Mike Ezuruonye’s sophomore movie as a director/producer Lagos Real Fake Life opened in cinemas last month, and while I bemoaned the movie’s overpopulation of star actors and a storyline hamstrung by sloppy acting, fans of Ezuruonye came out to watch the actor’s latest comedy. I know this because I saw him behind the ticket counter on release day, wearing a promotional blue t-shirt and dizzyingly flashing his white teeth at everyone.

In a recent interview with VibeNG, Ezuruonye spoke about Nollywood and the emergence of the term New Nollywood, which the actor doesn’t like and calls his peers “hypocrites” if they identify with the new term. “First of all, I hate the term New and Old Nollywood because people are trying to cause a divide. Nollywood is Nollywood, so any actor or actress using that term is just being a hypocrite because they were made from the same old era.”

 

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Nollywood actor and film producer – Mike Ezuruonye says; Anyone saying “I’m New Nollywood” is a hypocrite. As he covers the latest edition of Vibe.ng Magazine. I challenge any celebrity saying that they are “New Nollywood”. They are all hypocrites, because they were made from the old era. He says; First of all, I hate the term New and Old Nollywood because people are trying to use it to cause a divide. Nollywood is Nollywood, so any actor or actress using that term is just being a hypocrite. He talks more on Nollywood, as he expresses that most movies now try to emulate the Western culture and he refuses to be part of that. He insists on movies that will tell the world about Nigeria, which is why he released a recent movie titled, “Lagos Real Fake Life”. A movie which talks about the life in Lagos. @mikeezu . A must read!!!! . Click @vibedotng bio to read more #Vibedotng #MikeEzuruonye

A post shared by Vibe.NG (@vibedotng) on Dec 12, 2018 at 1:05am PST

Asked about piracy in Nollywood, Ezuruonye gave some tea: “Many people don’t realise that Hollywood movies are more pirated than Nollywood movies but because they have more cinemas over there, the movie makers are still good. We honestly do not have the right structure. Yes, it’s growing but we haven’t gotten it right yet. The issue of royalties isn’t met, producers are lazy because they aren’t looking for other avenues to expand the clientele of Nollywood, content buyers are ripping people off and distribution is a big issue also. We need structures and cinemas in Nigeria.”

Lagos Real Fake Life has a cast ensemble that includes Odunlade Adekola, child comedienne Emmanuella, Nedu Wazobia, Mercy Aigbe, Annie Idibia, and the movie is currently being distributed by Film One Distribution.

Bernard Dayo

When Bernard Dayo isn’t writing about pop culture, he’s watching horror movies and reading comics and trying to pretend his addiction to Netflix isn’t a serious condition.