Two of the world’s biggest movies industries jam together in one of the biggest movie project in recent times. Nollywood, the Nigerian movies industry and India’s Bollywood are brought together by businesswoman-turned-filmmaker, Hamisha Daryani Ahuja together to produce a movie about intercultural loves story of a Nigerian lady and Indian man.
The movie which is titled Namaste Wahala is a combination of popular Indian word- Namaste (hello/peace) and Nigerian word Wahala (trouble). The cover may not tell the content of the book but the title Namaste Wahala tells what viewers should except- trouble. Namaste Wahala simply means Hello trouble.
Mostly, filmed in in English with a mix of Indian Hindi and Nigerian broken/English language, film producer Ahuja draws from experiences of life and culture living in both India and Nigeria. Ahuja had lived in Nigeria from childhood.
“I am Indian but I have lived in Nigeria my whole life. Everyone loves Bollywood and Nollywood, so I thought ‘how is it that no one has done a love story between the two?'” she told CNN.
What is also exciting about Namaste Wahala is not only because it is an intercultural movie but that it boasts of finest of Nigerian and Indian movie stars. Veteran Nollywood actors Joke Silva and Richard Mofe-Damijo lead cast alongside Indian top stars such as Segal Sujata and Ruslaan Mumtaz.
Apart from both boasting a large human population, Nigeria shares al lot with India in terms of their diverse culture. Marriage which is a theme explored in the movie is a big, lavish and colourful cultural event in both countries
Many Nigerians who were lovers of Bollywood movies in the 1980s are excited about the upcoming movie which was due to be released in April 2020. However, due to coronavirus global outbreak, the movie release date has now been postponed.
