Many are surprised that American-based filmmaker, Kola Amusan, has never worked with his elder brother, Bolaji Amusan, aka Mr. Latin. This has also raised insinuations that all may not be well between the brothers.
But while speaking with Sunday Scoop, Kola said there were no issues between them. He said, “My brother and I actually planned my latest movie, African Queen, together but he’s a busy person. He does other things apart from acting. We did the production in his home in Abeokuta and I also featured the students of his film school in the movie. Even for my first two Yoruba movies, Eyin Ookan and Isijibo, he was not available and I had to replace him with Pa James Ajirebi and Muyiwa Adegoke, respectively.”
Kola also stated that his personality was quite different from Mr. Latin, saying that he wasn’t sure he could make people laugh like his brother.
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He added, “But people say I am the finer version of Mr. Latin. My brother has really contributed to my success. He was the one who made my first trip to America possible. He had a show and included my name and Odunlade Adekola on the list of performers. Before the American trip, he had tried to get me a South African visa but it didn’t work out.”
Speaking on his new movie, which goes to the cinema soon, he said the characters were carefully chosen and they all put in their best to ensure its success.
“In African Queen, Segun Arinze plays the role of a minister while Tina Mba acts as his wife. The movie also features Norbert Young, Bolanle Ninalowo and Kayode Olaiya. We shot it in Abeokuta and Lagos, though we faced a lot of challenges during the production. You know it’s not easy bringing different people from different backgrounds together on a set.”
The graduate of Computer Science from the Lagos State University said he decided to produce an English movie so as to pass the message to a wider audience.
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“I am a Yoruba person but I also want to get my message out there and I will adopt any language that helps me do that. In African Queen, Hausa was spoken as well; so, it will be a globally accepted movie. Though I am not ruling out producing Yoruba movies in the near future, African Queen has been in my archive for years,” he explained.
