By Nimusiima
Over the past weeks, the internet and banter around pots of gin were awash with a blockbuster, one of its kind in Uganda, which awaited release — Luzira: Escape From Uganda. It was said that it will change the shape of our struggling movie industry. It was said that the movie buffs will feast on it for eons. And it was said that Jose Chameleone was among the cast not as a singer, but an actor. It would be interesting to see a music doctor morph into a different character on screen. Fingers were tightly crossed. Feelers shot up.
And Friday evening, thank heavens, the movie premiered at a red carpet shindig at Serena Hotel. It felt like Hollywood. Okay, that’s overstretched, but it was akin to such setup where folks milled over the red carpet and posed for paparazzi and stood forward to be counted. Scores of people pitched up at the movie premiere. It mirrored how Ugandans have swiftly shifted their interests. We now have movie premieres held at grand hotels and attract big kahunas from this tiny city of ours. However, as the movie was unveiled to the public, it dawned on me that the movie that was budgeted around $1M was worth the salt and every penny.
The cinematography seems to have been rich. The camera angles were not shabby and the plot was as flawless as expected. Well, regardless of expecting a Prison Break kind of setting with Michael Scofield and his peers trying to outrun themselves away from the jaws of prison. The plot, somewhat, borrows that twist. The acting was spot on, especially the Ugandan acts: Sam Bagenda and Michael Wawuyo. They were at their usual best, nailing their characters. And of course, much as Jose Chameleone hasn’t been behind the camera for acting besides shooting videos, his character as a drug lord wasn’t badly executed. The movie was shot in over 60 locations in Uganda; something that explains how serious the brains behind the movie were. If Uganda remains at it, who knows, we can elbow Nollywood off the throne and Hollywood will stick its nose in the air like a greyhound and smell competition coming its way.