(123): Kannywood Movie Review: Mati a Zazzau
Director: Yaseen Auwal
Producer: Rahama Sadau
& Sadiq Sani Sadiq
Language: Hausa
Year: 2020
Company: Sadau Pictures
and Asmasan Pictures
Cast: Sadiq Sani Sadiq, Tahir I. Tahir, Rabi’u Rikadawa, Adam A. Zango, Rahama Sadau,
Hadiza Blell, Umar Gombe, etc.
So far, only very few successful titles in Kannywood have become a franchise.
Beside Adam A. Zango’s Basaja, I can only
mention Yaseen Auwal’s Mati character. While the former deals with financial rickety
in an urban, techno-scientific set, the latter is a social drama in a rural
setting in the past. The chronicle of Mati began with Wani Gari and then Mati da
Lado and now Mati a Zazzau. Had
the filmmaker foreseen where the film could go, I guess the first of the series
would have “Mati” in its title. Now, the character has become a commodity as he
acts in short films and others imitate him elsewhere. At the risk of jumping
the gun, I can confirm that Mati a Zazzau
has a sequel. So, fans of this exciting franchise will still have more to
watch.
As a
continuation, the film starts from where Mati (acted by Sadiq Sani Sadiq)
wanders in an unknown village following his escape from Rimau. He and his
brother-accomplice, Lado (Tahir I. Tahir) duped the people of Rimau village for
years by pretending to be learned in Islam. As soon as the townspeople discovered
their identity, they chased them away. By sheer coincidence, Mati finds himself
in Zazzau, where his late, rich father had lived and left a substantial treasure
in the hands of a confidant in a village named Sauda. The rest of the story
revolves around Mati’s effort if not intrigue to get the wealth. Others, too,
including Lado; their father’s old friend, Barau (Rabi’u Rikadaw) and their
brother-in-law and his wife join the struggle to get the fortune.
On the other
side, the village head of Sauda is avaricious. Thus, he wants to get a share of
the wealth. In his frantic effort to do that, he marries his daughter, Madina
(Hadiza Blell) to Mati, among other undignified things. Madina’s brother,
Yarima (Adam A. Zango), to whose friend Madina was betrothed to, is not happy with her forced
marriage. Thus, he leads the discovery of Mati’s machination and, eventually,
disrupts everything. Iliya (Aminu Sheriff Momoh) is another interesting character
that plays a significant role. He is a son to the sick, confidant who knows the
locations of the treasure.
The film is
doubtlessly successful as per Kannywood’s box-office record. It, reportedly,
pulled out audience more than any other movie before it, thanks to a
well-calibrated publicity and promotion by Rahama Sadau and her team. Her fame
and, of course, that of the versatile Sadiq Sani Sadiq must have played a role.
If one looks at the film’s poster, the size of Rahama’s photo alone may
convince her fans to see the movie, not knowing that she plays a minor role in
the film. The film’s director is yet another possible factor that must have
invited the audience to the cinema, for he has a history of directing topical
movies.
However, the
film, like others, has problems here and there. I will begin with its clichéd background (tensed) music. As I pointed out to the director as well as other Kannywood
filmmakers, I found the same tune in more than 50 films. It’s indeed better
than stealing background tracks from Game
of Thrones, Lord of the Ring,
Life of Pie, among other globally
known films, which, however, some directors shamelessly did. However, it’s high
time they abandoned this one, too.
The character of
Madina does not fit. She is not an actor. Moreover, her Hausa, as a princess of
an archetypal Hausa kingdom, leaves so much to be desired. Likewise, Momoh is ‘too’
outstanding as an actor whose character deserves to be well-established. No, the audience
just sees him beside his sick father’s bed. Also, most of the indoor shots at
Momoh’s house is too dark. Therefore, the identity of both his parents is
barely known. A little addition of light would have helped the room’s mise-en-scĂšne
as some of the film’s main actions take place there. It is the same in a few
other scenes, such as Zango’s first appearance. The film is audio-visual for
such a reason.
There are
equally too many coincidences regarding how Mati, Lado, Barau and others
converge in Sauda town. If Mati comes to the village by luck, there is a need
to reveal how others arrive there. In films, nothing happens without reason. The
narrative structure or plot of Mati a
Zazzau is, in fact, its biggest drawback as far as I can tell. The thumb
rule of cause-and-effect is not respected very well, hence the many coincidences
in the story.
Generally, the
film’s location is beautiful. As per Kannywood standards, one can hardly fault
its usage of props, including the costumes, except the box containing the much-talked
treasure. It sounds pretty empty. Besides a few instances where the visual is
dark, perhaps due to the cinema’s screen, the overall picture quality is remarkable.
The sound is also fantastic. It makes the song a timely ‘comic relief’ – even though
the whole film is comedic.
Finally, I rate
the film 3/5. I also recommend it, especially to anyone who has followed the
franchise of Mati from the beginning. You may not enjoy the movie if you haven’t
watched the previous sequels. You may also prefer the previous Mati da Lado to Mati a Zazzau as I do.
Reviewed by
Muhsin Ibrahim
University of Cologne
Factual assessment. I am very sure, all the issues you stated, is noted. Next sequel will be better.
ReplyDeleteGood Job sir, This will serve as a motivational review I hope Directors and Producers will follow this link in order to correct their mistakes. Thank you.
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