By Ali Baylay

The Untold Truth explores a family situation we all have either witnessed or have been part of. I witnessed such situation growing up in my home town: A rich and powerful man in my quarter had an only girl in all girls dormitory, but she had the habit of stealing anything from her fellow girls: panties, shoes, dresses or anything she lays her hands on in seclusion, and she did this just for the heck of it. My neighbor’s girl continued this habit  and was eventually expelled from the all girls school and thus brought home shame to her parents. In a parallel circumstance as in The Untold Story, the rich man’s sister who couldn’t bear an issue of her own was blamed for the unfortunate situation.

Samuel Okafor’s production of The Untold Truth is a story of parental dilemma and shame. Chief Okenwa’s (Kofi Adjorlolo) son suddenly arrives in a cab from Canada with not a single luggage. Though this manner of arrival doesn’t sit well with either the mother, Lolo (Patience Ozokwo) or the sister, Nkiru (Mercy Johnson) the family swallow it all and sit down and wait until the thieving habits of Peter (Francis Duru) begins to surface.

From then on, Peter’s thieving habits becomes frequent and so the family continue to be embarrassed. He steals the jeans of a brother of a girl he wants to marry, steals the cellphone of his sister’s boyfriend, and shoplifts a store when he’s in the company of his sister. Meanwhile, the churches are been consulted and each gives their opinion and help to wade this curse, and yet, Peter’s thieving habit persists, to the utter embarrassment of all in the family even to the point of himself breaking up when he steals his sister’s boyfriend’s cellphone. By contrivance, the priest points the brother of the chief to be the perpetrator of the curse, as he showers him in the blessed pool.

The line up of actors and their acting make this story a memorable one. Kofi Adjorolo’s character in this heavy drama is one of a father who abandons his household affair in return for politics. Patience Ozokwo has never been so caring in a household as in this film. Mercy Johnson’s acting weaves  the fragile plots of the movie together to make it all the more memorable. Francis Duru’s character carries the burden of this film to the finish line and he does a good job at it.

If the essence of the story as was envisioned by the writer could be what I felt after watching this film, then he really got me. The movie left  me reeling with  pain, shame, sadness and despair for Francis Duru’s character. It evokes a paranoid state of mind of Peter, which shows in his disjointed deliveries, his uncertain gaze, and his sluggish gait. The film could be classified as a painful and depressing experience, that leaves one cold and tired,  especially for the parent sensing either his son or daughter caught  in such a low life behavior.

In considering the manner in which part two of the film ends, the writer didn’t do Peter justice by living him unchanged, and my soft heart follows such memorable character and acting eternally. Well, not every movie has to be  fun, or ends with, ‘happily ever after.’

By Ali Baylay

To put it bluntly, this is a movie that attempts at the inner state of mind of the center character, Sandra (Genevivie Nnaji), but we never get acquainted with her motivation for the kind of rebel without cause behavior of Sandra.

Nwafor Anayo’s For Better or For Worse (2003), starts with Sandra  entering her father’s  living-room-turned-dance-hall, full of partying guests, and with her nose in the air, she weeds unfavorable members from the guests and ask them out. And even as she takes the floor, no one dares join her, until she beckons them to the floor. Here, we are introduced to Sandra as an insolent, cigarette-smoking rich girl who attends a parochial school, in a rundown neighborhood, where she’s hailed as a queen.

She’s heedless to the warnings and threats of both her father and a step-mother she dares not set eyes upon. There’s not a single attribute for the wanton behavior Sandra carries on in this movie, only for the fact that her mother is past, how long, story doesn’t tell,  but raised by her father and his second wife.

Sandra goes from one self-destructive behavior to another. She steals money and other belongings from her father, buys drugs and throws elaborate hotel pool-party, and in a drunken stupor, she hits a child  with her car almost to death. At this point, Sandra seems possessed by a demon, but is rescued from damnation by Michael (Emeka Ike), a boy friend with a humble background. For the sake of Michael’s love, her high wire destructive behavior simmers a little as she accepts constrains placed on her by him, and that takes a hundred and eighty degrees turn in her character.

Sandra and Michael enjoy a short period of relative peace of love until the uncompromising father of her offers Michael an ultimatum that askews the relationship:  Become pilot trainee in the father’s airline company and have a career in exchange for Sandra. Michael accepts career as a pilot  reluctantly, and Sandra is turned down by Michael even as she dogs him all over town.

Michael goes on to become a pilot and Sandra goes abroad to the US for studies. However, a big chunk of Sandra’s love remains in Michael’s heart as he keeps her picture with him  in the cockpit of the plane. Sandra comes back to town from the US with a fiancee, Jonnathan (Clem Ohameze), a four-one-nine don, and happens to run into Michael at a restaurant. There’s a brawl between the two fellas-Michael and Jonathan.

After series of attempts to take Sandra back from the American boy, even to the point that he loses his job with the airline, and crashes his car in a self-suicidal mission, he relents. Sandra and her parents find Jonnathan is fake and tricks him on his last mission to pilfer one hundred thousand dollars from Sandra’s father, by paying him off in counterfeit dollars, as long as he leaves Sandra and never comes back. Sandra goes knocking at Michael’s door for forgiveness, and when Michael couldn’t, she decides to go back to the states to finish her schooling.

For Better or For Worse isn’t about for better  for worse,  because, there isn’t a scene where marital vow is exchanged to validate  title of this movie. It is neither a lesson for overprotective parents, nor lesson for wanton children nor a blueprint for Romeo and Juliet,  but a share 226 minutes of past time .

By David Ajiboye

“I intend to be in Nollywood for a long time,” says actress Tonto Dike.

“I’m so sorry for the delay and recourse I have made you go through, sir,”  Tonto Dike, the fast rising Nigerian actress, who was one of the first housemates of the Next Movie Star, pleaded as she settled down in her Murano SUV and pleads with the director of the film on which location she was to have this chat with African Movie Star.

That the screen siren has done pretty well for herself in the movie industry is more like understatement as she has also been able to get some of the best of things in life for herself – a car and a good apartment.

Quite enthusiastic and passionate about what she does, Tonto seems ready to stay the course in Nollywood.

“My only reason for being in Nollywood is my increasing passion for acting that comes with every passing day. I wake up every morning yearning to do more in the industry. My interest developed many years back and it has been increasing daily.”

“To be serious with you, I intend to be in Nollywood for a long time,” she said.

The Port Harcourt-born vixen took the movie industry by storm just three years after her participation in a TV reality show, Next Movie Star. As a contestant in the reality show, she impressed quite a number of people with her skills and after emerging as the first runner-up, she took her chances in the industry and today she’s one of the most sought after.

” I think it was just God’s timing. God has everybody in mind and he has a particular time He wants you to hit it big. God and my talent have been responsible for the rise in my career within a short time. These things have been working for me like magic and it has been my strength. It has nothing to do with my beauty; in fact, beauty is the last thing that helped me in Nollywood because I believe if  I had no talent, after one or two movies, I would have been kicked out. The beauty is just a complement,”  Tonto said candidly.

The petrochemical engineering graduate of the River State University of Technology was quick to speak up when the issue of the opposite sex was brought up.

In her words: “I don’t think I’ve had any contact or brush with obsessed male fans or admirers, in fact,  all I know I have fans who love and appreciate me just the way I love and appreciate them.”

On marriage, she said:  “I won’t get married because I want to please anybody, I would only do it when I feel and know that the time is right. I would be waiting for God’s time to tie that knot when it comes but for now, I’m not rushing into anything that I might later regret. I only pray that my parents are alive to witness it all when it eventually comes.”

So, is she saying there isn’t any man in her life at the moment even with her wealth, fame and beauty?

“See, there are many boyfriend materials, but what about the husband materials? It’s just the same way with guys. I don’t want something I would do and in the next few months, it’s over or I’m out, so I want to be very careful before going into it, so that I can do it well.”

“At present, I’m not even thinking about any man because I don’t even have any! All I’m concerned about at the moment is my career and that for now is my priority!”

Why would she study petrochemical  engineering despite her love for the arts?

“I’ve always loved the oil sector and petrochemical engineering came as the only course I could read despite my love for acting. It remained with me all through my years in school because my father wanted a job that could pay my bills, something that is serious.”

“But I know that acting is far more serious than people take it to be and, in my third year I decided to start off the burning desire and here I am today.”

What would the light-skinned actress be doing when she eventually retires, pick up a white- collar job?

“There is no possibility of me working as a petrochemical engineer, but maybe doing contract or something. I doubt I want to leave Nollywood anytime soon.”

With the number of movies that she has taken part in since in 2006, Tonto must no doubt be smiling all the way to the bank.

“We thank God. I’m not doing bad and I give God the glory,”  was her tarse reply.