Veteran actress, Binta Ayo Mogaji-Oduleye turned 55 recently and she opened up to Entertainer about her career, home, movie industry, and her rumoured relocation to the United Kingdom among other issues. Enjoy it.
You turned 55 recently (March 9), looking back, what have you gained and what have you lost?
Thank you, I am very excited turning 55 but sincerely, I have gained a lot and lost nothing except my dad who died about 48 years ago.
What do you miss in him?
I miss everything a child will miss in a dad. It’s not that we lacked anything after his death, but when we’re asked to invite our parents to school then and you see some students coming over with their dads, you felt bad. Again, something will happen to you and you would think of your late father, saying, ‘assuming my dad was alive, this wouldn’t have happened to me’.
After Jombo, you have not shot another film. Why is this so?
Yes, you a right, Jombo was my last movie, but right now, I’m working on a new one entitled, The Third Party. We are putting finishing touches to it now. The film is being shot in collaboration with a UK-based company and I don’t know the format the release will take, but I’m not considering going to the cinema with it, it might be screened to a select audience or I could do a launch in Lagos.
Why did it take you more than 10 years to produce another movie after Jombo?
It’s more than that. Jombo Part 1 was released in 2003 and the second part in 2006. The reason is that I produced Jombo to make a statement because I don’t believe in producing film for producing sake; I decided to produce it so as to tell people how a standard film should be. And the new film, Third Party is my debut as a director. And I didn’t act in it.
Why?
It’s because I’m the director, I can’t be directing and at the same time be in front of the camera, acting. I co-produced and directed the film. That’s to make another statement that, I can act and can also direct a standard movie.
What’s the film all about and who are the major characters in it?
It is a compact movie, a family sitcom, which centers on six major characters. I featured Ronnie Dikko, Kunle Coker, Bolanle Ninalowo, Lucy Hammed, Kokocha, my girl from the UK, and Tobi Abraham. I had someone on Skype and a maiguard. The movie centers on parents who are too strict with their children, thinking that they will behave like saints only to find out that the kids are not what they think.
Is the movie based on true-life experience?
No, it’s a fiction.
Is it true that you relocated to England some years ago?
No, I have not been to England in the last five years. I often go to the United States of America. However, my husband relocated to Ireland and I do visit him when I have the time. He comes home often, at least twice in a year.
You seem to be quiet acting wise lately, why?
People who say I’m quiet have not been watching movies. I have been so busy in the last two years to the extent that, I often felt sorry for myself that I might break down one day. At that point, I would just travel out of the country and take a rest, because if I don’t do that, people will still invite me to locations.
You’ve been acting for about 40 years; have you really made money from the movie industry?
I’m a professional actress and I make enough money to feed my family and me, you know how this job is.
But you are not flamboyant?
If there is anything to be flamboyant about, I will be flamboyant. Mind you, I’m a technocrat and career actress and I’m not like those who call themselves superstars. For the fact that I still take part in movies means I’m still relevant. I don’t have any other job except acting and it is paying my bills.