Movie title-’Omo Ghetto’
Written/Produced by Funke Akindele
Director-Abiodun Olarenwaju(Abbey Lanre)
Starring Rachel Oniga, Taiwo Hassan, Yinka Quadri, Eniola Badmus, Ronke Ojo and many more
Funke Akindele has succeeded in
producing a movie which may well rival her previous hit,‘Jennifa’.
Since its release late last year, ‘Omo Ghetto’ has become one of the
most sought after movies and has found an appeal which goes way beyond
the Yoruba film lovers.Not only is the flick in hot demand, viewers are
made to cough out as much as N800 for a copy. This is a far cry from
the regular N400 a typical Nigerian movie cost.
Same script, different cast
Nollywood has seen a lot of flicks
which have played around the identical twin twist and this movie is not
an exception. What this concept does is to create and heighten
suspense, which is an element of a good movie. However, Omo Ghetto’s
plot is woven around a set of twins who are separated at birth and are
living completely different lives. One is a ghetto kid and leader of a
notorious female gang, while the other is raised in affluence and has
anger issues. The very popular ghetto twin is daring and ridiculously
uncouth in her manners while the rich kid’s temper almost results in
death of her fiancee , this incidence made her to go into hiding for
fear of being jailed. The ghetto twin, alongside her gang, are
apprehended on their way to unleash terror on an unsuspecting victim
.This marks the beginning of a lot of twists and revelations.
Typical of Nollywood
This movie comes in four discs (A, B,
C and D) and contains up to eight different movie trailers in each of
the discs. Half of the time, you may find yourself spooling forward to
the main movie. The acting is generally on point and I like the
portrayal of the ghetto gangsters,it is believable. In a number of
Nollywood films, the Police are often portrayed as hungry looking and
powerless fellows,with their tattered uniforms , Omo Ghetto did not
deviate from this usual potrayal . In the film, the policemen were clad
in faded black shirt atop khaki /army green trousers, making look like
‘KAI or Man O War’ officials. The scene where a policeman goes to the
ghetto to ask Lefty’s father to show up at the police station is a good
example. He looked more like a messenger than a police officer and
little wonder that Baba Oni Baba noted afterwards that the policeman
was too sluggish to be an officer. This is not good for the image of
the force. And yes, the dialogues in some scenes drag on for too long.
Creative Director
Abiodun Olarenwaju (Abbey Lanre),
deserves commendation for making us appreciate the beauty in the midst
of squalor and poverty in the ghetto, thanks to his camera angles and
shots. The opening shot takes the viewer on a journey through life in
the ghetto. He brings home the reality of life in areas where people
live, eat and breed on one refuse site.
Apart from a lot irrelevant scenes and
excessively long party scenes, the acting is top notch. You cannot help
but get blown away by the humour embedded in the story line. Funke
Akindele portraying two characters (Lefty the ghetto thug and Ayomide,
the rich kid) was at her best. Although Akindele is introduced later in
the movie, her sterling performance ups the tempo of the film. Veteran
actor Adebayo added a beautiful twist to the title ‘Omo Ghetto’. He is
very hilarious and displays a lot of local wit,
you are not likely to forget his
character in a hurry .His perfect interpretation of his role depicted a
lifestyle in the setting of the movie and showed the mentality of a man
irrespective of his socio-economic standing. Considering Salami’s
reputation, nothing less is expected as he brilliantly lived up to his
character.
Characterisation is a major winning
element of the movie, for example Bimbo Thomas (Nikky) and Eniola
Badmus (Busty) successfully mimic the mannerisms of a typical tout in a
ghetto. Another scene expertly handled occurs a few minutes into the
film.There is a quick transition from the ghetto to the city as Baba
Oni Baba is shown filling his glass with beer before Funke Akindele
breaks a flower vase in the city, thumbs up to the editor. Eniola
Badmus of ‘Jennifa’ fame also interpreted her role what with her
diction and mannerism. Of interest is the clever twist introduced to
the plot with the sudden replacement of Ayomide with her ghetto-based
twin sister, Lefty,this left lots of people in suspense.
Rated 8/10
The climax of the movie is easy to
locate while the suspense comes to play after Ayomide’s character
suddenly goes missing and Lefty takes centre stage. One scene you may
not forget in a hurry though dirty is the ghetto toilet scene. The
girls take turns to relieve themselves and later turn the faeces into
little bowls to go and throw at some rival ‘cream/aristo’ chicks.
Stingomania artiste, Baba Nee also did a good job on the soundtrack as
it is totally ‘ghettoish’!.Yeah you just have to appreciate the camera
works in the ‘yo mama battle scene’ where Lefty and her crew display
Yoruba jabs that gets you laughing.
The movie subtitling was good and
surprisingly had good English ,not the expected the Yoruba English
translation which generally tints lots of Yoruba movies .The movie also
explored themes of pure love even in the ghetto. The final scene where
the twins were shown seated on the same bench, facing each other was
brilliant and very convincing. So was the part where they both stand up
and walk towards the door.
Riding on the success some of the films
Akindele has made in the past, she is fast establishing herself as one
artist to watch out for. ‘Omo Ghetto’ is didactic, entertaining and
worth seeing a second time.
