them. Itır Esen, Emel Çölgeçen, Gizem Denizci, Tuncer Salman, Taner Rumeli, Ayten Soykök and İhsan Ustaoğlu also appear, along with Enes Göçmen; Dmitriy Shcherbina plays a Russian envoy.

Kerem Çakıroğlu and Eda Teksöz directed. İnci Hekimoğlu and Nil Güleç Ünsal wrote the scripts, though Atilla Ünsal is also named among the writers. Rahmi Kukul produced it, with music by Uğur Işık and Batuhan Fırat. The Russian showing began on Channel One on January 8, 2019.

DirectorKerem Çakıroğlu, Eda Teksöz
Production companyGPM KIT
NetworkStar TV

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Cast

Alexandra Nikiforova Alexandra Nikiforova Actor · 33 years old Anna Ali Ersan Duru Ali Ersan Duru Actor · 42 years old Mahmud Enes Göçmen Enes Göçmen Actor · born 2008 Beste Kökdemir Beste Kökdemir Actor · 33 years old Hoşyar Sultan Sadi Celil Cengiz Sadi Celil Cengiz Actor · 43 years old Zahir / Has Odabaşı Tuncer Salman Tuncer Salman Actor · 61 years old Halet Efendi Tansel Öngel Tansel Öngel Actor · 50 years old Namık Pasha Gizem Denizci Gizem Denizci Actor · 38 years old Saliha Bülent Seyran Bülent Seyran Actor · 50 years old Amber Ağa Yılmaz Meydaneri Yılmaz Meydaneri Actor · 67 years old Selim Sırrı Pasha of Bender Emel Çölgeçen Emel Çölgeçen Actor · 50 years old Esma Sultan Ayten Soykök Ayten Soykök Actor · 51 years old Cevri Kalfa

Also in the cast: Taner Rumeli, İhsan Ustaoğlu, Dmitriy Shcherbina (Russian envoy), Itır Esen (Ayşe Sine Perver Sultan)

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Through different eyes

Series Binger A series devotee tracking character arcs, cast chemistry and season pacing.

Kalbimin Sultanı set out with a tempting idea for fans of historical romance: a fairy-tale love between an Ottoman sultan and a Russian-born woman who enters the harem as a French teacher. But low ratings ended it with the eighth episode, so there was never a chance to see how the characters would deepen over time. Ali Ersan Duru and Alexandra Nikiforova's pairing sits at the center of the show. Being so short means it is easy to finish, though it is likely to leave a sense of something unfinished. The fact that Russia got a separate, much longer version is intriguing in its own right.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

Kalbimin Sultanı is best watched as a fairy tale rather than as history. Although it is set in the 19th-century Ottoman palace around a real sultan, Mahmud II, the love story of a Russian-born woman in the harem seems to draw more on romantic fiction than on the historical record. Having the harem seen as 'primitive' through a Russian character's eyes risks recycling Western clichés about the East. As a Turkish-Russian co-production, it is an interesting attempt by two countries to build a shared story. Still, viewers who care about history will understandably keep their distance from these liberties.

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

For an eye fond of the palace tales and fairy-tale romances of our old cinema, Kalbimin Sultanı promised that flavor on paper. A love between a sultan and a foreign teacher is a subject that can touch the heart if handled well. Yet the series lasted only eight episodes, and in so short a span there is no watching a love slowly ripen. A beautiful fairy tale needs patience and depth to reach its audience, and this story was granted too little of either.

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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