Dele Odule
As if confirming the fear that many people have about Yoruba movies,
seasoned actor, Dele Odule, has said that only a small percentage of films
from the ‘Yoruwood’ section of the industry are scripted.
Critics have observed that poor scripting is the bane of many Nigerian
movies, including Nollywood products.
Odule noted that, as far as Yoruba films were concerned, it was a
carryover from old theatre practice from which many of the practitioners evolved.
He said, “It is true that many Yoruba films are not scripted. They are 30 per cent scripted and 70 per cent improvised. It boils down to the way theatre practice started and those who started it before the emergence of theatre scholars who now combine the raw talent with the theory of
theatre.”
Odule made this known recently when he was hosted by the Ibadan Film Circle, an online forum created by ace director, Niji Akanni.
He spoke on his experience in the industry, the role that the Theatre Arts
and Movie Practitioners Association of Nigeria, a break-away group from
the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners, which (TAMPAN)
he heads, is playing to advance the course of the profession.
Some people believe that marketers are doing more harm than
good to the
Nigerian film industry; but Odule, who claimed that he had acted in about
400 films, said the marketers had done their best.
He said, “I need to give it to them, I mean the marketers. But film
market is beyond buying and selling. They have been able to sustain the
industry in their own way of doing things. What we are trying to do now
is to work on their marketing structure and expand the networks.”
He gives a pass mark to Nollywood itself, saying whatever flaws it had
could not be considered in isolation of the Nigerian environment.
“Nollywood has done fantastically well. The problems we have in this
country are not peculiar to our industry alone. What do we do rightly in
this country? Is it our transportation industry, agriculture, textile – or even
the so-called politics – that has become road to success? Can we compare
it with those of other countries?
“Despite the fact that we don’t have an enabling environment to practise
the trade, we have been able to sustain it and create job opportunities.
What we need is an enabling environment and core professionals. This is
where we need a body like the Motion Pictures Council of Nigeria,” he
added.
Odule stressed that he beileived in MOPICON, but feared that it might not
achieve the desired results based on what he described as the overbearing
attitude of the leadership of a committee working on its establishment.
The actor said his passion for acting was strong that he jettisoned an
opportunity he recently had to possibly become the king of his town, Oru
Ijebu, in Ogun State.
The thoroughbred actor, who came to the limelight when he played the role
of a king in Baba Wande/Tunde Kelani’s film, Ti Oluwa ni Ile, said he
would not want a situation where he would be caught in a conflicting
situation.
He said, “I don’t want to mess up that royalty, whereby the chiefs will
come to the palace and see their oba being slapped in the name of
rehearsal. I’m passionately in love with acting.”
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