 |
| ADEBAYO SALAMI |
Adebayo Salami ,one of the oldest thespians in the Nigerian movie industry popularly known as Oga Bello ,in an interview with the Ibikunle Laniyan the blogger unveils his checkered antecedence in an incandescent career that spans over 50 years .His concerns and challenges in the tortuous journey of shaping and reshaping the destiny of the industry are hereby unleashed below.Enjoy the reading.
Q—Who is Oga
Bello-world acclaimed world famous Oga Bello?
A---Oga Bello is a character .Oga Bello is quite different
from Adebayo Salami .If you are asking people who is Adebayo Salami is quite
different from asking for who is OgaBello.Oga Bello is somebody who is
interpreting the role of a particular character ,in the script.Depend on the
script ,depend on the character ,they want Oga Bello to wear.
Q—Tell me about your background ?
A—My name is Adebayo Salami and I was born in Lagos State
here and I hailed from Kwara State in Ilorin to be precise.I was born 64 years
ago come May ,2015 …… .I was born in the year ,1952 ,I have all my education
here in Lagos ,Sandwichcourses (‘’that time’’reporter chipped in;’’Yea’’he
echoed],…London,Paris…….
Q—And they are all on film productions..?
A—Yea, all on stage and film productions.
Q—Available information says that you are 50years a thespian
,how do you feel ?
A—Well,there is no any feeling that….i thank.I have to thank
God for making me ,for giving the grace (reporter thumped and mildly screamed’’half a century! Ah….’’he replied in
a soft tone ‘’Yea’’.].I thank God in every aspect come to raising of my family
,come to excell……….in my chosen career ,I thank God ……..for recognition and up
till now am still reckoned with .
Q—Can you mention
five men like that who have spanked hal f a century ?
A—There are many people like that .In the entertainment
industry or movie industry?
Q—No,in the movie industry
A—Somebody like Tunde kilani, somebody like Baba Wande
,Jimoh Aliu ,JideKosoko….
Q—Maybe is special because you start very early
A—Yea
Q—Since you started ,how many films have you done and
produced ?
A—(he paused drawling making a phone call and then retraced
momentum after it was asked again]Well,the issue of acting is a two way thing
.The one I produced ,I can count ,is 22 films ,but the one I acted ,I have lost
count.
Q—What informed the formation of Young Star concert party ?
A—Well,they are young people that have talent ,gather
together to display their talent ,hoping to be a star in the future.That is why
,we called it ,’’Young Star Concert’’.
Q—There is a story that says it was the Young Star Concert
that metarmorphosed into…..*(cuts in]
A—Yes,…….into Ojo Ladipo theatre group .It was OjoLadipo
,that was leading it before ,there was a lot of misunderstanding ,some fracas .Some
people left the Young Star Concert Party ,some of us went with Ojo Ladipo himself.
Q—Who are your mentors in the industry ?
A—One is Chief Hubert Ogunde ,Alhaji Aina Olumegbon both of
them late ….and the third is Ade Love ..
Q—What can you say about these mentors and their influence
on your career ?
A—Well ,let me start from Hubert Ogunde.Hubert Ogunde inspired me you understand ,to be an actor because I watched
his program on television titled ‘’Village Doctor’’ and I want to be somebody
like him Talking about Olumegbon ……..i remember ,I usually go to his
rehearsals and whenever , I get home I imitate
him ,from there ,I respect him so much and he knows me before he died and mentored
me .Papa Ogunde ,I have the opportunity of meeting him ,despite the fact ,he
inspired me far ,far away but I eventually came close to him. Yea I was close to him and he taught me many
things ,so many things ,advice …
Q—They say is occultic ?
A—Is a God fearing person ,is a christian (laughing to
debunk my unfounded fear].So,religion is quite different form culture .So,is a
two different thing …………So,coming down
to Ade Love now ,I learn a lot from him
practically .
Q—Taxi Driver Fame
A—Yea,I was his production manager ,Taxi Driver Fame part
one,part two ,Iyani wura , Ija Orogun
….and we were very close as well.
Q—Who actually started the Nigerian film industry some
people linked it to Alade Aromire ?
A—No,no,no,……..you cannot throw away Celluloid .We have two
formats in the film industry –the one we
were shooting then and celluloid because at that we could not even get anything
locally here ,you want to do production ,you have to go America ,you want to do
post production ,you go to U.K.I shot my first film on celluloid in 1985 .At the time ,we
were shooting there was no local equipment except you get them overseas .
Q—Which other technology at that time do you think was in
vogue apart from celluloid?
A—If they want to do
television production ,they use Umatic
Q—What do they mean by 35 mm?
A—That is celluloid .We have 65mm,35 mm,55min, 16mm .Ade
love shot on 16mm.
Q—Why depends on 16 mm?
A-–It depends on the cost ,So Alade,Aromire started by
experiment , experimental.He did an experiment on home video on VHS .At that
time ,when the economy started crushing,none of us could afford to afford to sponsor celluloid
anymore .And if you raise funds by loan
or by anything to fund this movie,how do you recoup your money ?
Q—There was piracy at that time too?
A-–No Piracy
Q—You mean’’no piracy!’’
A—Yes ,no piracy then
.If there is piracy ,it was minute ,not common ,not known talking of 80s
Q—Even this 80s?
A-–uhmm….So,at that time ,it was Aromire that started
home video by experimenting ……….because
we did not have money to shoot on
celluloid anymore . We didn’t believe home video would be popular
Q—Which technology were they using in advanced countries that time ?
A-–Celluloid
Q—So,as you were moving away from Celluloid ,they were also
leaving Celluloid at that time?
A—Yes
To be contd.
No comments:
Post a Comment