Shakira: The downside of multi-part movies

Long before the

arrival of this movie, Nollywood flicks have tended to have titles that

reminded one of those of previously released songs or the names of some

famous musicians, with movies like “The Boy is Mine” and “Beyonce and

Rhianna” as some of the more obvious exemplars of this trend.

Titled

“Shakira”, the name of a current pop sensation, this movie from P.

Collins Studio is a proof that the practice has yet to be consigned to

the past.

The movie follows

a tradition in contemporary Nigerian filmmaking, with its cluster of

provocatively dressed actresses and shallow plot which, predictably,

make a recipe for a bad movie.

The plot of Shakira only begins to make

sense towards the end, no thanks to the inexplicable decision of the

director, Pascal Amanfo, to split the movie into three parts, as if two

were not enough.

A collaboration

between Nollywood and Ghollywood, Shakira was shot in Accra and Kumasi,

two major cities in Ghana, with the lead roles shared between actors

from both movie industries, the one Nigerian, the other Ghanaian.

Mercy

Johnson, one of the Nollywood stars, is apparently a foil for Majid

Michel, a Ghollywood celebrity; and the movie is directed by a

Ghanaian, though written by a Nigerian.

The movie follows

a familiar path rather interestingly. The actors are excessively

emotional, and their expression of passion is often exaggerated. And

though some of the lines verge on the poetic, the stretched-out scenes

could have been pared down with no damaging loss of plot and for better

effect.

The main actors, Michael and Johnson, whose agonisingly

familiar passion, lust, and intrigues propel the movie, could seem most

distinguished as the very symbols of movie’s lack of distinction.

Shakira tells the

story of Richie (Majid Michel), who finds out that his fiancée is

having an affair with his friend. Richie is so distraught that he

leaves Accra for Kumasi to stay with his half brother, Ben (Eddie

Nartey), a police officer.

During one of his many drinking sprees

sequel to the heartbreaking discovery, he meets Shakira (Mercy

Johnson), a temptress who lures him into her amorous web. Richie

becomes obsessed with her and she proceeds to take advantage of that.

Shakira and Ritchie plot to kill Shakira’s billionaire husband, Roby

(Koffi Ajorlolo). Though the plan falls through, each conspirator has a

secret that potentially undermines its success. The secrets are the

crux of the movie, but curiously they are not revealed till the third

part, after the viewer has endured two parts dominated by Richie’s

drinking sprees and seduction by Shakira.

Besides having its

action cut in three CDs, the movie’s plot can be divided into three

parts. The first part is centred on Richie’s betrayal and subsequent

involvement in serial binging. The scenes are mostly of him moving from

pub to pub and getting drunk between spells of sobriety.

The scenes are

simply too repetitive to be altogether interesting. The second part is

dominated by scenes of Richie’s seduction by Shakira and his subjection

to her will. Here the audience is subjected to unexciting banters and

dialogues between Ritchie and Shakira and the drudgery is only

punctuated by the intriguing revelation of the plot to kill Shakira’s

husband at the end.

The third part is also a drab build-up of events

that anticipate the planned murder. And though the movie relatively

comes alive in this part, the token excitement it offers takes too long

to come.

The movie has its pluses, however, with its agreeable sound track

and the occasional flashes of brilliance from the lead actors. It could

have been a far more riveting watch, had the producer and director

thought better of holding on to the “meat” of the story till the third

part, as the preceding parts are likely to wear off the viewer’s

patience.