#remember the lockdowns when all of your entertainment was filmed from inside the actors' houses? yeah

[mannequinswithkillappeal]

assad zaman as "prem"

[in-flagrante]

'I feel sexier as I get older': Back on TV in a compelling new drama, Michelle Dockery tells how her own confidence has soared after playing a succession of strong, sassy women

By GABRIELLE DONNELLY FOR WEEKEND MAGAZINE

22 May 2020

Since she burst onto our screens ten years ago as Downton Abbey’s Lady Mary, all cut-glass vowels and nerves of steel, Michelle Dockery’s kept us in a permanent state of emotional whiplash with the sheer variety of roles she’s taken on.

She was a drug-addicted con artist in the 2016 TV series Good Behavior, a gun-totin’ cowgirl in the acclaimed 2017 drama Godless, and a Cockney gangster’s moll in Guy Ritchie’s crime caper The Gentlemen.

One thing you will not see, she insists, is Michelle Dockery playing a piece of arm candy.

‘I like to play strong women,’ she says when we meet for coffee pre-lockdown in New England, where she’s been shooting her new TV mini-series Defending Jacob.

‘And even if they’re not strong, they have to be interesting. Multi-faceted, complex, complicated, three-dimensional... and flawed too, because people are. Anything but boring!’

That doesn’t mean they can’t be sexy though, and she says the added bonus to playing these characters is that, at 38, she’s finding herself feeling sexier than ever.

‘Sexy is not about having anyone else make you feel sexy, it’s about how you feel inside, and I have certainly felt sexier as I’ve got older.

But I think that’s a confidence thing too. I’ve been lucky enough to play such strong, confident women, and when you do that you definitely take something from them with you into your real life – you sort of get inspiration from them.’

Her latest character in the thriller Defending Jacob is a straightforwardly good woman – although one thrust into bewildering circumstances.

Laurie Barber is happily married to handsome local Assistant District Attorney Andy Barber (Captain America film star Chris Evans), and mother to her wise-cracking 14-year-old son Jacob (Jaeden Martell).

She’s the sort of woman who goes for a run before breakfast, then quizzes her son on vocabulary over coffee before heading to her high-profile job managing a home for abused children.

She’s just so together... until her son is accused of one of the most hideous crimes imaginable – the cold-blooded murder of a classmate – and her entire life and social circle begin to unravel as the police investigate.

‘It’s a really gripping story, because it’s so difficult for this couple to comprehend that their child might commit any sort of crime, let alone a murder,’ says Michelle of the story, based on the 2012 novel by William Landay.

‘They’re both defending their son, and like any parent would, Laurie’s asking at the same time, “Where did I go wrong?”

'There’s conflict between Laurie and Andy because at the start of the story she’s the emotional one and he’s the calm one, but then as the story goes on there’s a need for Andy to be emotional too.

'So they’re always seeing things from a slightly different perspective.

‘It’s a very human, raw story about what something like this can do to a family, and what’s so interesting about Laurie is that as her life is turned completely upside down, she also begins to question things about her family – “How well do you really know your partner? How well do you really know your child?”’

Michelle’s own family background is modest but as stable as anyone could wish for. The youngest of three girls born to Irish-born lorry driver turned surveyor Michael Dockery and his redoubtable wife Lorraine, a former shorthand typist turned social worker, she was brought up in Romford, Essex, working class and proud of it.

‘My mum is loving but she’s also strict,’ says Michelle. ‘When I was about seven I stole some penny sweets from a shop. Mum caught me and made me go back and apologise to the shopkeeper, and I’ve never stolen anything since!’

She was also raised – as were her sisters Louise and Joanne – to speak up for what was right.

‘I was brought up to stand up for myself. To speak up when I felt passionate about something, when I felt the need to make my voice heard about something that mattered.

'I think a lot of that comes from having sisters, because we’ve always supported each other all along.

'If I’ve ever felt bullied or pushed into a corner, I’ve always been able to stand up for myself. And if I see it happening to someone else, especially younger actresses, I’ll stand up for them too.

‘I hate bullying. I have huge admiration for women in Hollywood and elsewhere who have come forward to tell their stories about that, and have stood up against people like Harvey Weinstein.

'It’s horrendous what they experienced and I’m glad something has been done about it.’

It’s safe to say no one has succeeded in taking advantage of Michelle, and she says now that when she first broached the idea of going into acting to her parents they were not in the least bit concerned.

‘They weren’t alarmed by it at all!’ she laughs. ‘They made sure I had a good education so I had something to fall back on.

'Both my parents are wonderful. My mum is the most incredible woman, she inspires me.

'And my dad’s amazing too – even though he spent our growing-up years with a bathroom that was never free! They let me be who I want to be.

'So between them and my two elder sisters, who are still my best friends, I’m very lucky. We call ourselves the Essex Mafia!’

Her career choice can hardly have come as a surprise to the family, as she says she wanted to be an actor ever since she can remember.

When she and her sisters were small they attended a stage school in the evening, and they would put on plays at home to entertain the family.

Michelle apprenticed at the National Youth Theatre when she was a teenager, and as soon as she’d taken her A-levels she enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

‘I feel I learned more at drama school than I did anywhere else,’ she says. ‘Even when I was at regular school I was never out of the drama department, so I didn’t do very well in other subjects.

'I just didn’t want to be taught anything else. But there’s a huge amount you learn in drama school besides acting, like history and literature, and that was where I came into my own.’

It was, of course, Lady Mary who made Michelle famous. ‘It happened overnight,’ she says.

‘Well, I’d been working in the theatre for seven years, so it wasn’t really overnight, but I remember after the first episode of Downton Abbey aired, walking into my newsagent’s where I was living and seeing a picture of myself, Laura Carmichael and Jessica Brown-Findlay, the three Crawley sisters, on the cover of three papers and that was huge.

'Then the first time I was recognised on the street was in New York, and that was even bigger because that’s when it hit me how big the show had become if I was being recognised in America.’

With talk of another feature film in the works after last year’s hit Downton movie, she says playing Mary is as comfortable as slipping into a second skin.

‘I have huge fondness for her, she’s been a big part of my life. That was a very special show, and I hope it’s one that stays with people forever.’

It was through Downton that she met the man she thought she’d be married to now.

In 2013, her co-star Allen Leech, who played chauffeur Branson, introduced her to Irish-born public relations executive John Dineen.

She and John fell in love, became engaged and were in the process of planning their wedding when John was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. He died in December 2015 with Michelle by his side.

At his funeral, the day after her 34th birthday and a day before what would have been his 35th, she told mourners, ‘He was my friend, my hero, my king, my everything.

'We celebrate him, we honour him, and we will miss him.’ She has not spoken out about her grief, but has admitted that it was her friends and family who helped her pull through, saying, ‘They are the ones who see you through the most difficult times.’

She has been dating Jasper Waller-Bridge, brother of Fleabag’s Phoebe, for a year now.

They met through friends and Jasper, who is six years Michelle’s junior and the creative director at a talent agency, accompanied her to red-carpet events before lockdown.

It was also reported that she bought a £1.7 million house in north-east London before Christmas.

Michelle hasn’t commented on the relationship but she does say that a sense of humour – surely a given with any member of the Waller-Bridge family – is vital in a relationship.

‘My parents always taught me to see the funny side of life and never to take myself too seriously.

'I find that more and more as I get older – I’m finding ways to laugh things off much more than I used to be able to.’

Right now, Michelle Dockery would seem to have plenty to smile about.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8336165/I-feel-sexier-older-Downton-Abbeys-Michelle-Dockerty.html

[aion-rsa]

Malcolm & Marie and the Rise of Quarantine Filmmaking in COVID

https://ift.tt/3p29Il0

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a time when accomplishing even the simplest tasks had taken on the burden of the impossible, Netflix’s “secret pandemic movie,” Malcolm & Marie, became a way to process a year of stalled projects and compromised creative control. A Deadline feature retraced how Zendaya, one half of the two-hander’s cast, reached out to Euphoria creator Sam Levinson with the plea for a self-contained project when COVID delayed the HBO drama’s new season.

As Levinson rushed to write a script based loosely on his own experiences of failing to thank his wife at a movie premiere, he and Zendaya brought on Tenet star John David Washington for a movie at the complete opposite end of the spectrum from Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster; the Euphoria crew, in a COVID bubble in California, were able to keep working for a few weeks in June 2020 when so many others were laid off. What they created was a passionate, claustrophobic black-and-white relationship drama that has the rare distinction of being created during a pandemic while its story still reflects life before the virus.

On its own, Malcolm & Marie falls somewhat short of Oscar bait expectations. However, the film takes on greater nuance when considered in the context of the growing subgenre of post-lockdown movies. While this may ultimately prove to be a short-lived category of filmmaking, it already includes four incredibly varied films. Even if they all started with the same universal constraints—COVID tests and social distancing, small casts instead of big—they make for radically different statements about human connection (either during the pandemic or not), futility, about purpose.

In fact, you can plot these four movies over the axes of ignoring COVID versus acknowledging COVID in their actual plots, and closeness versus distance in the execution of said stories.

Malcolm & Marie

Ignoring the Virus and Embracing the Closeness of Quarantine

What’s immediately ironic about Malcolm & Marie is that its setting is anathema to our current situation: The eponymous couple come home from a movie premiere (remember those?), where he (Washington) is being celebrated as a rising Hollywood talent, and she (Zendaya)—an amateur actress, a recovering drug addict, definitely not a model—has been reduced merely to his loyal girlfriend. Their feature film-length fight might take place within the bounds of their spacious rented house, but every source of conflict and sticking point exists out in a non-pandemic world.

At the same time, the viewer is tangentially aware of the real-world limitations in filming this movie, i.e. the need to stay in one setting with only two players. The inability to leave that house–except for Marie’s desperate little steps of leaning out the window to smoke or of that ambiguous ending–is authentic to anyone who has been stuck in a relationship-defining fight: There are no shortcuts, no escapes; the only option is to see it through to the ugly end, only to watch the toxic cycle start all over again.

The actors’ close attention and shaping of their roles lends Malcolm and Marie’s relationship real intimacy, but it also contributes to the sheer exhaustion of watching these young lovers metaphorically eat their own tails without getting anywhere. Despite Malcolm’s appalling outbursts and Marie’s stunning monologues, nothing really changes; even his quiet “I’m sorry” at the end is a puny concession after all that emotional effort.

In fact, this ouroboros feels most like a reflection of the endlessly unfruitful fights that many a couple has experienced since lockdown began.

Locked Down

Acknowledging the Virus and Embracing the Closeness of Quarantine

By contrast, Mr. & Mrs. Smith director Doug Liman’s Locked Down casts its marquee stars (Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor) as ordinary people in the extraordinary circumstances of early 2020, when a pandemic that people still didn’t fully understand reshaped their home into a workspace, and work into a prison rather than an outlet. Steven Knight’s script—written in July 2020, on a dare—carries so many authentic field notes that it’s almost difficult to watch. You feel it from Zoom fatigue, with wine o’clock creeping up into the AM, to people talking over one another on video calls where they’re ostensibly checking in on each other. 

Liman also employed the same amusing device used by the Parks and Recreation COVID special, in which real-life couples had to explain why their characters happened to be inhabiting the same physical space during this era of highly negotiating personal contact. In Locked Down, it’s Psych star Dulé Hill and his costar (and real-life wife) Jazmyn Simon as the sympathetic American counterparts to Linda (Hathaway) and Paxton (Ejiofor), an American and a Brit who are not holding up well enough in quarantine. (A bevy of cameos, including Mark Gatiss, Mindy Kaling, Ben Kingsley, and more also scratches that itch of wondering what celebrities’ homes might look like.)

Paxton and Linda’s marriage seems to have ended around Christmas 2019, but being stuck in their flat just as the pandemic hit—he’s a driver unable to work while she’s a CEO who has the excruciating duty of firing her “family” of coworkers over Zoom—has beaten their senses of purpose to a pulp. Paxton attempts to make up for that by making the masked grocery runs and trying to connect with his neighbors through shouted evening poetry, but he’s suffering the all-too-familiar depression of the furloughed. Linda isn’t far behind when she finally confronts the soullessness of her corporate job.

When fate delivers the incredible coincidence of Linda overseeing the load-out of a priceless diamond from Harrods—with Paxton assigned to transport the goods—the estranged couple decide to embark on a heist, because truly what else are you going to do during a pandemic? Ultimately, Locked Down does a better job with the romantic dramedy aspect than the heist, yet its use of the iconic London department store is as ambitious as Ocean’s 8 with the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Though there are more twists to the movie’s character studies than the logistics of nicking the diamond, the scenes in which Linda and Paxton stroll through the deserted Harrods food court—which arguably carries just as many culinary treasures—provide that same breathless sense of getting away with something.

Both films were made with unprecedented levels of safety and sacrifice, which regardless of the final products’ quality will always set them apart from pre-COVID entertainment as successes in filmmaking. But then there are the COVID films that have embraced social distancing, building it into a plot point or stylistic device rather than employing movie magic to obscure it.

Host

Acknowledging the Virus and Embracing Social Distancing

Interestingly, one of Levinson’s early pitches to Zendaya was a horror film, although of course they eventually pivoted to relationship drama. Fortunately, another enterprising group of creatives went the horror route, and they managed to fold in a poignant tale of female friendship over digital distances in 2020’s Host.

A British found footage successor to Paranormal Activity told entirely over Zoom, this indie tale has a shockingly reasonable premise: Five girlfriends, bored to tears during lockdown, decide to conduct a séance. (Again, what else are you going to do?) But when sarcastic Jemma (Jemma Moore) fakes a backstory about a suicidal friend and their medium Seylan (Seylan Baxter) mysteriously drops the call, the girls are on their own as a demonic force crosses over into the physical plane… and into each of their flats.

Read more

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In the past year, we’ve all learned that Zoom calls can be awkward, boring, and occasionally revelatory—but this is the first time they’re truly scary. Host utilizes the familiar horror tropes of darkened rooms and whispered panting at the slightest of suspicious noises, but it takes on an utterly disturbing dimension when it’s five young women, in the prime of their lives, are all trapped at home apart from one another—not even that far, as Jemma and séance enthusiast Haley (Haley Bishop) live within walking distance of each other.

In found footage fashion, there are plenty of Paranormal Activity-esque moments of people getting dragged or lifted by otherworldly forces. Kudos to director and co-writer Rob Savage for remotely directing his actors, who had to learn how to do the aforementioned practical effects inside their own homes. But where Host is scariest is when it leans into Zoom technology, from a chilling use of silly facial filters to a sequence that will make you reconsider ever making a custom video background for your future Zooms.

As the demon begins picking them off at random, with the others watching in helpless horror, Jemma’s shift from apathetic nonbeliever to selflessly trying to save Haley is incredibly moving. There’s so much history to this fractured friendship that you’ll be rooting for them to reconcile, even as you realize Host’s final trick: It’s only as long as an unpaid Zoom session.

How It Ends

Ignoring the Virus But Still Embracing Social Distancing

You could make the argument that Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones’ pre-apocalyptic comedy could be interpreted as taking place during COVID, what with its many comedy stars all acting a conspicuous six or more feet from one another. It’s just that even if that were true, it wouldn’t matter, because there are bigger fish to fry. Specifically, an asteroid en route for Earth, conveniently set to make impact at the end of Liza’s (Lister-Jones) and everyone else’s last day in sunny Los Angeles.

Trying to make it to an end-of-the-world party in LA without her car, which has been stolen, Liza and her younger self (Devs’ Cailee Spaney) wander through the aggressively bright county, populated with other people doing their best to cope. Unlike the other films on this list, How It Ends makes no effort to hide that it was shot with stringent COVID protocols enforcing social distancing: Cameos from the likes of Fred Armisen and Lamorne Morris are shot on different floors of houses while Bradley Whitford is so far removed in his scene that it’s impossible to get him and Lister-Jones in the same shot.

How It Ends is more a series of loosely-connected sketches than a super cohesive narrative, but that’s how the film manages to bring in so many talented stars as kooky strangers whom the two Lizas encounter, from Nick Kroll as the shadiest of drug dealers to Olivia Wilde as Liza’s estranged psychic friend (a scene-stealer) ,to Ayo Edibiri (another absolute delight) as a teacher who decided, hey, why not try her hand at stand-up comedy while she still can? Even with this layer of grim humor, get ready for this movie to spark unexpected pathos in these Decameron-esque encounters between strangers. By leaning into the physical distance between these characters, How It Ends shows how even when faced with the literal apocalypse, humans will still hold themselves apart from one another. While Liza makes peace with a number of key figures from her life, by the time the asteroid is creeping its way to the horizon, she is faced with her most challenging, but also most freeing, task: To accept that it’s okay to just be alone with yourself during a world-changing catastrophe.

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[gokul2181]

#BigStory: How REAL are our reality shows ?

New Post has been published on https://jordarnews.in/bigstory-how-real-are-our-reality-shows/

#BigStory: How REAL are our reality shows ?

Indian audience loves to watch reality shows – lockdown or no lockdown. But, has the time come to call out the shows on Indian television that are hiding under the garb of reality? Are they really real, and if yes, then to what extent?

ETimes TV deep dives into the compelling questions around reality shows and puts them across to an array of people from the entertainment industry.

Senior TV producer and veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar’s cousin, Manish Goswami who has produced more than 35 shows over the last 27 years- ‘Daraar’, ‘Adhikar’, ‘Aashirwad’, ‘Kartavya, ‘Milan’ and ‘Kittie Party’ to name a few, says, “In India, reality shows are scripted. They are scripted to an extent that they become viewer-friendly. The target audience has been identified and they are given what they’re waiting for. The makers want to get all the expressions in a 45-60 minute capsule and the viewer-excitement quotient is kept in mind. But I don’t think that this happens abroad as they are very strict there.”

Foreign reality TV shows — be it American Idol, Big Brother or any other reality show – the authenticity, transparency and accountability is far higher than in the Indian formats. No twist and turn is made for melodrama. The format is followed to the T. No creative person’s contribution is over-ruled or modified once it is locked. This in turn implies that each contributor’s work is respected and think of it, shouldn’t it be?

Goswami also points out that the beneficiaries of such shows are few and far between. “Public memory is short, here. After their victories or promising performances, the participants are forgotten. Koi ek-aadh ubhar ke aata hai.”

But this was not the case earlier. Sunidhi Chauhan, Arijit Singh, Shreya Ghoshal, Bigg Boss 14’s Rahul Vaidya and a few others are all products of reality shows.

Saroj Khan was asked to favour some contestants, claims daughter Sukaina

Legendary Saroj Khan’s daughter Sukaina tells ETimes TV that her mother, after judging some reality shows had stopped accepting them. Sukaina says, “They wanted my mother to favour some contestants because those contestants were paying them. ‘ Isko first rakho, usko second rakho.’ Mom, who was always a blunt person and took a stand against the wrongs around her, said she would rather stand by her ethics than do such biased projects.”

The channel airing ‘Bigg Boss’ not too long ago had offered the show to non-controversial J D Majethia, Chairman of the TV and web wing, Indian Film and TV Producer- on more than one occasion.

“I don’t know about you but I am definitely amused. Emphasising that ‘Bigg Boss’ or ‘Splitsvilla‘ or ‘Roadies‘ cannot give any acting offers because acting is not judged by how you fight or throw plates or mouth abuses, Majethia says, “Arre Juhi Parmar (Season 5) and Urvashi Dholakia (Season 6) getting shows after ‘Bigg Boss’ because they won it? Certainly not. They are getting work because they have a good track record as far as their body of work goes.”

According to Majethia, “The 2-year contracts with the channel can make lives. Look at Rahul Vaidya (who is now also in ‘Bigg Boss 14’). Uski toh life ban gayi after he appeared in ‘Indian Idol, Season 1’. Till today, he earns well from his shows and some of the shows he does are on big platforms with Sonu Nigam!”

Aashka Goradia, however, feels that reality shows work worldwide and this is simply because “people enjoy seeing other people’s misfortune, which is a psychological problem.”

You get paid to tarnish your image: Dolly Bindra former Bigg Boss contestant

Bollywood choreographer Ganesh Acharya, who was being chased to become a judge, has turned down many reality shows. Hinting that the music contests look all similar, Acharya also laments that the dancing on Indian television is not something that he offers in the Bollywood films where his services are required. ” Woh shows meri dance se alag hain,” he clarifies.

Dolly Bindra says that a lot of filmmakers chased her even to Delhi where she was shooting soon after she came out of ‘Bigg Boss 4’. “But those were short term gains and I got really typecast after that. Everybody wanted me to play a negative role. Dolly does not regret doing ‘Bigg Boss’ but comes up with a very hard-hitting line, “We are paid on such shows to tarnish our image.”

Producer of shows like ‘Ace of Space‘ and ‘Code Red’ Vikas Gupta, who was also seen in ‘Bigg Boss 13′, disagrees, “If the contestants are careful, I don’t see how a show can tarnish their image? The belief that reality shows tarnish your image is false,’ he tells ETimes TV.

Meanwhile, Koena Mitra, who was quite annoyed when she was eliminated from ‘Bigg Boss 13’ in two weeks, is still calling a spade a spade. “Reality shows on Indian television will always work. People like chaos and debates and the bursting of the bubble. A lot of people who’re inside the show end up doing things that they shouldn’t be doing. The viewers in turn become curious if they can see anything lower than that. They may not even like it and in fact, dislike it. So it’s a win-win situation for TV producers.”

Aashka Goradia has also mellowed down from the day when she lashed out at the ‘Bigg Boss Season 6’ show when she felt that it had painted her as a lesbian as she applied balm on co-contestant Sana Khan’s back and now says that the people who hate the show would do well to stay away from it rather than complain.

“I think ‘Bigg Boss woh shaadi wala ladoo hai jo khao toh bhi pachtao aur nahi khao toh bhi pachtao’. But can I tell you something? Today, our reality shows are more real than the people who are entering it.”

These shows, however, somehow make the youngsters’ adrenaline flow. 28-year-old Chetna Pande, who participated in ‘Ace of Space’ says, “No, our reality shows are not scripted. In such shows, our real personality comes out sooner or later. The people connect with you better than before, your followers on social media increase. You can get work in the form of appearances- like look at Divya Agarwal and Varun Sood for one. Shruti Sinha and Baseer Ali also are doing well. Post ‘Ace of Space’, I got ‘Class of 2020’ and then I also did a web show.”

Pratik Sehajpal, ex-boyfriend of Bigg Boss 14 contestant Pavitra Punia, who was the runner-up to Divya Agarwal in ‘Ace of Space’, endorses Chetna’s views with an explanation, “An increase in your social media popularity is invariable but I am clear that reality shows are not scripted. It’s only for some contestants who come with a pre-conceived idea that they need to exhibit a certain image that one tends to get an impression that the show is manipulated; they get dramatic and percolate a feeling that the shows have a rigid script.”

Are wedding theme shows a hoax ?

‘Mujhse Shaadi Karogi’s’ 29-year-old Ankita Srivastava is also not against reality shows but quite positive about them as ‘MSK’ helped her to gain a lot of followers on social media. Ankita says, “Despite having a verified account, I had only 24K followers on Instagram. When I exited the show, I had 100K. And now, I have 174K followers. Also, our reality shows help us to look at ourselves clearly, we have many fixed ideas in our heads but participating in reality shows makes you realise that some or maybe even many of those ideas are misplaced.”

22-year-old Shivani Jha, who was a part of ‘MSK’ before it ended abruptly owing to COVID-19, says, “I had heard that reality shows are all scripted but after ‘MSK’, I certainly don’t endorse that opinion. I had it clear in my mind that I was going into the show to not get married but to just be seen on TV.”

Lack of originality

Dalljiet Kaur, former contestant of Bigg Boss 13, who has participated in Nach Baliye earlier says earlier it was not the case – sobs and tears were real but not any longer. “Nach Baliye; ‘aaj audiences know ki ek couple ka break-up hoga hi hoga‘. When I did ‘Nach Baliye’ in 2008 (Season 4), I remember how petrified we were when Farah Khan, Arjun Rampal and Karisma Kapoor actually walked out, when I couldn’t be ready for two dances in one go as I hadn’t got time due to my constant shoots of two shows wherein I was playing the leads. Back then, we had actually cried and apologised to Farah, Arjun and Karisma. But does that happen in real nowadays, isn’t all such done to shoot up the TRPs? In today’s times, the public almost knows what is going to happen next.”

She further says: “Coming to ‘Bigg Boss 14’, Nikki Tamboli saying inside the house that she can’t wash the utensils because of her acrylic nails was such a pre-planned statement and so was her statement that she’s missing her BF and hence wants to wear his T-shirt. So, what’s original? Nothing. Trust me, Paras Chhabra had advised me to break a ‘matki’ as that would help me to draw attention – but I did not. If I had stayed longer, who knows I too might have learnt a few tricks of the trade.”

Anup Jalota has something similar to say. He comes in to give an example of how hungry the participants are to get the camera on themselves. “When I was in ‘Bigg Boss’ (Season 12 ), Sreesanth would climb up so many times and threaten to jump out.”

Referring to Dalljiet’s point of view that contestants smartly prepare their portrayals to get more on-screen footage, we ask Jalota how he felt when Jasleen Matharu used his name in ‘Bigg Boss 12’ and said that they were in a relationship when they were about to step into the house, but Jalota brushed it off, saying, “Mere andar gusse ka element bilkul absent hai.”

Not to forget the maara-maari in ‘Roadies’ and ‘Splitsvilla’, Neha Dhupia had said when a person is judging a reality TV show, statements are made, misrepresented and taken out of context. In April this year, Neha made quite some noise about a ‘bola kuch aur, dikhaya kuch aur’ incident. “Unfortunately, a small chunk of what I said in ‘Roadies’ was kind of highlighted, whereas what I was trying to imply was the fact that under no circumstances is domestic violence okay and therefore I think only half of it was picked up,” she had lamented. Dhupia had a harrowing time as she was mercilessly trolled. But did she speak to the channel in question, MTV? We only saw her carrying on with the next episode. Hope the channel apologised to her, preferably in writing!

All said and done, it is clear that extreme reactions and high-drama on Indian reality shows grab eyeballs, irrespective of the damage they may cause!

Stakes are high and moral values and reputations not cared about. It’s not the survival of the fittest but the survival of someone who has the ability to impress his superiors at work even if that tantamounts to crushing someone’s reputation. And of course, sabse bada rupaiya! Wonder if there will ever come a day when reality shows become truly REAL !

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[nirvnabj]

Styles in Sizwe Banzi is dead (1967)- Courtesy: Jimi Solanke

Peter Fatomilola on the left on Songbird, a Moyo Ogundipe film (1984 circa) – Courtesy: Jimi Solanke

Lead role, Kurumi (1970) by Ola Rotimi – Courtesy: Jimi Solanke

Jimi Solanke is known as a songwriter, actor, performer, visual artist, poet and storyteller extraordinaire. Easily recognized by many over generations,  thanks to his unique style of reciting folktales with his booming golden voice backed up with guitars, singing in different tones, using passionate gesticulations and mimicry to drive the message home to his young and not so young listeners.

‘Uncle Jimi’, as he is fondly called by fans and admirers, remains a common feature in major stage plays in Nigeria and around the world. He played lead roles in Death and the King’s Horseman, Kurunmi, Chattering and the Song, Kongi’s Harvest, Ovoramwen Nogbaisi, The Divorce and many more.  He starred in several shows on Nigerian Television (NTA) starting from the 1960s to date, including The Bar Beach Show, For Better for Worse, Village Headmaster, Family Scene on Lagos Television (LTV), Children’s Half Hour, Storyland, African Stories on (AIT), Sango – The movie and many others. If you have watched television in Nigeria at any time during the last six decades, you must know Uncle Jimi.

Born 4 July 1942 in Lagos, Jimi Solanke was mentored by Wole Soyinka, Ola Rotimi, Akin Euba, Peggy Harper, Dapo Adelugba and Demas Nwoko. He was one of the first set of graduands of The School of Drama, by the Institute of African Studies, the first in Africa at the University of Ibadan. It later became the Department of Theatre Arts. Solanke joined the Department of Dramatic Arts, University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University OAU) in 1969. He is an Associate fellow of the Institute of Cultural Studies.

Solanke composed Onile Gogoro, Eje ka jo, Jenrokan, Na today you come and he was the lead voice in Ralph MacDonald’s “The Path” recorded in New York 1977 and a consultant for Theatre for Development, UNICEF, UNFPA, Women and Children’s Health.

More about his 60-year long career in this exclusive interview with Eyes of Lagos Boy below:

You are 78 this year, is there anything you think you would have done differently?

Yes, 77 going on 78? I am not counting at all, I believe I still have much to do.  There was never a step l took that l will not take again if l have the ”chance” to repeat life one more time.  You are there already, why regret? I will never sit down to sing dirges of regret over my life.

What have l missed? Nothing. I have great children in whom l am well pleased. I have a house in Ile-lfe where the best of the artistic spirits dwell. If death refuses to come close to you, with all the signs of ageing, have this at the back of your mind, there is still a lot of work you have to do till death comes knocking. “Baoku, ise ko tan” (no death, no idleness). God bless me.

Can you tell us about your big project, the artist village you are building outside Lagos?

I am finishing work on my centre in my hometown lpara-Remo (Ogun state). A wise Yoruba saying states  “lle ni abosinmi oko” – you will eventually end up in your place of origin. No matter where you have been, you will come back home.  This is exactly what is happening to me.  I am about to complete my home theatre, where theatrical performances will take place. The stage is built and but for the lockdown, it would have been completed already. A trip from Lagos to the artist village takes only approximately 30 minutes. Any program we are planning can easily take on the Lagos crowd. We want to start experimenting after COVID-19. Looking forward to seeing you.

Some people say you love hot Gulder beer, could that be one of the secrets of your longevity?

You know what? It’s the taste. Try it any day, a hot Gulder will keep its taste whereas a cold Gulder would have lost its taste due to the time spent in the fridge. All over the world, great connoisseurs of wine will never allow an expensive bottle of wine near a fridge or freezer. The taste would have perished and a good part of our drinking wine would have been eroded. Hot Gulder for life.

Do you remember your first gig?

l have been holding audiences spellbound starting with my school performances during Parents and Teachers’ Day. I was sneaking into Abalabi Nite Club, Olorunsogo to sing with Roy Chicago’s Band. l was able to be on my own in lbadan and l took the opportunity straight without looking back. I joined the School of Drama in 1963, so from 1961 to 1963, l was just enjoying myself singing with any band available, Victor Faulkner’s band, Zen Phillip and the Blue Nine at the Central Hotel. The Eddy Okonta band at Paradise Club in the Gbagi area of lbadan. Finally, I ended up with Chris Ajilo and the Cubanos, we were then at the Gangan Nite Club, an elitist place owned by the Western Region Government in the Apata area of lbadan.

Who were the people that inspired you?

I drew inspiration from all the people l had the opportunity to work with. I was determined. The home front had no prayers nor “wish you well” for me. I was on my own. I had to face the profession squarely. Thanks to Roy Chicago, Baba Akinwande Oshin, Kunle Olasope, Fred Ojudu, Chief MS Sowole. All these people were the foundation members of my development.

Folktales and storytelling are some of the many arts you are known for. Are they still relevant to kids now that the internet has taken over?

We are talking about children’s entertainment. You should not refer to relevancy. I brought all the experiences as a top theatre artist in this land to the fore, as it is done in Europe, China, Russia and all other places where children are celebrated and entertained. Today, some of our great young men drawing cartoons are warming up to present their products to our children. The most important is to use a language they understand and tell your own story.

When was the time you realized that the messages you stand for are important and people are listening and watching?

As a singer l write songs that the listeners can find a message in or an aspect of our culture. Most importantly l must say here and now, l am a folksinger! I worked on becoming one. Any type of music I play, some cultural seed must be sewn into it. People started complimenting me a long time ago. I respect my audience and l do not want to disappoint them. In cases like us, l mean artists in our genre, we remain in the memory of our fans and friends and that is special. Till tomorrow I must maintain high-quality integrity.  Dollars do not make an artist. All aspects of humanity that surround him are important.

What sets you apart from others?

In all the arts that l have taken as my profession, music, theatre, dance, I make sure that l interpret roles painstakingly. That is the job of an actor. The reason why l am teaching and training stage actors is so they will be able to play with me. We have different schools of acting in Nigeria today. I believe they are rolling out actors in large numbers. We have customized acting in this land and our special acting style has come to stay.

I am grateful for the gift of voice. When l sing, those who recognize me will say ”that is Jimi Solanke.” I select the songs l sing, l choose the roles l play. I am not that interested in counting how many roles one has played. I lived in Hollywood before and you do not count your rating based on how many roles one has played. One first time role can turn your life around. As for dance, this whole body of mine has created dance expressions both at home and abroad. These days my fear with dance is that the bones inside my body are already complaining. Then l dance like an elder, yet l can dance.

What music did you listen to as a young man?

As children we enjoyed the music our parents listened to. In those days of Joe Nez. In those memorable days of Rio Lindo. And of course, all the Juju bands and other social music in the genres of Sakara, Apala, Dundun, Waka and Bembe. In those days lyrics, good ones, were the order of the day. All the musicians were trying to beat each other in making sense and sharing moralistic messages with their listeners. At the same time, in homes like ours, because of the exposure of our parents, we listened to some other types of music from top bands of international repute. Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughan, Bing Crosby and the rest. These were the musicians who poured unforgettable lyrics into our lives. They made me know how to sing the range of songs we termed ��classical “. This is when my interest in becoming a good singer was developed. Then the Highlife era took off with E T Mensah. Bobby Benson, Charles lwegbue, Roy Chicago. All of these bandsmen reeled out tunes memorable to date.

What advice would you give your younger self?

There are so many distractions all over. If a younger person is not serious, he will sink into a quagmire of nothingness. The economy is not on the side of anybody. If the younger me is hardworking, he must apart from his love for the arts, train in some trade that will bring in some money. I have said before that artists, in general, must obtain a practical knowledge of some handwork that you can fall back on for sustenance. I am currently at home spending good time on these collage arts. I know, when the era of death is over l will exhibit and make some small sum. It is better than just being idle.

Be innovative with your mind. There is nothing out of a serious mind that will not have its exposure. We do not know when the COVID-19 pandemic will end. How do you survive if you have no “Plan B”? Chains on your neck, earrings decorating your ears, sagged pants to prove that you have arrived, American ghetto slang in your mouth plus all the drugs to reach the “high point” are not the signs of a true artist. Step down son and see us as we are, it will be best for you, cheers.

Lagos Boy

Twins

Yoruba Alaari

How many albums have you recorded? Which one is the most outstanding one for you?

I have released lots of albums, now just being me, l hate counting these artistic creations. Just like my people, you do not have the right to count my children right under my nose. It is taboo. My albums are; Eke ka jo(Let us Dance), In the beginning, Ase, Storyteller, America has got magic, Orin Orisa, Multiplicity of Praise, Hidden Gold and Once upon a time.

When l was consulting for UNICEF, l wrote a lot of advocacy and they were recorded. I am listening to the tracks now and thinking l should release them to the public. There are series of other collaborative albums made both at home and abroad that really projected me. “The Path” by Ralph MacDonald and others.

Uncle Jimi, storytelling at Freedom Park Lagos – Eyes of a Lagos Boy

Who are the young artists you have worked with?

From a long time ago, l have had an interest in working with young people. The majority of the boys I started with are now leaders of their own bands. Laolu my sakara player has a band in Akure. Gbenga Jnr. has a band in Osogbo. Sunday has one top band in Ogbomoso. I released an album with the singing doctor, Ade Adebajo (Poskii) in 2018. It is like a college without walls.

This has been my joy and what l can count as having achieved something. Till date, if l have the opportunity l will go on stage with the Freedom Five (Freedom Park inhouse band) and sing with them all night. Their energy will carry me through.

In recent days l had time to listen to a small jazz group in the music department of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU- Ife). I got fascinated by their music and invited them to lpara to perform with me at the Pro Chancellor’s house.

How do you suggest the government assist artists in this coronavirus period that has negatively affected large gatherings?

The appearance of this coronavirus has really proven that the artists of this nation are in big trouble. Very few can truly feed themselves minus lockdown, now see what is happening. Since l am one of them, l know that there has not been any party or occasion. The government has no interest in the arts. Why? Because they do not know the importance of the arts. Go to the state of California, arts used to dominate their IGR. Only a few years ago Silicon Valley started adding its inputs. Let our government put the package for the care of artists on the front burner and they will soon discover that “art is the next best alternative to oil”.

      Interview: What have l missed? Nothing – Jimi Solanke Jimi Solanke is known as a songwriter, actor, performer, visual artist, poet and storyteller extraordinaire. Easily recognized by many over generations,  thanks to his unique style of reciting folktales with his booming golden voice backed up with guitars, singing in different tones, using passionate gesticulations and mimicry to drive the message home to his young and not so young listeners.