Kunle Da-Silva, one of the notable faces in Nollywood, in this interview with OSEYIZA OOGBODO, blows his own trumpet on the standard he has set in the movie industry. Excerpts:
What would you say you’ve achieved as an actor?
I have achieved a lot because I’ve been able to act with A-grade actors in the Yoruba movie industry like Adebayo Salami, Dele Odule, Jide Kosoko, you name them. And talking of the youths, I’ve worked with Odunlade Adekola, Femi Adebayo, Toyin Aimakhu, Yomi Fash-Lanso and Funke Akindele, who I usually work with. Also, I did my first production and it came out in 2012 and it was widely accepted because I brought in new innovations. My production was the first that would be shot at the airport runway and we used the airport hangar and the departure hall extensively, the airport shuttle, the plane, and that had never been done before.
In a Yoruba movie?
Even in English movies in Nigeria, it had never been done. My movie, Ofin, was the first to do it.
So how much did its production cost?
It was a big project. It was sponsored by an individual, who bankrolled everything, and we spent up to N7million. I’m not going to deceive you, it was only possible because of the sponsorship. I’m not going to delve into the Igbo setting that I don’t know much about, but in Yoruba, it’s almost impossible for an artiste to want to shoot a movie by himself or herself without the support of marketers. Like my own movie, the person just walked up to me, ‘Da-Silva, I’ve seen your movies, I love your acting, I know you can do it and I want to sponsor you.’ That was why I shot everything, completed it and gave a completed job to the marketer.
So, did you get the money back because producers always say they don’t make money from their movies?
We did, though it came in trickles. The marketer didn’t really help matters at first, but later when he saw the moves we were making against him, because he was making money and we knew as we were following the trend of the sales in the market, and we knew all the initial copies were sold out within a week. But the marketer wanted to be funny until he saw the action being taken by the executive producer, he sat up and came clean.
What do you like most about being an actor?
What I love most is the knowledge we impart in the audience. We have a lot of problems in this country- social, economic, cultural- and you really need to pass messages to the people and one of the best ways of doing that is via movies. So, the first thing that comes to my mind is the message I want to pass. Then also the popularity, the clamouring by people to meet you, but it’s not easy. I’ve walked on the streets and my clothes were almost torn to shreds. People will want to greet you. Imagine a scenario where people you see on the road expect you to know them and if you don’t greet them, they will just start accusing you, ‘We buy your films, we watch your films, you don’t want to greet us.’ How would I know who watches my films at home? So, you have to be very cautious when you are out; you have to smile and greet everybody. At times, they will walk up to you and say, I’ve bought your movie, I must collect money from you. But they don’t know it’s not like that, so I don’t blame them. It’s the situation in the country. People will want to collect money from you all the time. They’ll watch a movie that I’ve acted in several years ago, that I’ve collected my money even before going on set, I’ve spent the money, you’ll now see me and say because you watched so-so movie, I must give you money. So, I’ll say ‘okay, take what I have.’ But we don’t give all the time. Only if you approach us sensibly, then we respond sensibly.
You said the message in movies is paramount to you. So, what sort of message do you send out with ritualistic movies advising people to go and do juju for money?
When a movie is shot and you see an artiste in it using a human being for ritual to amass wealth, at the movie’s end, you’ll see the repercussion for such action. Now, what we are sending to the public, there is, if you do this, this is definitely what you’ll get at the end of the day. So, don’t do it. But let me tell you, Nigerians have thick skins. When they see ritual, they won’t want to take the message that the person is going to regret or regretted the action. They will only hold on to the part that the person made the money. And they will want to do it, too.
So, don’t you think it’s better that you just remove juju from your movies totally?
I’ll want to use the word tradition. We cannot eliminate tradition from Nigerian movies. We are a culturally minded people and we cannot delete our tradition. If we remove our tradition and embrace the Western style of making movies, we are killing our own tradition and we can’t do that.
Some celebrated actors end up asking for public help. Why? Is it that they didn’t make money from acting?
I’ll give you a revelation, and I’ll speak about the Yoruba movie setting, which I know very well. The Yoruba setting does not pay much like the Igbos do. The older generation artistes are paid peanuts. They want to survive. They’ve got families to fend for. So, they’ll rush at the peanuts than sit down at home doing nothing. The problem they’ll now end up encountering is when a bigger problem comes, they won’t be able to take care of it. I won’t want to go into the nitty-gritty, but the bottom line is, not all artistes are paid well. Some artistes are not even paid at all, but because they want to make a name, they’ll do it, thinking that with time, I’ll become a star and they’ll pay me then.
I’ve walked on the streets and my clothes were almost torn to shreds. People will want to greet you. Imagine a scenario where people you see on the road expect you to know them and if you don’t greet them, they will just start to accuse you
What’s the highest you’ve been paid yourself?
Well, in the entertainment world, the highest I’ve got is half a million, but that was for an advert with Glo.
What do you then charge for acting?
In the Yoruba setting, it’s a family thing. I have to tell you the fact. And it is killing the industry. They’ll say you are my brother, do this for me, when it’s your turn, I’ll scratch your back.
Why did you become an actor?
Well, when I was in a technical college, and I used to act on stage. Then later on, I saw a friend of mine with whom I attended primary school, Mary Joseph. I saw her on screen, and I was like, if Mary Joseph can do it, and I’ve also been into stage acting, why can’t I do TV production as well? So, I visited her, discussed with her and she told me what it takes to be a movie actor. So, I started working with her and one day she walked up to me, after I had had series of rehearsals with her, and said, “Kunle, I have a production and I want you to play a bit-part role in it.” Initially, I was shocked. I asked was it going to come so soon and she said yes; that she had seen the traits in me, that I have it. So, she was not ready to waste her time beating around the bush and that was how I got into it. The first movie I took part in then was Eto Ikoko
and one of its major characters was Sola Sobowale.
