Shareefah Abiola Andu Expanding Her Horizons
Shareefah Abiola Andu has made a name for herself in Nigeria as a successful business woman. She is a top fashion icon in the country known for the popular Islamic merchandising brand, Arabel. The diva recently rendered her fans speechless after sharing the big news of her exploits with her movie debut, “The Two Aishas”, a story of friends turned rivals. As the film is being premiered today and released to cinemas nationwide tomorrow, Andu recounts to Funke Olaode her exploits in filmmaking.
Her cosy home in the heart of Lekki, an upper class neighbourhood in Lagos, is befitting of a woman who has walked through the ladder of success to earn herself a place. Mrs. Shareefah Abiola Andu who is known for the popular Islamic merchandising brand, Arabel has established herself in Nigeria’s space as a successful business woman. The 61 year old grandmother of four and native of Abeokuta in Ogun State began her career as a banker and later as a journalist at Nigerian Tribune. And in 1998, having identified the gap, she dabbled into Islamic merchandise by floating Arabel, a departmental store for Islamic materials which brought her fame and fortune.
Andu has always been an entertainment enthusiast. Her unending passion for Television production led her to a TV programme around Ramadan 15 years ago tagged: “Living in the light of Allah. She also has a book called “Living in the Light of Allah, a daily devotional that she used to write every month. She turned it into a TV programme but only aired during Ramadan on NTA2 Channel 5. So she has always been familiar with the camera, about production and so on.”
With her experience, no doubt, Andu has a tried and tested taste in entertainment. And then in 2017, she got a digital TV licence, Aleef TV where she does production but not movie production. In 2023 April, the budding business icon rendered her fans speechless after sharing some big news on her new exploits with the debut of her movie, “The Two Aishas,” a story of friends turned rivals.
In the movie, Kennywood’s most popular actresses, Rahama Sadau and Maryam Booth are set for a showdown in the new film which will premiere today and set to hit cinemas nationwide on Monday April 24. Produced by Arabel Productions, the family drama film pits the two actresses against each other in a tale of loyalty, betrayal and redemption.
The movie marks the executive production debut of the fashion icon in film production. Andu expressed her excitement about the film stating that “The Two Aishas” provided a new opportunity for me to expand my horizons, but this time through the lens of filmmaking. Indeed, there is a nexus between fashion and film, so this is not totally strange terrain for us. This marks an exciting new journey for Arabel and we are absolutely thrilled to share the output of this beautiful experience with the rest of the world.”
The Two Aishas movie according to her also stands for its humanitarian slant: the production team provided street kids with a rare opportunity to experience the magic of Nollywood by featuring them as movie extras. Other cast members include Paul Utomi, Akeem Ogara, and Shushu Abubakar. With special appearances by Nyma Akashat-Zibiri, Sulaiman Aledeh, Alero Edu, I.k. Okechukwu, Kunle Coker among others.
Talking glowingly about the film she said: “The Two Aishas is a film of love, rivalry, bitterness, friendship, forgiveness, faith in God (Allah) and reconciliation. It is not just your regular film, it is a film that you get more from it. We are Muslims, so we are conservative. You will see conservatism in the film, you will see culture in the film, you will see elegance in the film and you will see excellence in the film. You go out of the cinema room and you want to watch it again. The audience will feel like it is a time well-spent, because sometimes when people are watching some movies, by the time they are watching the 4 to 5 minutes, they know what is going to end the film. But this is full of suspense, you are going to get into suspense on every level. When you think it is done, it is just starting.”
With a stint in journalism and a romance with TV production in the later years, Andu believes she is not newly venturing into movie production or the world of entertainment. Then how did she come about the Two Aishas Movies’ concept?
“I have actually been nursing this idea for over 11 years. I like to read comics and then about 11 years ago I came up with a comic called ‘The Two Aishas.’ It was just a comic. I did about two episodes. I did the story and my graphic artist did the booklet. Then along the line, when I wanted to go into a movie, I thought, ‘why don’t you just pick that book and do something?’ Although it was for teenagers, this has now progressed to adulthood. In the film, you will see bits of teenagers which progressed into adulthood.”
As a successful business woman, Andu’s experiences garnered over the years came in handy in her new exploits. Again, working with a team who aligned with her vision helped to pull through.
“It has been a smooth ride. Honestly, I got a very good producer in Florence Okechukwu. And while I was writing, I called a young niece of mine, Dijah, the musician. I am sure people know her. I said, Dijah I am going to do this movie, what are we going to do? And she said I am going to introduce you to some of the big names. She introduced me to Rahama Sadau and Maryam Booth. Again, my producer is very, very resourceful, so she brought a lot of the cast. And then a lot of the people that I want, that I have known and I have spotted in one way or the other, even people who have done some things for me on my TV station joined us. I also sourced for new talents, new faces because I want the story to be believable.”
Considering the saturated film industry in Nigeria, Andu is optimistic that ‘The Two Aishas’ movie will break even. She explained: “This is a niche. You have a market that has never been served. This is the first Muslim movie that would hit the cinemas. There could be northern movies, there could be Yoruba movies or English movies but this is the first Islamic movie that would hit the cinema. It is coming at a time that is so auspicious, the Ramadan period. We are using it to celebrate the end of Ramadan. We will finish Ramadan maybe on May 22nd, and then the film will hit the cinema on the 24th. So, it is like you have about 100 million people and this is the film. So you have a catchment, it is a block viewership and that is very, very huge. It is a Muslim oriented movie but made for everybody. People can watch and appreciate that this is a wonderful movie and that I want to learn something from here and I am enjoying the experience. It is a movie that you enjoy and say ‘Oh, this is beautiful.’ People like beauty things and you will see a lot of beauty, a lot of panache, a lot of suspense and a lot of humour in the film[WU1] .”
Life in the news room or a TV producer is a different ball game compared to movie production. Andu said she handled the pressure on the movie sets like a pinch of salt. “Patient, patient, patient and patient, sometimes you want to tear your hair out, sometimes you want to cry, sometime you feel like what am I doing here during the shooting process. But it didn’t start with the shooting, it started with the writing of the story. And then you read a story, you read and read, and read over again. Then when you have the actual people, where you have all manner of people with all their characters. The tension is there. But at the end of the day when you are through you feel so relieved. So, it was a very wonderful experience for me. I didn’t regret it and I am sure I am going to do a lot more next year.”
Movie productions require huge funding, how did she cope? “My sister, it is a lot of money, a lot of money. When people saw the movie, they were like, oh, the passion is just so awesome. I thought about Dubai and Turkey combined together. So they are like this is passion. The fashion elements also are captivating. It is like watching a very glamorous high-class movie. The setting, the people and everything about it, was simply classy. The normal movie calendar is Friday but because Ramadan is finishing about that period, we have to respect that. So, the public holiday which is on the 24th is when the movie is coming out. So, we are having a premier on the 23rd in Lekki and it is going to be a very big premiere.
After this movie what next? Should Nigerians watch out for more from her stable? “Of course, this is a new journey and a new beginning of a new era. Nigerians should watch out.”
As Nigerians wait in expectation of Andu of Arabel’s movie debut, the business magnate is also seeing production in bigger pictures as talks are ongoing to collaborate with streaming giants such as Netflix, Amazon as well as international airlines.
“I have a distributor that will be distributing to the cinemas in Nigeria to start with and all over Africa. Also, talks are ongoing with VOD and airlines. When you are travelling anywhere in the world, it will be in-flight entertainment. So there are plans to have it on those platforms as well. This is a movie that is made for Nigerians and the global audience,” she stated.
