Anyone, who has written about Nigeria in the last 10 years will
probably tell you this: While the population has tremendously
increased, the standard of living of the populace and the societal
rest have proportionately gone down.
One wouldn’t be entire incorrect if one says the same on
Kannywood in 2014. On one hand, the industry can boast of
releasing over 1000 movies, but on the other, few of these figures
were tolerable, and fewer were true entertainments.
It wasn’t a surprise then, to have this thriving industry on its knee
as the result of infiltration of Indian movies translated (or rather
lip-synched) into Hausa Language. This more cut-throat form of
piracy which adds to the ever-present menace of piracy can be
partly attributed to the neglect of Government, with Kannywood
carrying the rest of the blame.
Actor Ali Nuhu recently suggested that the shift from DVD to
cinema is the strategy he thinks would transcend the industry to
the next level. He was right. But then again, how many movies are
cinema worthy? I think it’s futile if tons of movies are released
every monday when they lack the qualities movies need to stand.
Kannywood needs to limit production and ensure better quality.
Production of atleast marginally quality movies is one challenge
India-Hausa movies can’t counteract.
The second issue India-Hausa films expose is lack of genre
movies in Kannywood. Our movie industry and its people are
terribly stereotyped into feeding us with unrealistic comedies and
larger-than-life dramas which in turn have given nothing but
predictable plots and resolutions. Our people are in the state of
despair and frustration. They need entertainments to serve as an
escape hatch for them to forget their worries and tensions, even if
its effect last for few hours. Kannywood lacks enough
entertainment genres. The industry needs to pay attention to
aspects such as props, effects, etc so as to give audience variety
of genres to choose from depending on individual moods. Genres
such as sci-fi, horror, thriller, actions, etc are one reason why
people go for India-Hausa movies. This could explain why movies
such as Jarumin Maza, Basaja were successful.
It can’t be overemphasized that Kannywood movies are too tired
in concepts and executions. The writing is often lazy and
systematically written to go with the imagination of the audience,
for they watch similar versions before. Upon closer look, you find
little creativity in the industry. Filmmaking is for the dynamic not
the dormant; it’s about constantly experimenting ideas and
concepts, unfortunately that’s not the case in Kannywood. Writers
often trash any ingenuity and model all their characters as
complete stereotypes. Also, they follow easy routes when relating
their stories in aspects such as dialogue, symbolism, artistic
description, interweaving of characters, etc. This blatant embrace
of commerce over art makes Kannywood movies more and more
tired.
There is no real professionalism in the executing department
either. Every Buba and Tanko claims to be a director the moment
they sit down and tell a cameraman off the street to shoot. Few
directors seem to pay attention to the standard of the scripts, to
lightning, sound production, appropriateness of location to the
theme of the movie. After some accidental success, some
directors/producers even guise under their last success to create a
similar story, which is often annoying. Few directors have the idea
to create a spark between their characters and the viewers.
Audience needs fresh stories, casts, locations, and because they
inevitably have to watch, switch to India-Hausa films.
The fourth element in this cocktail is the unnecessary splitting of
movies into two. Our movies show unconnected scenes and
dedicate several minutes on these scenes just to have enough
footage to split. I think it’s irrelevant for a movie that’s rarely upto
two hours of normal time to be split into several parts simply
because the producers want more money. Most people prefer
watching a complete movie at once, and this puts India-Hausa
films at advantage. Our producers must understand that its high
time they realise the importance of giving audience what they
want. Kannywood shouldn’t continue to be tied down by this
archaic tradition, it is time to break free. I think only very
substantial movies should be split, if necessary.
Another element which I think has a pivotal role to play in the
subject is the industry’s inability to truly expand. I think
Kannywood needs to uplift and motivate its middle class because
the performance of any organization is mostly evaluated by the
activity of this class; for they are the majority, and most of the
products come from them. We can’t be all at the top at the same
time. However, If we are ahead and do not have the humility to
share our opportunity with those coming along, then we have
learned very little. Kannywood will continue to favor Quantity over
Quality if this voluntary or involuntary monopoly remains
unrelaxed. Even people that initiated the idea of India-Hausa flicks
are said to be people rejected by the Industry. The only way to
maintain a level of integrity is to have creative commons
otherwise the bad works will forever label the industry.
I will also encourage players in the industry to remember our
heritage because film goes beyond entertainment. It’s a cultural
brand that signifies a people and their background, their origin and
who they are, as well as rudiments to sustain their future
generation. The only thing, one could argue, that shows most
Kannywood movies as being belongings of Hausawa is the
language. And now that foreign movies speak Hausa Language,
that only advantage is equaled.
The infiltration of India-Hausa flicks signals the dampening of
enthusiasm of the public. Players, who are not too high in the
clouds to see that anything may be wrong with Kannywood, should
work together towards maintaining a level of integrity and
genuineness that will invite and encourage growth of the industry.
We look forward to this in 2015.
