Nigeria Content Online

Since his
breakthrough role as Mallam Boka, an herbalist in the 1996 NTA series,
‘Winds of Destiny,’ Saidi Balogun has remained a regular in Nigerian
movies. Though he features mostly in Yoruba films, he is also at home
playing roles in English movies. Born in Enugu State, Balogun spent his
formative years in northern Nigeria and speaks Hausa language fluently.
Since becoming an actor a little over 34 years ago, the artist who
studied Statistics at Kwara State Polytechnic has always lived on
acting. Balogun is currently promoting his latest work, ‘Eti Keta’
(Third Party) starring Kate Henshaw-Nuttal and Ndidi Obi amongst others.

Your latest movie, ‘Eti Keta’ is getting a lot of buzz. What is the idea behind it?

‘Eti Keta’ is 70
per cent English, 10 per cent Yoruba, 10 per cent Hausa, five percent
Igbo and five percent Nupe. It is a love story full of drama and action
showing how far love can take you. It also reiterates the fact that
there are many things you do that the third party must not hear about.
It’s a 100 per cent Ankara movie; everybody in it wore Ankara in all
the scenes shot in Nigeria, Ilorin and the US. It is to tell the world
that my culture is beautiful and love is strong.

Why did you cast Kate Henshaw and Ndidi Obi in the movie?

I did that to prove
that movie has no language. Ndidi Obi, for example, plays a Yoruba girl
who can’t speak English. Sola Kosoko plays an Igbo girl who can’t speak
Yoruba much and Kate Henshaw plays a Yoruba girl. I have seen some of
their works and I know they can deliver. When I was writing and
consulting with Kola Olaiya, Eniola Olaniyan and others, we decided to
go for the best. So, Doris Simeon plays a cripple in the movie in spite
of her beauty. She is bold and you could see the confidence flowing as
she delivers her lines.

You shot a two-man and three cast movies a while ago, wasn’t that rather ambitious?

I don’t make films for fun. I think we have to be creative to tell people buying our films that we can think.

Why do few Yoruba actors cross to the English genre?

No one is at fault.
Or have you seen a law that says it is only a set of people that can
produce film in a particular language? ‘Eti Keta’ is 70 per cent
English and nobody is querying me. This generation of Yoruba actors is
learned and besides, movies have no language. Don’t blame anyone for
this. I think it’s up to the creative ability of the artist. You have
to ask if they are ready to take the risk or match up with others.

When I was about to
make ‘Eti Keta’, some Yoruba producers said, “Saidi are you sure you
know what you are doing? You are supposed to be a Yoruba actor.” I said
I wanted to make a movie that will be talked about all over the
country. I don’t want to make a seven-state movie you can’t watch if
you can’t read.

What challenges did you face while shooting the movie?

Financial
challenge. I have spent more than 20 million naira and my car was
stolen. But my dream follows my mission and I have a mission to produce
and tell the world that Nigerian producers are not just one of them but
the best. I am still looking for money though.

Did you train formally as a filmmaker?

No, but I read a lot of books. I will soon go back to film school, however.

Which is your most challenging movie yet?

I have 12 cardinal
points which means that I want to do 12 movies different from all you
see around. I have done the one-cast movie in which I starred alone.
It’s the story of a man who wants to see the face of God and was shot
in 10 countries. My two-cast movie, ‘Modupe Temi’ was shot in 2007
alongside Doris Simeon- Ademinokan

As part of my 12
cardinal points, I am going to produce a movie in which everyone will
have tribal marks. The only problem I had with ‘Modupe Temi’ was that
the marketer said it did not sell after its release and everyone was
stunned.

What are some of the issues plaguing Yoruba movies?

The guys who have
vision are not those who appear in 32 films and have nothing to show
for it. Many appear in movies indiscriminately but people with vision
see beyond today. There is also a lot of copying. It is when you use a
good camera that they will realise they have to use a good camera too.
When you see a movie where an actor turns his head upside down, you
will see 10 producers make a film with people somersaulting because
they lack vision.

When they start
giving respect to whom it is due, they will grow, creative wise. When I
picked Daniel Ademinokan to direct the movie, everyone shouted why
Daniel? I said he has something that I haven’t got. We should learn to
respect creative people. We also lack good competition. Eddie Murphy
appears in a movie once every two years and is known all over the
world; my people appear in 500 films in one year but when they cross to
Ghana nobody knows them. If they think they are kings in Africa, let
them go abroad and see. I don’t want to walk round the world and tell
them that I am black, proud and intelligent from Nigeria but also black
and blind.

‘Eti Keta’ is at cinemas from February 11.