Hamisha Daryani Ahuja’s ‘Namaste Wahala’ marks the start of collaboration between the 2 huge film sectors
LAGOS:
The greeting “namaste” related to yoga and the Pidgin phrase for bother, “wahala”, extensively used internationally due to Afrobeats, converse to Indian and Nigerian influences on the English language.
However the movie industries of the 2 international locations, every regional behemoths, have not often crossed cultures.
Indian-Nigerian filmmaker Hamisha Daryani Ahuja, nonetheless, did simply that, naming her first film — geared toward bringing collectively the world’s two largest movie industries, Bollywood and Nollywood — “Namaste Wahala”.
“Nollywood has grown up on Bollywood,” the Mumbai-born, Lagos-raised Ahuja informed AFP in an interview, referring to the recognition of Bollywood movies in Nigeria.
“How come they by no means come collectively?” she stated.
Her movie turned a worldwide hit when it was launched by Netflix in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic — signalling the beginning of a collaboration between the 2 huge film sectors.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi even talked about the movie throughout his go to to Nigeria in late 2024.
And one other “Namaste Wahala” movie is now within the works, Ahuja revealed.
Because the 2020 launch of her debut movie, Ahuja has additionally had a Netflix collection referred to as “Postcards” and is making ready to premiere “Simi and Pals” this yr.
With no formal movie-making coaching, “Namaste Wahala” — a cross-cultural rom-com whose title means “Howdy bother” -— was “her education” in movie, she stated.
Shot in Lagos, it’s about an Indian funding banker who falls in love with a Nigerian lawyer — and their dad and mom’ battle to just accept their union.
A potpourri of languages, actors swap between English, Pidgin and Hindi.
“I made a decision to leap in and not using a thought,” she recalled throughout a current interview within the bustling mega-metropolis of Lagos, the place she lives.
‘Our cultures are so related’
India and Nigeria mixed are most likely the world’s greatest diaspora, “we’ve mass populations however greater than that, however possibly much less tangible, our tradition is so loud”, the 41-year-old stated.
Nollywood is the second-most prolific movie trade on the planet after Bollywood within the sheer variety of movies it pumps out every year.
Ahuja, a mom of two younger boys, is placing the ultimate touches to the animated “Simi and Pals”, which can also be filled with Indo-Nigerian cultural content material.
The protagonist is a toddler, the daughter of a Nigerian father and an Indian mom. Her tiffin has plantain and samosas, the 2 international locations’ staple snacks.
“It is enjoyable, it is mild,” Ahuja stated. “I am bringing India and Nigeria collectively as a result of it simply works. Individuals adore it. Individuals see themselves.”
“Our cultures are so related. And I feel that can also be why Nigerians grew up on Bollywood as a result of they recognise it, it is extra conservative, extra household custom, extra values” than Hollywood in the US, she stated.
Afrobeats
Whereas not a direct sequel, her new “Namaste Wahala” film contains heavy doses of Afrobeats -— a significant Nigerian cultural export and one of many world’s most influential and fast-growing musical genres.
“I’m now marrying modern-day with the 90s for ‘Namaste Wahala 2.0’,” Ahuja stated.
She added she was assured the Afrobeats music featured in her new manufacturing would additionally ring a bell with Indian audiences, recalling having heard Nigerian singer Rema’s hit “Calm Down” performed in a Mumbai lodge foyer.
Requested whether or not she had encountered challenges in producing cross-culturally, she acknowledged that it might throw up surprises.
An Indian actor in one of many casts anticipated a “vainness van” akin to a five-star lodge to hang around, change and do make-up between shoots, she stated.
Such a factor did not exist in Lagos on the time.
On the lookout for Nigerian meals whereas on a shoot in India isn’t at all times simple both.
“Once I took my Nigerian actors to India, we needed to go and supply Nigerian meals as a result of the palette, regardless that all of us like spice, it isn’t the identical,” Ahuja stated. Apart from being the director, producer and at instances actor, “I am additionally the translator, and never essentially solely the language, however tradition” too, she added.
