Ali Nuhu’s “Bana Bakwai” Mirrors Social Reality in Nigeria as Movie Set to Hit Cinema
Written by Mohammad Dahiru Lawal, Reporting by Hajara Bako and Dahiru M.D. Lawal
AREWA AGENDA – With a Global pandemic, 2020 has not been a remarkable year for enterprising experience and could easily be described as one of the most unpredictable and disrupted year in film history, but just as the year is set to round up, we begin to witness Kannywood movies like Bana Bakwai, set on a classic story line with greater depth of deviation from conventional love stories, and completely engrossing and compelling action-packed thriller, arising out of the stables of FKD Production, the home of family entertainers.
Produced by Abubakar Bashir Maishadda and Nazifi Asnanic, Co-Produced by Khalid Yusuf Kherlydo, Story and Directed by Ali Nuhu, Bana Bakwai is a movie that focuses on the condition of Nigeria – unemployment and its consequences, parental stigmatization of children, child abuse, corruption in the police force and politics, – especially the Northern region while also incorporating the use of modern technology in the film.
“With a runtime of almost two hours – one hour forty-nine minutes give or take, one could say the movie is a step towards enlightening the youths in the country and making them know that all their actions either negative or positive has consequences.” Says a reviewer of the movie.
With an enormously powerful, emotionally rewarding story line and strong performance by an assemblage of super characters the likes of Saddiq Sani Saddiq, Nafisa Abdullahi, Lawan Ahmad, Abdul M Shareef, Ramadan Booth, Shuaibu Lawan, Tijjani Asase, Hajara Usman, Falalu Dorayi among others, the “whizkid” Director, Ali Nuhu has once again proved the dynamism in his creative instinct and his adaptable ability to stay untop of trends while carrying his fanbase along an ever thrilling experience in the world of movie making, albeit Kannywood.
He reveals that the movie itself was inspired by the need for filmmakers like himself to contribute to the society through what is called edutainment – entertaining and educating people at the same time – being one of the fastest way to pass information. “I studied ‘Transmedia Story Telling’ at the University of Southern California and discovered that what our movies down here is lacking is the fact that we don’t portray the situation of our nation. From that moment, I took it upon myself that I will do such in subsequent movies like my last film ‘Karki Manta Dani’ was on drug abuse and this one is on recruitment and radicalization of youths and sending them into thuggery.” An excited and fulfilled Ali Nuhu told Arewa Agenda in an interview during a media review of the film, the first of its kind in Kannywood industry.
Bana Bakwai, a fascinating exploration of human connection to crime and consequence which redefines the role of movies as entertainment resources can be said to serve two purposes which are education and creation of awareness, that is besides its entertainment value. “From this, the impression the movie made on me is that it shows that the directors in the industry are turning a new leaf from acting their conventional love and romance movie to movies that really adds value to the viewer.” Says Baba Lawal, another reviewer at the media event.
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Looking at other movies in the industry, one would agree that there is an improvement on the lighting, camera, framing of character among other factors, as well as other parts that are related to the cinematography as the dialogue also matched the tone of the movie and personality of the characters therein while the set design in the film stays compatible with the message it is trying to pass in some cases even though there are contradicting instances.
“As for costums, I would say they did very well because thugs looked like thugs while the normal people and the politicians dressed according to character. The storyline was very okay looking into the types of environment we find ourselves in, on the pace of the movie I would say it is medium because any reasonable person can watch and grasp where the movie is headed, and I felt this character makes the storyline of the movie straightforward. The movie has some characteristics of putting viewers in suspense, like who killed the Politician in the beginning and what would be the fate of the organization called ‘Bana Bakwai’.” Baba Lawal submitted.
In general, the movie tries to tell the viewers that even as widely perceived that our law enforcement (in this case the police) is corrupt, there are still those within that try to uphold justice, it further portrays the role of the media as watchdogs of the society who can hold authorities responsible and bring about desired action through their investigative stories.
Additionally, the movie teaches that parents and guardians must be cautious otherwise child abuse can lead children into unwanted acts that will result to them becoming societal nuisance.
While casting a light on the Almajiri system of schooling, Bana Bakwai also reveals the root cause of increased unrest across the country to include unemployment, stigmatization from parents of jobless children, ignorance and lack of knowledge.
Just like nothing perfect, certain inconsistencies did not go unnoticed in the new movie, like a scene where a lady came out of the blues claiming to be Nafisa’s friend and help in leaking from Bana Bakwai to Lalla (who is their rival), but this, Ali Nuhu says is normal in film production.
“If you see closely, the movie showed that both characters were already acquainted. You see in film production there is what we refer to as ‘Limitation of Subject’ meaning you cannot start showing how all characters got to know each other. That will make your movie unnecessarily long and people do not generally have time for long movies. Even as a producer that will not be good for you because you may have a lot of useful information you want to pass and if you insist on those things you may not pass all the messages you intend to.” Ali explained.
Other negligible flaws that may come to bare in the movie includes, translation error and the scene where an individual was stabbed and then shot with a gun; upon arrival of the Police, there was a knife on the scene, but the knife was as clean as a cutlery from a kitchen. On a normal ground, the knife would have been stained and they would have tried using it to draw a DNA a sample.
“Definitely it will have flaws, but we are always improving on our craft while making use of available resources to give our audience the best. We will never relent on this.” Ali Nuhu assured.
While responding to the possibility of the movie ruffling feathers in the country especially looking at the fact that it exposes some of the things our politicians are guilty of, Ali Nuhu expresses confidence that he has fulfilled all legal obligations ahead of the movie’s release.
“Even if an individual thinks the film is in reference to his act, then it will be okay since one of the reasons for producing it is for people with such character to take corrections and mend their ways.” Ali stated while exuding confidence.
With an assemblage of the best brains and smart acts in the industry, Ali Nuhu, the King of Kannywood as he is fondly referred to have just used the might of the camera and his directing prowess to pull off a movie which addresses generational menace as it sets to hit cinema on December 25th making the year 2020 not to be a year of “entertainment disruption” for Kannywood film buff’s afterall.
Arewa Agenda is a Publication of young writers and journalists from Northern Nigeria towards Peaceful Coexistence and National Development through positive narratives.
