Reel Deal

For as long as he can remember,32-year-old Chukwuma Osakwe wanted to be a filmmaker.

Nigerian writer and filmmaker Chukwuma Osakwe travels back to his school,Mad Arts in Mohali,to make a film

For as long as he can remember,32-year-old Chukwuma Osakwe wanted to be a filmmaker. He wanted to be a part of the creative process of filmmaking,express and strike a conversation through it. So,after studying at a film academy in Nigeria,he looked outwards. I applied for visas,to the US and UK,as I wanted to go and make films there. But every time,I was served a letter of rejection, says Osakwe. Down but not out,Osakwe tried India on a friends suggestion. He surfed the net till one day he came across the Mad Arts website,and spoke to Savita Bhatti,the head of the school. Next thing he knew,he packed his bags and took a flight to Mohali,Punjab,for a three month course in filmmaking at the Jaspal Bhatti Mad Arts School in Mohali. That was last year. Now,Osakwe has travelled back to his school,armed with a script. With four scenes left to be shot in Nigeria,his film,J.U.D.E,which is based on racism and discrimination,will release in June.

My subjects journey is from hopelessness to hopefulness,and this is what this film is about, tells Osakwe. Set in Lagos,Nigeria and Chandigarh,J.U.D.E is a bi-cultural contemporary feature that exposes the discrimination that exists in society. It zooms the camera on its protagonist,who despite all odds,strikes back and wins. With fragments of the film reflecting Osakwes life,where he too faced racism and discrimination,the story is of a frustrated copywriter who ventures into filmmaking as an escape from his mundane life set against the backdrop of a love story.

Here is this man for whom failure is not an option and he pushes the envelope,breaks the mould to make it big, says Osakwe. The protagonist is played by 26-year-old Nigerian actor and businessman Daniel Llyod,who comes to India chasing his dreams,and falls in love with an Indian girl,played by 24-year-old Punjabi television actor,Loveena.

The name of the film has a strong meaning in Africa. J stands for Juochi,which means faith in god. U is Udoka,which stands for peace,D is Dilibe,which means look out for your neighbour,and E for Ejio,which is providence,and together,it stands for J.U.D.E the survivor, says Osakwe.

Like Osakwe,Llyod too has grown up watching Indian films,and Amitabh Bachchan is his favourite. Bollywood is big in Nigeria too,and back home,for us,entertainment is the second largest industry in Nigeria,after oil, says Llyod,who is already sold on masala food here.

When Osakwe came back with his script,we grabbed the opportunity. This is one of the first collaborations with Nigeria, says Bhatti about the film that has been made on a shoe-string budget of under Rs 10 lakh.

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