Nigerian film industry: Classics Vs The Remakes

The Nigerian film industry, known as Nollywood, dates back to the late 90s. And as expected, Nollywood has evolved with time. The difference between the storyline, visual effects, sound effects etc., from back then and now is glaring, and thanks to technology, we have made adequate improvements.

Classics Vs The Remakes

The Nigerian film industry, known as Nollywood, dates back to the late 90s. And as expected, Nollywood has evolved with time. The difference between the storyline, visual effects, sound effects etc., from back then and now is glaring, and thanks to technology, we have made adequate improvements.

As the saying goes, you can’t forget your roots, and this has become quite evident with the recent remakes of some of our beloved classic movies. The movies being remade have remained popular due to their originality, creativity and the fact that they primarily reflected the living experience of Nigerians. Some movie enthusiasts still talk about these movies with fondness.

For instance, Living in Bondage came out in 1992 and was so successful that the local market has experienced an influx of movies exploring money rituals and occultic themes. Also, Nneka the pretty serpent [1992] inspired the stereotypic movies where lovely young ladies are portrayed as seductresses.

Living in Bondage 2

However, things changed when Ramsey Nouah decided to make a sequel to Living in Bondage. We were no longer getting imitations but direct sequels and remakes. The film had record-breaking success, overshadowing most of the recently released movies and thus starting the ‘remake’ trend, as I like to call it.

The next classic movie to be remade was Nneka the pretty serpent, which performed so poorly it had us questioning whether it was a good idea to keep up this trend. The storyline was a slap to the face of everyone who watched the original movie and appreciated it. The same happened with Rattlesnake, Aki and Paw Paw and their remakes.

A large number of films made in the early days are still of great interest to most Nigerians because they showcased stories deeply rooted in our culture as opposed to the new Nollywood productions.

Having seen how these remakes other than Living in Bondage have failed to live up to their predecessors, is it a wise decision to continue remaking the classics?. Asides from the fact that these movies are a way to capitalize on our nostalgia, what else is their aim?

Glamour girls [1994]

Well, 2022 is another year, and Glamour girls, initially released in 1994, is set to be remade and released sometime in the year. And with the unfortunate reality that 8 out of 10 remakes turn out to be letdowns despite having different directors, I hope this isn’t another failure or another idea to bring back a movie just because of money.