"Postcards" combines Bollywood and Nollywood

The promise of combining Bollywood and Nollywood seemed too interesting to pass.  Indeed "Postcards" (2024) was a successful experiment that can be enjoyed.

The first episode or two puts emphasis on Nollywood and Bollywood dancing.  It provides an excuse for one Nigerian dancer getting a chance to get into Bollywood musicals.  By coincidence his mother is sent to India for medical treatment.  She has an estranged brother in India.  An Indian doctor for the single mother is married to a Nigerian.  The series is well developed to a happy ending. 

Series have the advantage of developing more complex plots and characters.  In real life it is fascinating how we al connect.

Some key people  include the following:

Hamisha Daryani Ahuja was the director, writer and one of the producers.  She is part of a third generation Nigerian family born to an Indian origin family.  She studied at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario and later at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York.  She has 2 directing credits, 2 writing credits and one for acting.  Both films involved co-operation between Bollywood and Nollywood.

The music was credited to Prajatantra which turned out to be a team of two experienced composers, Akuh Prajapati and Rakshit Thantry.

Sola Sobowale played Aunt Bunmi the single mother.  She has been the winner of regional African acting awards.  She has 100 acting credits and 3 for producing.

Richard Molte-Damijo played the estranged (wealthy) brother.  He had been involved with journalism and also a politician.  He had 127 acting credits.

Some of the other actors included Rajniesh Duggall, Tobi Bekre, Rahama Sadau and Nancy Isime,

I have noticed rather low ratings, but i strongly disagree thinking perhaps the initial episodes seemed too similar to popular cheesy films.  As with all good series the introduction is just to set up some of the plot and some of the character development that later will fit into a more serious theme.  On Netflix with occasional subtitles, but mostly in English.  One noteworthy line is when one character tries to communicate and is told "We had the same colonizer.  Speak English." 

While trying to organize the above post I watched another Nigerian movie, "Afamefuna" (2023).  It is a movie  that impressed me.

It starts off with a murder mystery with the main character being interrogated.  We go back to the history of the accused and the victim which turns out to be very complicated.  In effect one man had taught the other a business that required manual work and selling at the beginning and lead to trading.  

Stick around and you will see an incredible love story.

Nigeria is one of the top three film producers in the world and have gained a lot of experience.  Before the growth of cinemas and long before streaming was accessible, DVD's were a popular platform for films.
 

Kayode Kasum was the director.  In his early career he was a motion graphic designer and later worked with advertisers.  He likes to use three languages on his films--English, Pidgin English and  an African dialect.  He has 29 directing credits and 9 for producing.

Stan Nze played the title character, Afamefuna. He had a degree in computer science.  He was involved in a project to develop acting among children 8 to 13 years.  He has 123 acting credits and 7 as producer.

Atlanta Bridget Johnson played Amalka, the boss's daughter and the love interest of two men.  She was born in Zimbabwe, but was raised mostly in Nigeria.  To get started as an actress she moved to South Africa where she did stage work.  She has 2 acting credits plus has done a music video.

Alexx Ekudo played Paul who trained Afamefuna and is the murder victim we were introduced to at the beginning.  He has a diploma in law.  He also has 109 acting credits.

Segun Arinze plays the police interrogator.  His career started as a singer.  He has been an acting coach and has been involved with African Film Festivals.  He has 192 acting credits.

"Afamefuna" is available on Netflix with English and subtitles for Igbo.

As the Nigerian cinema continues to develop it should be easier to get information at the level available for other national cinemas.