Ahead of the November release of ‘Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story’, Play Network Studios, a subsidiary of Play Network Africa, has announced that the film will honour late veteran, Amaka Igwe, who produced the original film.
In a Zoom Conference held on Thursday, September 24, CEO of Play Network and Executive Producer of the flick, Charles Okpaleke, credited the successful shoot to his team whose support he described as invaluable. According to him, ‘Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story’ will surpass the success ‘Living in Bondage’ garnerd, which, he said, rides on the excellence Play Network has come to be known for.
Also speaking, Director of the flick, Ramsey Nouah said that the reason Play Network decided to work on Rattlesnake is that the Executive Producer of ‘Living in Bondage’ strongly believed in the work of art.
“His vision is to do remakes of classic Nollywood stories. So with the success of ‘Living in Bondage’, he felt like we should try the others. I just want to say I’m very glad and very happy to be a part of this project, besides that, I want to thank every one of the cast. They made the job easy. We have quite a number of titles already laid out for 2020 and 2021 and probably even beyond,” he said.
Joining the discussion, Stan Nze, who plays the titular Ahanna, said that from reading the script, he felt challenged to put in his best.
Osas Ighodaro, who also plays a lead role, said that for her, it started off with pressure from remaking a classic and not wanting to carry last, definitely wanting to put your best foot forward and being at ease, but not forcefully.
“We became a family, and we wanted the best formula for one another and we sat down right before filming with director ramsey and he pretty much spoke about how this is a character-driven film and how important it is for us to put our best forward and work as a team. This was a team effort, so once we tapped into that bond, it was easy to get into character. It just became a beautiful moment that will resonate through the project,” she noted.
Producer of ‘Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story’, Chris Odeh stated that aside bringing a cultural value to the film industry and drumming up nostalgia, the film will celebrate the late Igwe, who was responsible for discovering a lot of present-day Nollywood greats. Odeh, who is the line producer for ‘Living in Bondage’ sequel said; “in making the film, ideas just kept coming up. Rattlesnake is very important, especially from my own perspective. It is a strong coming of age story which a lot of us resonate with. One thing that resonated with us in the original ‘Living in Bondage’ was the fact that it reminded us of that nostalgia. The film also puts a deserving honour on Amaka Igwe who is an icon, who is responsible for a lot of the people you call stars today.”
Play Network Studio is a subsidiary of Play Network Africa. In 2009, Play Network ventured into her first-ever movie project, ‘Living in Bondage’. The first movie premiered in 2019 in Lagos Nigeria, breaking several records previously held by other distinguished movies in the Nollywood space.
Due to the success of the move, it went ahead to acquire the rights of three other Nollywood classics, ‘Rattlesnake: The Ahanna Story’, ‘Nneka the Pretty Serpent’ and ‘Glamour Girls’. It also recently added the ‘Osuofia’ franchise to that list. The conference also featured a screening of scenes from ‘Rattlesnake, the Ahanna Story’. Written by Nicola Asinugo, the movie features Stan Nze (Ahanna), Osas Ighodaro, Elma Mbadiwe, Brutus Richard, Gloria Anozie Young, Norbert Young and a host of others.
