When the heart lies

When the heart lies, who is being deceived? How does one hide from the truth? Kayira thinks she can run from the past. But she can’t shake off the past that easy; her 18-year-old secret haunts her.

The story of ‘When the Heart Lies’ stems from incidents that took place in an airport toilet (Enugu Airport, to be exact). These incidents set the right mood for this movie.

Written by Vivan Ejike and directed by Lancelot Imasuen, ‘When the Heart Lies’ has a look appropriate to its settings with good picture quality showing frames that depict the affluence of the characters. The camera swings from a luxury boat ride to lovely mansions, classy clubs and a high end music studio, showing the director’s understanding of location and props (often an issue with Nollywood productions).

Before swinging into the movie proper, it is fitting to remember one of the actors, Joe Adekwagh who passed away in 2008, after the filming was completed. In the film, Adekwagh plays Pastor Ikem, father to the main character, Kayira.

Nollywood star, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde is Kayira, a music diva every young girl dreams of emulating. She is also a woman fighting for her father’s affection. But Pastor Ikem disowns her for becoming a secular musician, bringing disgrace to him. Kayira’s problems was compounded by a past that scares her.

This has to do with the twins, Tonye (Desmond Elliot) and Petra (Uche Jumbo) – whom she meets as a teenager at the Enugu Airport on her way to Lagos for the holidays. She locks the secret of the airport toilet in a safe part of her heart, away from the world and her righteous father.

Eighteen years later, Petra is a talk show host and Tonye is still the avid playboy. Petra meets Angel (Lola Shokoya), a teenager who desires to be just like Kayira.

With the voice and heart of an angel, she wins the admiration and love of Tonye. Even though he seems not to be the only one as Angel keeps receiving mystery gifts, the giver of these gifts holds an important key to the events that unfold.

Mouths begin to wag as Angel is clearly way too young for Tonye. But he’s not the only one; his father, Chief Tombra, wants to marry a lady young enough to be his daughter. Will each character be ready for the truth that would shake their lives? Angel, Kayira, Petra and Tonye will have to learn love and let go of the past.

The movie uses flashbacks aptly and the actresses that play Kayira and Angel (Ekeinde and Shokoya) can actually sing. The overall performances were commendable and Shokoya did not disappoint in her supporting role as witnessed in typical Nollywood style.

The title of the movie actually chimed with the events of the movie; and has a nice sounding ring to it too.

But there are issues with this movie that takes off some of the shine. The sound editing in one of the opening scenes left much to be desired. In the flashbacks when Tonye and Petra are young, the director should have cast younger actors; it was obvious that the performers were definitely not teenagers.

My guess is that the people behind the movie could not find suitable teenagers, were too lazy to bother or did not have the budget for additional actors in such a pivotal part.

A scene that has Angel and a friend admiring a billboard image of Kayira is not necessary (they admire a dress that is virtually not visible!) One of the Judges in music contest that Angel participates in is so artificial he kills the whole scene with his acting.

Another sign of a director’s lethargy was the set for Petra’s show. Is it a photo shoot or a talk show? The director used a Photo studio set instead of a TV set.

To be honest ‘When the Heart Lies’ is still recommended, as it joins the list of Nigerian movies that have left the Nollywood vicious circle of mediocrity into the big league, where movies are being shown in film festivals in the world.