In a review of "In the Heliopolis Flat", Mohamed El-Assyouti of Al-Ahram Weekly noted a tendency for Abol Naga "to have been type-cast as the middle-class romantic star co-lead in almost all his films this year". His subsequent portrayal of Farid in the crime mystery Kashf Hesab gained him more positive critical attention. In the same year, Abol Naga played the lead Ez in the action/thriller/drama Agamista. In 2008 he portrayed Ramez in the comedy Habibi Naeman. In 2009 he appeared as a lead Cherif in One-Zero and then produced and appeared as the lead in first time director Ahmad Abdalla's Heliopolis as "Ibrahim". In 2010 he continued the working relationship by starring in and co-producing Abdalla's second film: Microphone. Originally due for mainstream release in Cairo on January 26, 2011, the film was re-released after the protests in Tahrir Square and won numerous awards and gained a regional and worldwide acclaim.