Beautiful Nigerian Actress, Bimbo Akintola, believes that she has stayed long enough in the Nigerian movie industry for her to be able to determine the kinds of movies she would feature in.
Appearing on Rubbin’ Minds on Channels Television, Bimbo spoke about several issues about her life, her art and future plans.
Regarded by many as one of the most talented Nigerian actresses of all time, Bimbo has been away from the movie scene for some time and she said that her decision became important because there was need to be in charge of her career, as she did not feel it was important anymore to be everywhere.
“I want to do movies that mean something and touch people’s lives, I don’t want to do mediocre work”, she said, noting that her decision was not to imply that Nollywood was mediocre but that movie-making for her at her level must mean something beyond entertainment.
He said that while indeed the industry was moving in the right direction with the entry of more professionals, she believes that “the real direction is distribution”. She was of the view that the industry would grow better when Nigerian films get distributed to places where they are being appreciated with the real producers being the beneficiaries of the sales.
The controversies surrounding the censorship of the movie ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ by Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie, also came to the fore, with Miss Akintola being of the view that the clamp-down on the movie was ridiculous.
She believed that the essence of censorship was to create categories, explaining that ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ could have been classified as a movie for viewers aged 18 and above.
She admitted that there might indeed be sensitive scenes in the movie which the Censors Board was wary of for the sake of national unity but she noted that the attention being drawn to it makes the situation worse.
According to her, people could have gone to see the movie as a normal movie but the controversies about its scenes have created an air of curiosity which makes some people believe that there is something to hide in the history of Nigeria.
Of course Rubbin’ Minds got personal and Ebuka on this edition started with Bimbo’s relationship with Afrobeat artiste, Dede Mabiaku and the believe that Bimbo’s career took a downturn when she dated the musician.
Bimbo insisted that Dede was not to blame for her decision to take it slow in the business. She said that Dede remained her very good friend, whom she had no regrets dating. She said that Dede was a good person but Nigerians just love to blame him for things because of his “bad boy image” being an Afrobeat musician.
Her current relationship status came next and Bimbo admitted that she was in a relationship but maintained that she would not be coerced into marriage as it was an important aspect of human life that she could not afford to rush. She refused to disclose the identity of the man in her life or her marriage plans.
While many are craving her presence in the Box Office, Bimbo has been busy on Television with new TV shows and she spoke about her idea of cooking with children on television which she said was one of the ventures that give her joy as she is a lover of kids.
‘Hear Word’ the stage play is another of Bimbo’s passions which she has remained committed to.
The Theatre Arts graduate drew attention to the originality and depth of stage performances which gives her more fulfillment with her background in the arts.
The ongoing stage drama, ‘Hear Word’ holds at the Muson Center in Lagos every weekend, and it focuses on issues surrounding women and the girl child, another area which Bimbo has been greatly passionate about.
Bimbo Akintola has been doing movies as she wants her fans to know that her hiatus was based on the need to do things the right way and she boasted that when some of the movies she featured in are released, her fans would admit that they were worth it.
Bimbo had generous accolades for fellow actresses, Omotola Jalade Ekehinde and Genevive Nnaji who are quite younger to her but whom she is very proud of.
She singled out Omotola for having represented the good side of the women in the movie industry with her grace, talent and success in marriage; a combination she said many believe was impossible in the Nigerian movie industry.
