The advantage of Netflix is the window it opens into a world which we seldom see otherwise. The content is such that you get to open a small window to peek into a part of the world and get fascinated.
Nollywood refers to the movie industry in Nigeria. The part that is fascinating is that they make movies at such small budgets that you get to see some seriously funny bits in Youtube. But all of that changed when I started watching a few movies in Netflix. They give a perspective which is rarely available to be seen. This is about a few movies from Nigeria.
The Wedding Party 1 & 2
This is the best first movie to see if you want to get introduced to Nollywood. I call this the 'Hum Aapke hain kaun' of Africa. It is fun, drama and all mixed together.
The movie starts off slowly and one may be a little confused with the English spoken and the local language mixes, and it is such a cute thing to think at first that everyone is overacting and then realize that that is how acting is defined in Nollywood. Once you pass those self doubts about watching, you are in for a treat.
There is not much of a story - just a Nigerian marriage happening. We get to see the fights between the families, the tribal rivalry, the marriage ceremony itself and a lot of drama before the marriage actually happen at the end.
My favorite scene is when the grooms family comes to get the brides price and the dance both the families does when they enter the hall and many more. The movie just flies through and does not take itself seriously and the actors are all fantastic - the pastor in the marriage is a riot.
This gives an entirely new perspective on the lives and culture of the Nigerians and there is so much color and verve in there which resembles a lot like our culture and it is easy to spot the similarities than identify the differences.
Part 2 of the movie is more of the same. With another marriage in the family with a few additional twists and the family deciding to have the marriage in Dubai, the whole scene has a new life and the same fun and wit that drove the first part is replicated here. If there is mindless entertainment you want, these two are the movies.
Hakkunde
However, you want to feel good and watch a meaningful movie - 'Hakkunde' is the one to watch.
It is a simple movie with no pretenses. Unlike the 'Wedding party' movies, Hakkunde tells the story of an ordinary Nigerian - not very handsome, just the ordinary bloke trying to make his way in the world and it weaves so many stories around it to make the whole thing interesting.
Akkunde is a young unemployed man in Lagos living on the handouts from his sister. He feels ashamed of it but tries hard to find a job. When circumstances force him to take help from a bike rider, he hears about a government loan for rearing cattle in rural areas and decides to get the money by moving to an interior village.
The bad luck chases him - the government stops the program to give out loan and he is not sure about going back to Lagos - so he decides to take a temp teaching job in the local school and goes through some challenges to get the kids to attend.
He also meets the village witch - Aisha - called so because her two husbands died with similar symptoms, So he falls in love with her and tries to fight the superstition with the village elders and meanwhile find a way to use the cattle shit as manure and start selling it to farmers.
What is fascinating about Hakkunde is the little nugget of Nigerian life it shows. Life is hard but people live through it without complaining and try to make the most out of it. Though he becomes friends with the village elder's daughter, he falls in love with the two-times widow and try to bring some awareness about the superstitions. I watched it more fascinated but also got a educated a little about the real problems in countries like Nigeria which are not that different from what goes on here.
I have a few more movies in my queue and in between got fascinated by the fantastic Turkish series 'Ottomon' and will get back to Nigeria in a while.
Nollywood refers to the movie industry in Nigeria. The part that is fascinating is that they make movies at such small budgets that you get to see some seriously funny bits in Youtube. But all of that changed when I started watching a few movies in Netflix. They give a perspective which is rarely available to be seen. This is about a few movies from Nigeria.
The Wedding Party 1 & 2
This is the best first movie to see if you want to get introduced to Nollywood. I call this the 'Hum Aapke hain kaun' of Africa. It is fun, drama and all mixed together.
The movie starts off slowly and one may be a little confused with the English spoken and the local language mixes, and it is such a cute thing to think at first that everyone is overacting and then realize that that is how acting is defined in Nollywood. Once you pass those self doubts about watching, you are in for a treat.
My favorite scene is when the grooms family comes to get the brides price and the dance both the families does when they enter the hall and many more. The movie just flies through and does not take itself seriously and the actors are all fantastic - the pastor in the marriage is a riot.
This gives an entirely new perspective on the lives and culture of the Nigerians and there is so much color and verve in there which resembles a lot like our culture and it is easy to spot the similarities than identify the differences.
Part 2 of the movie is more of the same. With another marriage in the family with a few additional twists and the family deciding to have the marriage in Dubai, the whole scene has a new life and the same fun and wit that drove the first part is replicated here. If there is mindless entertainment you want, these two are the movies.
Hakkunde
However, you want to feel good and watch a meaningful movie - 'Hakkunde' is the one to watch.
It is a simple movie with no pretenses. Unlike the 'Wedding party' movies, Hakkunde tells the story of an ordinary Nigerian - not very handsome, just the ordinary bloke trying to make his way in the world and it weaves so many stories around it to make the whole thing interesting.
Akkunde is a young unemployed man in Lagos living on the handouts from his sister. He feels ashamed of it but tries hard to find a job. When circumstances force him to take help from a bike rider, he hears about a government loan for rearing cattle in rural areas and decides to get the money by moving to an interior village.
The bad luck chases him - the government stops the program to give out loan and he is not sure about going back to Lagos - so he decides to take a temp teaching job in the local school and goes through some challenges to get the kids to attend.
He also meets the village witch - Aisha - called so because her two husbands died with similar symptoms, So he falls in love with her and tries to fight the superstition with the village elders and meanwhile find a way to use the cattle shit as manure and start selling it to farmers.
What is fascinating about Hakkunde is the little nugget of Nigerian life it shows. Life is hard but people live through it without complaining and try to make the most out of it. Though he becomes friends with the village elder's daughter, he falls in love with the two-times widow and try to bring some awareness about the superstitions. I watched it more fascinated but also got a educated a little about the real problems in countries like Nigeria which are not that different from what goes on here.
I have a few more movies in my queue and in between got fascinated by the fantastic Turkish series 'Ottomon' and will get back to Nigeria in a while.
No comments:
Post a Comment