Starring singer/song writer, Teniola Akpata aka Teni the Entertainer, Dear Affy boasts of sterling cast but that is not enough, as sometimes, movies that ride to the cinemas on the strength of its cast turn out flop, writes Ferdinand Ekechukwu
December is the month of movies. With the coming of the month, so is the list of movies scheduled to open in cinemas unveil. One of the movies tipped to make the list, is excluded for some reasons, perhaps, deliberately. As it appears, the movie, Dear Affy was pushed a bit further till February (2020) which is actually the month of love! And precisely so on Valentine’s Day, which in a way catches with the love theme movie. Feelers were that the movie would get a new name.
Initial hints from some of the cast had shown the movie would be released in this last month of the year. Most initial releases for the movie promo were built around its lead cast, Teniola Akpata. Also noted on the set of the upcoming movie alongside the talented Teni “the Entertainer” is Big Brother Naija 2019 housemate, Sir Dee. New movie producer Samuel Olatunji, who executively produced Ghost and The Tout and Seven And A Half Dates, will direct Dear Affy. It’s not surprising the movie got picked by quite a good number of observers.
Coupled with the fact that relatively known journalist turned movie director, Olatunji who recently dabbled into filmmaking, tapped his contacts for the push. The movie which boasts of interesting cast like Chiwetalu Agu, Jide Kosoko, Williams Uchemba, Toyin Abraham, Chinedu Ikedieze, Odunlade Adekola, and Hafeez Oyetoro, may well likely turn out a success when it hits the cinemas by February but that is not all. Sometimes movies that ride to the cinemas on the strength of its sterling cast turns out flop! We have seen that play out a number of times in this industry.
Other cast of the movie includes Mawuli Gavor, Charles Inojie, Kehinde Bankole, Bimbo Ademoye, Bimbo Akintola and Ali Nuhu, among others. A joint production of 007 Productions, Aul Media Studios, Track & Dolly Productions and Tola Elatuyi, the not so resounding plot/synopsis of “Dear Affy tells the story of a female art enthusiast about to marry the man of her dreams, but life suddenly scuttles her well-laid out plans, as she accidentally gets pregnant and embarks on a challenging mission to locate the father of the unborn baby, since her fiancé and herself have chosen to thread the path of celibacy while courting.”
Speaking about the film earlier, Olatunji said, “Dear Affy is an ambitious project, we want to tell a different kind of Nollywood story, we want to be very professional and excellent in our doing, we want to provide 100% entertainment and unpredictable story at the cinema and we have cast of who-is-who that can deliver the perfect performance.
“We are not stopping there, we have dreams, we have ambitions, we believe Nigeria is a place where dreams are possible; we have dreams and believe Dear Affy will be the first Nollywood movie to hit N500 million at the Box Office. We have had people tell us it’s an impossible dream because of the gigantic nature of the dream but that won’t stop us.”
