Hush Is the Answer!

Ugo Aliogo

The evening was filled with much glitz and glamour. The lighting and the white sofas gave the venue, one of the Victoria Island-based Four-Point Sheraton Hotel’s halls, a wonderful ambience. At the left hand corner was a fair-complexioned young man, who had a beautifully drawn 3D tattoo on the right side of his face. You can almost guess who that was. DJ Sose, as he is called, had been the man on the wheels of steel rolling out party tracks to set the tone for the evening.

The event had in attendance the entertainment industry such heavyweights as Rita Dominic, Uti Nwachukwu, Richard Mofe-Damijo, Thelma Okoduwa, Meg Otanwa, Rotimi Adelegan and others. Mofe-Damijo’s persona shone brightly, competing with his all-white attire. He is a selfie delight.

And to the reason everyone was gathered, one can say it’s quite special for lovers of telenovelas. For many years, foreign telenovelas have flooded our television space with Wild Rose, Maria De Los Angeles, The Rich also Cry, Lady of the Rose, Secrets of the Sand, and the most recently, Telemundo. Nigerians have yearned for something more organic and completely indigenous.

The answer is Hush. A tele-novella which focuses on the political and fashion industry in Nigeria, Hush is set in Lagos using all Nigerian cast. The producer, Rogers Ofime, who had just completed airing a telenovela, Hotel Majestic, remarked that there was a need to present another telenovela, “because of the success of Hotel Majestic. We intend to tell a good story with Hush.”

The telenovela is aired on DSTV Africa Magic showcase Channel 151 on every weekday. There was also a short viewing session, after which the cast and crew members discussed their experiences with Hush and what the viewers should expect.

The Regional Director, M-Net West Africa, Wangi Mba-Uzoukwu noted that the new telenovela promises a lot of excitement, intrigue, suspense and romance. She was glad that the telenovela features a blend of Nollywood veterans and exciting new talents, “which promises to be an exciting watch for our viewers across Africa.”
“Many of our viewers remember our last telenovela, Hotel Majestic, and all the excitement that show brought to their screens,” she added. “Hush promises to exceed that level of excitement and we urge viewers to tune in on every weekday.”

“We are happy to be doing this project. We do hope that you love this telenovela as much as possible. Enough passion and energy has gone into the telenovela from behind the scene. It is a one hour blockbuster which offers a wonderful opportunity for people to watch. We are really excited and we want to thank everyone for watching Africa Magic. It is proudly Nigerian with hundred percent production from the idea generation to the scripting.”
The lead male character in the telenovela, Richard Mofe Damijo relished the moment of seeing the fruitage of his hard work.

“It was a lot of work putting it together. People are constantly looking for escapism, something to hold unto. Telenovelas provides something for you to hold unto with hush. It is a combination of the upper class, middle class, and lower class. Hush is bringing in diversity into the entertainment industry. They are combining fashion, money, politics and lifestyle. The excitement will make your head spin.”

Another male character in the telenovela, Akeem Rahman who interpreted the character of Chief Lasisi described the production as a welcome development.

“I feel Nigerian viewers deserve this type of thing. It is going to be a sure threat to soap operas, due to the standard of production, its coming to terrestrial television, and with the weight behind the production, it is going to displace foreign soap operas.’’

“There is no reason for comparison of Nigeria and America telenovelas. But we should watch and see what they have done over the years before doing any comparison. We can only do comparison when we see the product side by side. Then say we have attained such height. In the hush, I acted as Chief Lasisi. I have done a lot of soaps. But this one is totally different, because the approach and standard, is unique.

“Hush is a political story mixed with family life, and fashion. But it is more of power play. It is expected that it is will shake not only the Nigeria audience, but the world. The telenovela will be greatly received by the Nigerian market. We want something of this nature to challenge the soap operas on local television. We need something to drive away those foreign soaps such as Telemundo.

“We want our Nigeria soap to dominate the market and stop these foreign soaps from taking money from the economy. Hush is a continuous story which will be shot till November. The telenovela had three directors, and two continuity managers,” he revealed.