Kannywood: How I produced ‘Abu Hassan’ — Zahraddeen Sani

Zahraddeen Sani is the executive producer of  ‘Abu Hassan’ one of the latest films in the Hausa movie industry, Kannywood that got people talking. In this interview, the Kaduna state indigene spoke about the motivation and the challenges he encountered while producing the film.   How did you begin your acting career? To be honest, […]

Zahraddeen Sani is the executive producer of  ‘Abu Hassan’ one of the latest films in the Hausa movie industry, Kannywood that got people talking. In this interview, the Kaduna state indigene spoke about the motivation and the challenges he encountered while producing the film.

 

How did you begin your acting career?

To be honest, I must say I drew my passion for acting in Kannywood from my childhood addiction to visual images. I watched a lot of movies from Bollywood, Nollywood, Hollywood since when I was a child and in fact in our house everybody knows that when I start watching films I don’t sleep until I finish. As time goes on, with the development in mind, I started getting more inclined to some actors from our local industries which eventually led me to Fati Mohammed. Fati Mohammed introduced me to Ali Nuhu and other prominent figures in the Kannywood. My first appearance in acting career was in a film produced by Ali Nuhu, it was an old film called ‘Makamaci’.

What was your first appearance on set like?

Laughter….ah! It was a very challenging experience. I didn’t know it was that tasking. When I mounted the stage I was unable to even speak for ‘fear of the camera’ so to say. I was very timid and shy, I spoke with quivering lips, my dialogue shaky typical of a novice. Ali Nuhu had to come to my rescue in several occasions. He calmed me down and told me what to do to overcome the fear and gradually I adapted.

Your latest film, ‘Abu Hassan’ has gained fame. How did you conceive it?

I must say so far in my acting career with the Kannywood, I have never produced a film that met my need as ‘Abu Hassan’. I have produced many films but this is my favourite. It was my story. I came up with the story idea by observing the way people, innocent Nigerians are being kidnapped on daily basis by some group of individuals who gang up themselves to hold the nation to ransom. These unfortunate events actually inspired the story line for the film to showcase the resilience of Nigerian forces including the military and the police to tame the wave of terrorism. The central idea was to show the world that there are individuals in the Nigerian armed forces and the police who are willing to sacrifice their lives for the country.

What was the central message the film tried to pass?

The message I was trying to communicate with this film, is that kidnappers or anyone who has held this country to ransom should no longer be given listening ears through the law. They should be killed up-front silently before the public even know they have been apprehended.

What challenges did you face in producing this film?

Well, Alhamdullilahi, the shooting was successful as none of the casts gave me any headache, Adam A. Zango cooperated with me totally and he helped to see that the result meets the desired standard. The film director, Mohammed Alfa Zazi also did his part excellently; everybody did what was expected of them on location. The challenge came when I took the film to the censorship board. They asked why it should be named ‘Abu Hassan’ but I told them nothing was special about the name. I told them I got my title from an old Indian film produced in 1975 ‘Ali Baba and 40 thieves’, there is also a novel to that film and the actors of the film are Dramandra and Imam Alik. The name of the boss was Abu Hassan and that was how I picked the name.

How did you obtain those costumes and arms used in the film?

Well after we had finished the paper work for the film, I observed that the character would need heavy clothing and military hard ware to make the film look real so we started thinking of how to go about it. For Abu Hassan’s boys we bought some of the attire they wore but the military wares and the arms used were borrowed from the authorities. But you know borrowing something like that, you have to give satisfactory reason, you have to explain convincingly what you want to use them for. That of course was part of the challenges we faced.