Most critics agree that Hamama's most challenging role was in the 1959 film "Doaa al-Karawan" (دعاء الكروان, "The Nightingale's Prayer"), which is considered to be one of the best Egyptian films. It is based on the novel of the same name by the prominent Egyptian writer Taha Hussein. In this film, Hamama played the role of Amnah, a young woman who seeks revenge from her uncle for the honour killing of her sister. After this film, Hamama carefully picked her roles. In 1960, she starred in the film "Nahr Hob" (نهر الحب, "The River of Love") which was based on Leo Tolstoy's well known novel "Anna Karenina" and in 1961, she played the lead role in the film "La Tutf'e al-Shams" (لا تطفئ الشمس, "Don't Turn Off the Sun") based on the novel by Ihsan Abdel Quddous.