By Femi Babadudu
Three years after co-producing the Ebola movie 93 Days, Bolanle Austen-Peters makes her directorial debut on cinema with The Bling Lagosians.
Before now, she had carved a niche for herself in stage production and for building theatres around Lagos.
The lawyer cum businesswoman is well known for founding the culture hub/restaurant Terra Kulture in 2003 and producing critically acclaimed musicals Saro, Wakaa and Fela & The Kalakuta Queens which made it to London’s West End Theatre.
Venturing into comedy drama after the poorly marketed 93 Days must have been a bold move and it remains to be seen if Austen-Peters will reap bountifully where the likes of Mo Abudu and Ayo (AY) Makun have made a kill.
The Bling Lagosians depicts the lifestyle of the opulent minority of the Lagos social circle whose love for the limelight, designer clothes and expensive cars compete with the socially induced pressure of keeping up appearances in order to stay relevant in a circle that takes no prisoners.
The Holloways provide a mirror for this as a once successful family which has to fight individual battles in the face of the Assets Management Company foreclosing St. Ives Towers, the city’s imposing conglomerate owing to Akin Holloway’s (Gbenga Titiloye) debts running into billions.
Amidst this, his wife Mopelola Holloway (Elvina Ibru) insists on hosting her 51st million-dollar birthday party which must outshine the previous year’s talk-of-the-town bash. The buzz around the planned shindig soon sets the banks after Holloway as he is given a herculean ultimatum to balance the books or lose everything.
The story starts with an opening narration that gives the viewer the impression that it would be a fast-paced plot but it eventually takes too long to really unfold. It, however, does not take long for the viewer to notice the excellent costume and sound which are constant for the duration of the movie. The choice of Niniola’s song ‘Designer’ is so apt as the lyrics are in tandem with the theme of the movie.
The Holloways struggle to get their priorities right in the face of mounting pressure but still find it hard to adapt to the austere times in which they suddenly find themselves.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the movie is the casting. The mixture of tested actors like Jide Kosoko, Norbert Young, Toyin Abraham, Osas Ighodaro and Monalisa Chinda with newbies Sharon Ooja, Samuel Animashaun (Brother Shaggi) and Bamike Olawunmi (BamBam) should appeal to a wide audience.
Having said that, there is some inconsistency in the acting as some of the cast simply took their real self into the movie. This seems to be the major bane of Nollywood and it seems stakeholders do not really know how to address it.
After struggling with the plot for about 90 minutes, the viewer is rushed to an underwhelming climax into the privileged lives of the rich and famous.
With eyes clearly on making a better showing at the cinema than 93 Days, The Bling Lagosians should appease panic-stricken investors with a promise that everything that glitters is gold.
Like others on the Nollywood comedy bandwagon, Austen-Peters has gifted us something that is more glossy than solid.
