Makuwa and the beauty of detail in Aisha Halilu’s films

In addition to a catchy soundtrack and a complex and carefully developed script written by Nasir Gwangwazo, the quality of the production was higher than other Hausa films I had seen at the time. Though I was bothered by the way the film exoticized Niger, it remains one of the Hausa films I most recommend. […]

In addition to a catchy soundtrack and a complex and carefully developed script written by Nasir Gwangwazo, the quality of the production was higher than other Hausa films I had seen at the time. Though I was bothered by the way the film exoticized Niger, it remains one of the Hausa films I most recommend. Sanafahna was the first film of executive producer Aisha Halilu, a former banker, who tells me her love of watching films turned into a love of making them. Since Hajiya Aisha founded Kumbo Productions and produced Sahnafahna, she has become, I would argue, one of the most important executive producers in the Hausa film industry. More than just an executive producer who funds productions, she also writes scripts, provides locations and costumes, and does subtitles. Her films are some of the most carefully conceived and prepared Hausa films I’ve seen. Her latest film Makuwa, subtitled in English as “the Uncertainty” is no exception. The plot is so full of twists and turns that I don’t want to talk too much about the story for fear of giving the whole thing away. So, here I will focus more on externals of production and ways in which Aisha Halilu’s films are pushing the Hausa film industry forward.

One of the things that first drew me to Hausa films was my admiration of the acting. I had not really been interested in Nigerian film before my encounter with Hausa films. I thought the performances in English films were often over-exaggerated and wooden. Actors recited flowery passages no one would actually ever say, except perhaps in Onitsha market literature. This is something that has gotten dramatically better in the best English films, but when I first encountered Hausa films, I was struck most by the fluid and natural performances. Hausa actors seemed to speak in their films the way people spoke in real life, with a range of emotions from the exaggerated comedy of d’an Ibro and Saratu Gidado (Daso) to the playful banter between Sani Danja and Mansura Isah to the kind gravity of parent-figures like Kabir Nakongo and Amina Garba. In Makuwa (1,2, and 3), which was directed by Sulaiman Alubankudi and produced by Abubakar Hayatu, with Aisha Halilu as executive producer, the actors have the kind of thoughtful script and skillful direction that allows them to showcase their talent. My favourite moments were those where the story was told with no dialogue. In one scene, the mother of Fatima (Sadiya “Gyale” Mohammad) played by Hajara Usman walks in to find her daughter grieving. She just looks at her and then walks back out of the room. All the emotion that is needed to tell the story is in that look. There is no need for dialogue or generic words of comfort.

Shehu Hassan Kano and Hajara Usman are convincing as concerned parents and Nura Imam as Sadiyya’s handsome but truant fiancée. Supporting appearances are made by two of the Hausa film industry’s most beloved actresses both of whom passed away last year: Hauwa Ali Dodo, to whom the film is dedicated, and Amina Garba, who died after the editing was finished. But the top performances go to Sadiya Mohammad and Abubakar Hayatu who play the lead roles. The two actors are at their peak here, giving moving and mature performances as a young couple faced with an unthinkable challenge. Sadiya Mohammad portrays Fatima, a loving, sweet-tempered, though forgetful young bride. Abubakar Hayatu plays the charming and loving self-made architect, Haidar, who marries her. Hayatu well deserved his 2010 nomination for a SIM award as best actor in a supporting role in Makuwa, although I don’t understand the nomination for supporting role, as he was clearly playing the male lead. Haidar, as written by Aisha Halilu and acted by Abubakar Hayatu, strikes me as the kind of ideal lover women develop in their fiction because they would like to meet more men like him. Like the lead in Sanafahna, Haidar is the faithful, devoted husband that women dream of. He cares for his wife when she is unwell, cooking for her and taking time out from his busy work as an architect to come home and check on her throughout the day, refusing to abandon her even when she cannot take care of the home.

Abubakar Hayatu is good at these sort of roles. The psychological space of Makuwa is similar to the film Balaraba, directed by Aminu Saira, with a script by Nasir Gwangwazo, that I reviewed earlier in this column. In Balaraba, Abubakar Hayatu plays the honourable and loving husband of the spurned and afflicted heroine played (again) by Sadiya Mohammad. But in Makuwa, despite his goodness, his background as a self-made man and his conflict with a demanding father gives him a fully three dimensional character. Even though he is an ideal husband, he still occasionally raises his voice at his beloved wife and is capable of beating a man bloody when he tries to take advantage of one Haidar loves.

Aisha Halilu brings a polish and detail to her productions that other Hausa films often lack. Sometimes the houses in Hausa films have a generic or unlived-in feel. You can see the same furniture in ten different films, and most of the action tends to take place in the parlour and blank bedrooms. But every set here has a lived in quality and shows us the entire house. There are bottles of carefully arranged cosmetics near the mirror in the bedroom, toothbrushes in the bathroom, and plates in the kitchen. In the opening wedding scene, there are musicians with the kakaki and drum and a whole range of extras that make the scene look as if it were lifted from an actual wedding. The costumes have a level of detail and personality that add to the characters who wear them. Technically, the lighting is good, and sound quality is improved, with voices are as clear in the long shots as they are in the close-ups.

Of course, the film is not perfect. Some of the scenes seem a bit loosely situated in the plot and on the copy of the film I had, the sound seem to cut in and out, a postproduction problem that perhaps occurred in while reproducing and compressing to vcd. There was also an occasional third party buzz that sounded as if it were introduced in post production. It’s a shame that a film, otherwise done so well, suffered from technical problems at that stage of production. Overall, however, the production quality is superior and I recommend the film as much for its attention to detail as for the well developed and attention-grabbing story. If you hadn’t paid attention to Kumbo production and Aisha Halilu before, it’s time to start now. These are the films that drive the Hausa film industry forward.