Genevieve Nnaji
She is any cameraman’s delight; every movie watcher’s favourite. The perfect icon for the best of fashion and beauty brands; resplendent, resilient and reliable, she towers higher than most of her peers in the movie industry. Sometimes enigmatic and sometimes simple, she is like a package you keep unwrapping…. Genevieve Nnaji, one of Nigeria’s brightest and hottest actresses and celebrities has not performed in a lead role since 2011 when she played ‘Isabella’ in the movie ‘Sacred Lies’. Since then she’s played only supporting roles in the Chimamanda Adichie’s film adaptation of ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ and ‘Doctor Bello’ in 2013. That’s why it feels like Genevieve is making a comeback with the November 18 opening of her new movie ‘Road to Yesterday’. Dipo Akinkugbe interviewed her and notes that her best may yet come..
• My New Movie’s An Adult Movie for Mature Minds
• I Am Now Committed to Nurturing Young, Nigerian Talents
• With ‘Road to Yesterday’ I Am Forcing People to Think and Imagine
That’s why it feels like Genevieve is making a comeback with the November 27 opening of her new movie Road to Yesterday. The movie is a conflicted love story about a couple trying to mend fences in their relationship and how they tackle their issues while on a road journey to the village.
So Genevieve is starring in a movie about the difficulties of marriage. So of course it will be the perfect excuse for the press to grill her about why she is not married which they surely did. Her response about finding the right man made all the headlines which I gather she is not happy about because it takes people’s attention away from the movie which she insists is not about her personal life.
“It was inspired by my imagination and wondering about the thin line between life and death. I also wondered about what goes on in our minds in times of crisis and how people handle situations when there is nowhere else for them to turn” she said.
Genevieve plays the lead Victoria, a typical woman who loves her husband Izu but she is fighting to keeping her marriage and her home.
The movie features some fresh faces to the Nollywood scene such as Oris Erhuero a 47 year old British Nigerian actor, Chioma “Chigul” Omeruah alongside known entities like Majid Michel. The movie was directed by a talented 28 year old director Ishaya Bako who developed the screen play of the story created by Genevieve. It is the first project of her newly established production company The Entertainment Network-T.E.N, also co-produced and supported by Mnet Africa Magic.
ABOUT T.E.N
Road to Yesterday is the first project from her production company founded in 2012 by herself and her partner Chinny Onwugbenu. Starting off their first film as a feature is a bold step for the actress and her new production company.
“The Entertainment Network-T.E.N is focused on investing not just in the forefront by producing entertaining movies for consumers but also investing on the back end as well which involves the talent side.”
“We have got so much young and other inspiring Nigerian talent that needs to blossom for the Nigerian industry to move forward. That’s how some of the other cast members such as Oris, Chigul and the wonderful director got involved.
“The director of this movie Ishaya is a young and very talented director and this is also the first feature he’ll be directing in his career and he did such a wonderful job. That’s what T.E.N is all about which is investing in creative, entertaining movies and also giving great Nigerian talent opportunities to shine”.
“I definitely love my job as an actor at the same time, I am proud I lived up to the challenge as a producer. I definitely look forward to playing this dual role as an actor and producer as we develop other projects and I also continue doing what I love which is acting”.
She revealed that the next movie project from her production company T.E.N is going to be a comedy which she’ll also be featuring in, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the star deviates from her intense dramatic performances to making us laugh.
STILL IN THE GAME
But with such scarce appearances on the Nollywood scene many thought that big screen beauty was easing herself out of her acting career to focus more on marketing and other commercial ventures such as her clothing line. Genevieve has set the record straight in numerous interview, including this one that she had never considered leaving her acting career
“People think that I am retiring or taking a step back from acting but that’s definitely not the case. I’ve been in the game and I’m still in the game. I have been reading at least six scripts every month for more than five years and I am still very busy reading scripts. I am an actor and I am open to playing any good roles in good stories that come my way.
“I have always been very picky since my career started; the movies you see me in are ones that I’ve selected out of several scripts. I would say back then there were a lot of good movies to pick from. At least out of every five movies you’d find one or two to pick from. I would say we lost some of our originality and the essence of who we really are along the way. Now for me it’s really hard to find movies that really appeal to me”.
BEHIND THE SCENES GIST
Audiences are going to see their lovely screen idol heat things up in this movie. The trailer portrays some engrossing adult scenes that won’t spare the blushes of both her male and female fans. Knowing how conservative Nigerian society and the Nigerian movie industry can be, when asked about it, she holds a professional posture and doesn’t play to the excitement
“At the end of the day film is true to life and even when you’re faking it, you have to fake it to look real. Like I said it’s an adult movie for mature minds.”
“There was really no anxiety or shyness playing those parts because for one I am a professional and I even like to direct such scenes myself to make sure it has to be as real as possible even if it may make me look a bit exposed. I don’t care about how it makes me look because I am a huge critic and if something does not look believable to me then it won’t look believable to anyone else and that we’re not having.
“It was my first time working with Oris and it was his first film in Nigeria and basically his first time back in Nigeria in the last 30 years. The system he is coming from is pretty much different from ours. It was easier for Oris coming from a western culture where it means nothing to them, and it’s just all about doing a good job,” she explained.
EXPECTATIONS
A VIP screening of the movie took place at the Genesis deluxe cinemas at the Palms Mall in Lekki, Lagos, and was well attended by Nollywood colleagues, friends and members of the press.
It was a pleasantly thought provoking story about Victoria’s (the lead character) struggle to resolve their differences.
To the extent that the director’s work behind the scenes mostly goes unappreciated, the young director Ishaya Bako was singled out and received high praises from the audience after the screening which was well deserved.
The viewers which included veteran Richard Mofe Damijo commended the films immaculate visuals, tidy story sequence complemented by powerful dramatic performances from the two lead actors Genevieve and Oris as well as ample doses of comic relief from “Chigul” who plays Genevieve’s best friend in the movie. So Genevieve is not only counting on her star power and loyalty of her admirers to guarantee a good turnout for this movie.
In summary of how the audience will get value for money paid to see this movie at the cinemas, she explained “People are going to go through a lot of emotions, like I said 360 degrees of emotions and it’s going to force people to think and imagine which is what inspired the story in the first place”.
“Even with the feedback we’ve gotten from the few screenings we’ve done. I can assure you that it will stimulate a lot thoughts and emotions that will stick with the audience long after they’ve left the movie theatres”.
“I can also assure you that’s it’s not going to be predictable because I definitely don’t like stories that are predictable and the audience will experience some mind blowing surprises.
“I would also love for my fans to watch this movie and let me know how they think I have matured as an actress”.
ThisDay
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