MTN rallies Proudly Africa for Tunde Kelani’s festival

Starting from next week, television viewers across the country will have a rare opportunity of watching all the movies produced by ace producer, Tunde Kelani. Sponsored by MTN and facilitated by Proudly Africa, the event is tagged Celebration Of An Era With Tunde Kelani.
According to the boss of Proudly Africa, Bayo Adebiyi, the event is part of their efforts “to celebrate and recognise forms, origins and expressions of Nigerian movies.”

Kelani belongs to the class of the very few whom out of nothing has brought Nollywood to the attention of the world. His production credits include “Anikura”, “Ireke Onibudo”, “Omo Orukan”, “Vigilante”, “Mosebolatan”, “Taxi Driver 2” and “Iya ni Wura” amongst several others.

In the early 1990s, TK, as he is fondly called, came out with an all time and award winning masterpiece, “Ti Oluwa Nile”. The flick, written by Alhaji Kareem Adepoju, changed the face of the movie industry as every other moviemaker tried to surpass it.

From the success recorded with “Ti Oluwa Nile”, TK has gone ahead to make other equally fantastic movies including “Ayo Ni Mofe”, “Oleku”, “Saworo Ide”, “Agogo Eewo”, “Thunderbolt” and the latest, “Campus Queen”,

With a rich cultural background, Kelani realised early in life the importance of culture to the success of a thriving movie industry. He says: “I grew up living with my grandfather in Abeokuta. That really afforded me the opportunity to know the importance of culture.”

Kelani also makes a conscious effort to ensure that his movies harp on issues that are pertinent to the emergence of a strong nation: “On my part, the socio-political bent in most of my works is neither conscious nor deliberate. It's almost impossible to ignore some of the issues confronting a developing nation, struggling to enshrine democracy and eliminate social ills like corruption.”
Taking a cursory look at his works vis-à-vis recent happenings in the country, Kelani has proved to be a prophet. The storyline of “Saworo Ide” and its sequel, “Agogo Eewo” affirms him as a master moviemaker.