The Nation Newspaper

Category: Entertainment

  • Fond memories of a loving mother

    The remains of Madam Esther Olufunke Somefun have been interred in Lagos. A service of songs was held at the Saviour’s African Church Cathedral, Agege, a Lagos suburb.  AMIDU ARIJE writes.

    The children of the late Madam Esther Olufunke Somefun, have celebrated what they call the good life of their mother who died at 89.

    Eulogising the virtues of the late Madam Somefun, they described her as a mother to all, very loving and caring.

    The funeral service was presided over by the Primate of the African Church, Rev Emmanuel Udofia, who extolled her virtues.

    Guests converged on the Lagos State University (LASU) Museum field at Pen Cinema, Agege, Lagos, for entertainment. It was a big bash.

    Five large tents were erected on the field. Guests stepped in, impressive and resplendent in their flower-patterned Ankara uniform of different styles.

    The children left no stone unturned in ensuring their mother had a befitting burial, having trained them to be disciplined, honest and fear of God.

    At the reception was the Band of Faith Music led by Ayo Ajekigbe.

    One after the other, each child of the deceased was called out to the dance floor.

    Taiwo described his mother as an epitome of humility and honesty.

    “Today, I celebrate her life and what she stood for: humility, contentment, hardwork, discipline and prudence. She was the foundation of the family who led with diplomacy. She will remain an important piece of a final puzzle in our hearts.”

    Mrs Funke Ogundimu said she would miss her mother. She said her mother’s exit is painful.

    In attendance were Chairman, Agege Local Government, Alhaji Abdul Kareem Jubril; Deputy Director at the Federal Institute of Research Oshodi (FIIRO), Dr Okeowo and his Director General Dr Gloria Elemo; Mrs Dupe Faworaja; Mrs Olabisi Obaseki; Chief Stephen Adeseun; Mrs Doyin Olaitan; Chief Felix Kokumo and Director General Nigeria Natural Medicine Agency (NNMA), Mr Tamunoibuomui Okusagu, among others.

  • Lagos is a safe place to shoot movies —Niyi Towolawi

    Lagos is a safe place to shoot movies —Niyi Towolawi

    From Investment Banking to producing movies, Director Niyi Towolawi has seen it all. He recently came into the country to finalise plans for the premiere of his latest flick, Turning Point, a movie that stars both Nollywood and Hollywood acts. He talks to OVWE MEDEME about the idea behind the movie, life as an army brat, the daunting task of putting together a Hollywood/Nollywood cast and sundry issues.

    AFTER premiering Turning Point in London, did it go on to the cinemas?

    It is nice for films to come out in a lot of places at the same time or around the same time. We are here to arrange all that. We can release in the UK at anytime. It is a Nigerian story so, naturally, a lot of the people will watch the film in the UK and everywhere else.

    How soon do you hope to do the cinema release?

    We are planning to premiere in Nigeria in March. Essentially, it is the distributors that will make that decision, but if we premiere in March, I am guessing that the earliest the film will come out will be April or there about. It is not my decision, unfortunately.

    What exactly are your expectations bringing the movie to Nigeria?

    I did the film Twisted in 2007. People now talk about a new Nigeria cinema and they reference that as being the first Diaspora movie because the film was made before there were cinemas in Nigeria. It was the first film to actually do a UK release and it was a very small, humble film, really, but that showed the possibility. Other people built on that platform. In terms of expectations, obviously I am hoping that everybody sees it and it makes lots of money so I can buy a Hummer.

    How did you cope working with a star-studded cast?

    It was very delightful. I would without a moment’s notice actually work with all of them again. When I work with people I have not met before, I focus very much on the story and the character as opposed to the actors, but having worked with all of these people, they are the type of people now that with my experience, I can actually write characters for. The production style of Hollywood and Nollywood are very different. We had Hollywood days and we had Nollywood days and obviously the chemistry was different. There was a difference of culture.

    What is the idea behind having a multicultural cast for the film?

    Film generally is a mirror of reality. I lived here as a child so there is that comparison that I actually have. Something is very much prevalent in Europe and America now. It is like the plight of the black person in the Diaspora. Setting the film in America gave us an extra dimension because there is a disparity between Africans and other black people. In America, Africans like education and we get rich from that, but a lot of African-Americans are apparently more likely to end up in prison than in college, so they look down at Africans. They see Africans as immigrants who are meant to be dirty so there is that tension and that conflict. If the film had been set in Europe, the tension would be on a racial level.

    Do you consider it a gamble using an unpopular face as your lead character?

    I think every single person, myself inclusive, does agree that definitely it was a gamble but obviously, it was one that paid off. We had about five press screenings in the UK before the premiere and people said Jim Iyke would have played that character better and I would make more money from it.

    That is true, but ultimately it is about the stories, the character and getting it done the way it needs to be done and these were the actors that seem to be most qualified and they were the most visual depictions of the characters that I dreamt of.

    Did you enter the movie for the upcoming AMAA?

    Sure I did. I entered the movie and I am very hopeful that it will pick some awards.

    What drew you to the script?

    I wrote it myself. Writing the script only took three weeks. Twisted took about six months to write and they were done five years apart. There are millions of Africans that live in Europe and America and they are extremely under-represented in the media. If you Google Africa today, chances are that you will find pictures of an Ethiopian child with kwashiorkor. That is the image that is being created of Africa. There are loads of people that are obviously not represented.

    Was it difficult getting the Hollywood crew to come to Nigeria?

    It was difficult. I know very little of Nollywood and I thought I did know a lot now because as of 2008, I thought there was a place called Nollywood. I went out looking for it and I ended up in Surulere. Making this one, the first character I tried to cast was Jackie Appiah’s character. I described the type of character I am looking for and people mentioned Mercy Johnson.

    I did a Google search of Mercy and I saw pictures of Jackie Appiah and I thought it was Mercy Johnson. I then met up with a lady who had worked with Nollywood people and she corrected me. Mama Gee character is the only Nigerian on the set that I had known before, so with that character there was no second choice. That was moulded around her. It was so much more difficult because the Americans, for instance, they all had agents and managers and they all belonged to very strong unions and we had access to them.

    Weren’t you worried about the security implications?

    I wasn’t in Nigeria at all in the 90s. I was an army brat as well. I knew when the Buhari coup happened, I knew when the Babangida coup happened. I was at school then. I can name a lot of the barracks in Lagos for instance. Lagos for me, has always been a safe haven.

    I came into Nigeria in 2006 with 30,000 pounds and I didn’t know a single person. From the airport, I took a taxi to Surulere with a Ghana-must-go bag full of money and nothing happened to it. I have always felt very safe in Lagos. I have gone to a lot of countries and Lagos is actually a very safe.

    When they were getting their visas, they were told not to go. The CIA has a very comprehensive website that talks about the risks in Nigeria. It says something like they were 70% more likely to be kidnapped and there are tons of diseases and threats. It took me two months to convince these guys that Nigeria is a safe country.

    How did you finally convince them?

    One of the crew members knew someone who came to shoot a commercial here and he said it is the best place he has ever been to. That convinced them a bit, but again, if the CIA told you that if you come to this country, you would die, you will have second thoughts. Besides that, the equipment that was brought into the country was worth $200,000.

    They could not get insurance in the US to actually bring it into Nigeria and I could not get them in Nigeria as well. I had to convince them to bring them. They don’t think I am Nigerian anyway. Eventually, they came and they loved it. They ate Suya every day, went to Kuramo Beach and they enjoyed eating Indomie and fried eggs.

    What issues would you say the film addresses?

    There is a lot of ethnic prejudice in the film. I can be Nigerian when I want to be, I can be British when I want to be. Also, the whole arranged marriage thing is becoming prevalent now in the West. When you have parents who moved abroad and raised their kids there, they still want them to have some sort of identity back home and the easiest way to retain that is to make sure that they marry someone who is from there. I think that is the biggest issue in the film, but personally, it is not really my story.

    Basically, every single person has it within them to be good and bad at the same time. For instance, Adolf Hitler killed over ten million people but he was a very loving father. I don’t know how that is possible. I am drawn to that sort of thing.

    As an investment banker, how did you handle the transition to movie director?

    I am constantly writing. I have grown a lot as a writer. The thing that inspired me more than anything else was the opportunity. I have spent the last 10 years working in Investment Banking as a software person so I understand how traders and investors actually work. Our lead character is that.

    How much of your culture is still in you?

    My parents basically speak Yoruba. Speaking English was banned in my house so I speak the language and I know a lot of proverbs and whatnots. My Yoruba is actually very clear.

  • OC Ukeje stars in The Awakening

    OC Ukeje stars in The Awakening

    FROM the stable of Studio 84 comes The Awakening, a thriller starring Nollywood sweetheart, OC Ukeje. At a press preview of the film held at Silverbird Galleria on Friday, January 25, producer of the movie, Theresa Ananenu, explained the decision to do the film was borne out of the need to step up the quality of Nigerian movies.

    The Awakening is a story of a young advertising agent who starts to have premonitions of death and actually they begin to happen. He meets with a female journalist who is inquisitive and wants to get a better handle to his story. Together they begin to find out that all the deaths are connected and they find out why it is happening. The movie also touches on sundry issues including romance, especially as the journalist also has some mysteries happening in her life as well.

    Lead act of the movie, OC Ukeje, explains his decision to be a part of the project. “Apart from the fact that I thought the story was really unique from the kind of stories we do in this part of the world, it was well written; I liked it and I was very interested in being a part of the project, even before we had discussed terms and agreement. I knew that I would gladly do it. I didn’t need much convincing. I was already bought over by the script,” he said.

  • Tango with Me goes to Scotland

    Tango with Me goes to Scotland

    TALKING Drum Entertainment, a UK-based company dedicated to the development and distribution of black film and TV content, has announced that that an agreement has been reached with TrendyPR Promotions & Events for the distribution and promotion of its films within the Scottish territory.

    By the announcement, both companies have agreed to theatrical releases of the award-winning Mahmood Ali-Balogun film, Tango with Me, in the cities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee. The movie is the first to benefit from the alliance, with the first screening scheduled for the 15th February, 2013 at the Belmont Picture House 49, Belmont Street Aberdeen AB10 1JS.

    Tango with Me is a Nigerian romantic drama film written by Mahmood Ali-Balogun and Femi Kayode, produced and directed by Mahmood Ali-Balogun, starring Genevieve Nnaji, Joke Silva and Joseph Benjamin, among others.

  • Yvonne Okoro brings Contract to Lagos

    Yvonne Okoro brings Contract to Lagos

    DIRECTED by Shirley Frimpong Manso and starring South Africa’s Hlomla Dandala and Nigeria’s Joseph Benjamin as the lead cast, Ghanaian actress, Yvonne Okoro, is set to bring her new movie titled Contract to Silverbird Cinemas, Ikeja, Lagos for a star-studded premiere, according to reports.

    To be held on the 22nd of March 2012, the actress explained that Contract tells the story of a successful 40-year-old bachelor, Peter Puplampo (Hlomla Dandala), who, despite his mother’s persistent attempts to find him a woman, sticks to his rule of non-committal casual dates, freedom and being in control of his life, until the desire to have a child arises.

  • Why I left my husband abroad—Jennifer Eliogwu

    Why I left my husband abroad—Jennifer Eliogwu

    Jenifer Eliogu is one actress who has made a mark for herself. She relocated abroad a few years back to be with her husband, a union which produced a boy and girl. Back as a movie producer and singer, the actress, in this interview with DUPE AYINLA-OLASUKANMI, talks about her NGO, reasons for going into music, her decision to return home, among other issues.

    LET’S talk about your new movie. It is called Within and it was shot in 2011. It was premiered in Lagos Oriental Hotel, Sheraton Abuja and Grand Hotel Asaba. We also took it to the US where we entered for a competition called Movie Awards; we were nominated but we didn’t win. We then entered for another one in the UK JEFTA Awards, and got the Best Child Actor award 2011.

    Last year, it was released in the US and we kept doing promotions. We went to South Africa and eventually back to Nigeria where it was released on DVD on the 21st of this month. Also at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library Abeokuta, we have agreement to show the movie for two weekend; ;that is last weekend and this one, so we obliged them. So far it is going well and I am glad that the movie has been released.

    So far, how has the response been?

    The response since the release has been amazing and I am happy about it. I hope it continues like that. I wrote and produced the story myself when I had nothing doing. Then I was nursing a baby. It has turned out to be a blessing.

    What was the motive behind the script?

    I feel we should create a balance in the stories we write, not only movies that adult could watch, but one that families can sit down to watch and enjoy together and children would learn from; to create a balance between the very good and bad. We will be going on set very soon for another one.

    Now that you are so busy with production, how do you manage family and work?

    There is so much to be done, taking care of the children, taking care of my family as a whole and then my movie and music. I just released a single into the market and so far it has been amazing. It is coverage of an old song of Celestial Okonkwo redone by me with a bit of R&B and highlife.

    It is not just me, but the passion for what I want to do and taking care of my family. I create time to write my scripts. Being that I do not go to location all the time, I have time to write other stories and songs. I create time to go to the studio too. But everything I put my mind to do, I do it to the best, to the glory of God.

    Tell us about your music

    It is a 12-track album and will be released before the end of the year. We are coming out with a single in a week or two while trying to shoot the videos. I have come to do music professionally now. We want to promote two or three singles and shoot videos first.

    When did you discover you have a passion for music?

    I have always said that music was my first love but acting found me first so I gave it my best. Now I am back to my baby which is music.

    How do you intend to meet up with the competition on the music scene?

    To me music is not competition but ambition. I am living my dream and doing what I want to do. And my kind of song, I don’t exactly do hip-hop. I write and sing songs that go with my personality. I do inspirational, love songs, high life and jazz. I might add a little bit of hip-hop maybe at one time, but that is if it works. I am more of a soul singer.

    So you get to love my songs for what they are. I do not want to sing what is commercial. I know we need to make money but guess there are still people out there doing so well. I intend to make a whole lot of money from it. My music is not for now, it is a generational thing. I want people to listen to my music ten years from now and remember me for good music. Listen to Sonia Spence and Onyeka Owenu, how many years over? We still play their songs.

    I write strong lyrics, and in my songs I like to do a bit of entertainment with exposure to societal illness. The same thing I am doing with my songs is what I am doing with my movies. Reggae is almost extinct in Nigeria, but guess what, I can tell you that with that singular song, reggae will come alive again. I am not exactly a reggae artiste, but I love reggae and it is for all ages.

    Did you take permission before redoing the deceased’s song?

    Yes. The people who run his estate, Premier Records, and then COSON cover the record label; so I wrote to both parties. I am a law-abiding citizen. I spoke to the president of Premier Records too and I gave them a letter too. Unlike people who just pick up people’s works and feel that because it is an old song or probably because the person is dead, ‘I can do the song.’ It is someone else’s intellectual property.

    We have actors who have tried their hands on music but didn’t succeed. Do you think yours will be different?

    As I said earlier, I have come to do music professionally. I am not leaving music for acting, I am doing entertainment in totality which I believe I have a gift for. The bible says your gift will make way for you, so I am going to stick with my kind of songs, be myself and do what I know how to do best. I am not going to try to be someone else and then lose focus.

    I know a lot of actors in Nollywood have tried music but everybody has the right to experiment. If you think you have passion for music; give it a try, because it is worse when you are scared of what people will say. I know I have what it takes; I have the voice. I know I might not have that voice of Whitney Houston, but I am comfortable with my kind of songs.

    What were you doing at the time you took a break?

    At that time, I made two beautiful children; a daughter and a son.

    Currently, are you fully into production only?

    I am doing both acting and producing. I produce every movie I act in it too. If I do not fit in, I won’t force it. I will let other people handle it. Presently I have a job I am co-writing with someone. I have done a couple of songs in the past one year.

    When you are not working, what do you do?

    Because I am restless, I get bored easily when I am not working or when I am on location. Asides helping the children with their assignments, having family time and all that, in my spare time, I write scripts. When I am not, I try to pick up a bit of things that I put up for sale. I just like to be positively productive.

    Why did you relocate at the time you did?

    I got married and my husband happens to live abroad and like I said, have kids too.

    Why did you decide to return home?

    There is no place like home. I can say life is easier there because they have a system that works. Their amenities work but the truth is, you work and put the money back. Back home in Nigeria, it is easy to fit in because I already had a career before I left.

    It was easy coming back to what I know how to do; having to spend a longer time going back to school and trying to get a job. I had to take the former over the latter. I have my papers and I can travel whenever I want to. It is not easy breaking into the movie industry abroad. But because home is home, somehow you will get that break.

    Why was it hard for you to make the break over there?

    Nigeria is Nigeria, abroad is abroad. If it was that easy a whole lot of Nigerians will be working abroad. For rehearsals, the money they pay you is much more than the money you earn here for a lead role. It is not easy anywhere to break into the movie industry. So rather than just sit there and keep trying and trying, you just get frustrated. Even if I do any other job, it will not be one I have passion for. I might be making money but there is a part of me that is not happy. But I will stick to my job, which is entertainment.

    How did your husband take it when you informed him about relocating again?

    That is a discussion that we had had over time. We looked at the option and what was going on. It was not as if I could not get a job, sometimes you cut some slack if it will make the other person happy. Even when I was there, I kept writing. I just had a baby and I was not working. The three scripts I have were written at that time. I am glad that happened because after a while, we just felt that we could do it and since we have access to going and coming back. It is working out.

    Are you here now with your husband and kids?

    The kids are here with me, but he is over there. He has a job there, so during holidays we can travel.

    How are the kids coping with the change?

    Before we relocated, we had been home like twice and I have a huge family as well. Once in a while everybody comes around to visit and I f I want to travel abroad for business, my mum comes to stay with my children. If they are on holiday, I take them to my parents while I do what I have to do.

    How was coming back to the movie world after the break?

    As at the time I came back finally, because I remember that in between the time I shot like three movies, it was a different ball game. We had a whole lot of young actresses, which made it interesting because at some point, you have to give room to the younger ones to showcase their talents.

    What beat me was that we had a whole lot of half-baked stories being tendered. Everyone was going into movie production and every young girl wanted to be a star at whatever cost. At one point we were losing direction, movies were being recycled.

    What is different now?

    Because there is fund and somebody is willing to bankroll, we shoot movies that promote negativity much more than positivity. For me I felt I would do a couple of good works. I did a work for Emem Isong, it was a beautiful story and I shot another one in Benin on Igbinedion’s biography.

    So I said to myself, since it is like this, why don’t I do something on my own since I already wrote a couple of scripts? Why don’t I give it a try and see how it goes? Really, it was a good decision that I took. Not only was I able to show a story that will promote family, child education and finding love, I was able to be an employer of labour myself. I employed not less than 10 hands who have not tried their hands on acting or crew work before and we all worked like a family. They are all willing to go on location again. Somehow it is as a way of giving back to the society. Apart from the fact that I have an NGO called IFDEAS.

    When did you start the initiative?

    It started in 2008, but was officially launched in 2010. We lend helping hands by giving money and food to the physically challenged on the street. We give to 500 people on the streets at the beginning and end of the year. We also go to the women’s prison, pray with them and give them toiletries. We also go to the motherless baby homes and then we organise seminars and development programmes for youths. We have done that twice and we are planning another one this year. Slowly but surely you are giving back to the society whichever way you can.

    How do you get your funds to keep the NGO moving?

    I do not have any sponsors, so when I am working, I put aside some money if I have that project in mind. For instance, if I get a N500, 000 job, I know N50, 000 goes to that. We have another youth development programme, I don’t call it empowerment, because they expect you to share money. But if you give money to a person with the wrong mind set, he will spend that money on frivolities. We need to educate ourselves on the need to be useful to ourselves, because we keep expecting the government to do everything. And if you are useful to yourself no body can influence you because you know what you want.

    How have you been able to maintain your figure after child bearing?

    I have to be very honest with you; I have been battling with my weight. There is nothing I do to it. It is just that when I see that it is getting out of hand, I cut down on my carbohydrate, and I begin to walk, and do a bit of exercise. I stop eating after seven pm.

  • Race 2: Murder in mind

    IN the sequel to 2008’s Race, Saif Ali Khan returns as Ranveer; A sharp witted protagonist and antagonist whose ambitions are stuck for good in the con games and as formula prescribes, he’s got murder in his mind.

    After opening, with possibly the worst car-explosion special effects in history, Ranveer, off the radar since Race, appears at a Casino run by Vikram Thapar (Rajesh Khattar), a millionaire whose motivations for money-doubling are as philistine as his common sense.

    Race 2 is a lot like every other sequel: it suffers from ‘sequelitis’ an epidemic that infects the genome of box-office breaking movies with spin-off potential. The virus is global and unbiased in its toxicity: it shares equal affection regardless of geographies, film industries or originality in plot pitching.

    Ranveer, like any other heroic lead-villain of a heist movie, has a deceptive itinerary of money laundering, money nabbing and general hoodwinking pre-plotted.

    His schema compromises: Amaan (John Abraham, leaner, as effective as possible with the material), a street fighter turned big-fish, his half-sultry sister (Deepika Padukone), his newly acquired girl-friend (Jacqueline Fernandez), the returning lynchpin with a fruit fetish (Anil Kapoor) and his new stereotypical dumb-blonde (Ameesha Patel).

  • 2012 Jack Daniel’s bartender training ends

    THE 2012 edition of Jack Daniel’s Old No.7 Tennessee Whiskey’s International Bartender Course (IBC) came to its conclusion last Friday as the top 10 bartenders completed their final theoretical and practical exams.

    The 10 finalists emerged from an initial pool of 45 bartenders drawn from as many different outlets across the city of Lagos. The initial candidates were all subjected to bartending boot camp, comprising an intensive course in Essential Bar Skills followed by a comprehensive Whiskey Masterclass. Their skills and knowledge were then thoroughly examined and the 10 finalists selected on merit.

    The final ten bartenders were: Daniel Ogundele of E-Bar, Lekki; Danladi Istifanus of Auto Lounge, V.I; Ayodeji Odufuwa of Lounge 46, Surulere; Temitope Oshin of Moore Club, Festac; Adewale Aderinle of Mellow’s Bar, Surulere; Helen Ochang of Michael’s Bar, V.I; Stephen Itedo of Caliente, V.I; Samuel Joseph of Lydia’s Place, V.I; Temidayo Sado of Shugar Reef, Lekki, and Joseph Salem of Morningside Suites, V.I, all in Lagos.

    Courtesy of this formative and generous Jack Daniel’s sponsorship initiative, they all earned their place on the highly regarded IBC International Bartender Course, facilitated and accredited by Shaker Bar School, one of UK’s leading bar training academies. If successful, the candidates will be certified and will receive their certificates at a grand-finale awards dinner. This is scheduled to hold in about 2 weeks’ time as the exam scripts have been taken to the UK for independent marking and grading.

    In keeping with its promise to provide only the very best for the trainees, the final week of training was conducted by 4-time National South African Flair Bartending Champion and Head of Training at Shaker Bar School, Johannesburg, Mr. Pieter Oosthuizen. He commended the finalists for their brilliance and also praised them for their ability to adapt and quickly assimilate new skills and techniques. “Jack Daniel’s is fully committed to contributing meaningfully to the growth of Nigeria’s hospitality sector, transfer of essential skills and the development of an appropriate culture of service. This collaboration with The Lagos Bar School and Shaker International is geared towards actualising this vision.”

    This year’s best student will also walk away with a cash prize of one hundred thousand naira (N100, 000), again courtesy of Jack Daniel’s Old No.7 Tennessee Whiskey.

  • Lincoln: Every politic has a stain

    A biopic of the 16th US president, Abraham Lincon, is a 150min flick directed by Steven Spielberg. Released in 2012, the film stars Daniel Day-Lewis, David Strathairn, Hal Holbrook, James Spader, John Hawkes, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lee Pace, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones.

    Daniel Day-Lewis plays the president in Lincoln. The films indicates that politics was a dirty business even in the 19th century, and even when changing history for the better, as the best moments of Lincoln wittily and elegantly prove. But Steven Spielberg’s new film has a title that suggests a sweeping portrait of the great 16th American president; largely depicting Abraham Lincoln as an all-knowing icon, and even with Daniel Day-Lewis’s beautifully measured (and surprisingly soft-spoken) performance, Lincoln often recedes to the background of the very uneven movie that bears his name.

    The screenplay from Pulitzer prize-winner Tony Kushner focuses on just the last four months of Lincoln’s life, as he works in Washington to end the civil war raging just south of him, but not before passing an amendment to officially outlaw slavery.

    There are glimpses into Lincoln’s personal life, including strained relationships with both his wife (Sally Field) and eldest son (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). These are intended to add a human dimension to the president, but they’re never as effective as simply seeing the man at work; Gordon-Levitt has had a fantastic year in other films, but his character here is entirely superfluous, and Field brings tremendous overacting to a cast that’s otherwise quite restrained.

    The film did not pretend to show Lincoln as a canny politician willing to bend the law and make enormous compromises to accomplish a greater goal.

  • Babatunde Oladipo in dad’s shoes

    BABATUNDE Oladipo, first son of the late Lekan Oladipo, it is reported, has taken up from where his father stopped. The artiste will be completing his latest project titled Irosun Meji if everything goes as planned.

    Known as Armani Arante, Babatunde, a graduate of Business Administration from Yabatech, is presently also geared up to hit the set for his personal film project which might come after Irosun Meji.

    “Apart from the fact that I picked after my father, to be a successful actor, has been my childhood ambition but my father insisted that I finish my education before going to acting. My passion for acting grew when I started following him to movie locations. While in higher institution, I opted for Business Administration because of my love for banking job, but life later played me its card as I’m back to my first love which is acting,” he said.