That Delta State-born Lillian Amah-Aluko is scarce in home videos does not mean she has called it quits with the vocation she so much loves – acting. Now fully into TV series, the movie producer tells Senior Copy Editor, INNOCENT ANORUO, among other things, that nothing in her work – even winning an Oscar – will make her feel fulfilled, but…
Why have you not been featuring in home movies?
Lillian Amah-Aluko
There are several seasons I have not been featuring in home movies, not that I’ve not been acting. I have done quite a number of TV programmes. In fact, I’ve been more on TV. One reason is time. I work; I have a full-time job. And I’m also more into the production side. So, that is not give me a lot of time to be on location.
Does it have anything to do with the standard of Nigerian movies?
Well, there are not many standard movies. There are standard movies, but they are not many. Maybe when they are available, I am not available. Or, I don’t get to hear about them until they are on location or when they are done or stuff like that. I will do films. I rather not do home video. When you talk about home video, you are talking about the plate CD or DVD. Nigeria has just been given a slot at the Oscars. I will like to feature in one of the films that will go to the Oscars. Those are the kind of films I’ve been looking forward to doing.
About four years ago, you premiered Jungle Ride at Silverbird Galleria. What has been happening to it?
Jungle Ride is currently being serialised on TV. It is going to appear on TVs very soon. We did a test-run on Superscreen; about three, four episodes. But the main thing is coming on some TV stations very soon.
Does it mean you are not going to have Jungle Ride on CD or DVD?
May be when we finish with the TV run, or at least when we would have done seven, eight, 10 episodes. Then we can put it on DVD for people to buy; so that those who missed any of the TV episodes can catch up.
What other projects are you working on presently?
One, the documovie I did with Samantha Iwowo and Benny Ali is not yet released. It is titled Runs. But we’ve almost finished the production. Runs will premiere before or by December, by the grace of God. That’s one project I am working on. I am also working on full length feature film with Samantha Iwowo. That is a great production. We hope to start shoot of that before the end of the year. Another thing I am working on is a TV series called Vessels of Clay. We want to go into principal photography of Vessels of Clay, hopefully, before the last quarter of the year.
President Goodluck Jonathan promised the Nigerian entertainment industry N2 billion grant some time ago. Have you started accessing that fund?
(Laughter) I have heard of it. And, yes, I have also applied. We are hoping. We hope that we will get the grant. It will certainly assist our work. But whether or not we get the grant, work goes on. We are hopeful.
How do you see the flesh-revealing fad among celebrities?
People say no publicity is bad publicity. We know that the game for most celebrities is publicity. So people will do whatever they think they need to do to get publicity. That said, I have never been into the celebrity game. I am not interested in getting publicity. If any publicity is going to come my way, I want it to be directed at my work. So, I am certainly not going to start exposing sensitive parts of my body to get publicity. But for those who like exposing their bodies, those who think they need that kind of publicity, good luck to them; it’s a free world.
When the issue of homosexuality cropped up, while some people embraced it, we in Nigeria told the West to go to hell, that it’s not acceptable in our culture. Now, are we going to condone indecent dressing because some people like it?
You press men are the ones encouraging them. If you go for an event and you see people who are corporately dressed, nobody hangs around them; but if you see those who are glamorously ‘undressed’, the press men fall over themselves to take their photographs. So you are encouraging it. You are the ones killing part of our culture; the culture you want us to exhibit.
But you know that in journalism, negative stories make good news…
Good! The press encourages negative publicity, because it helps to sell their papers. So, if the press wants to keep promoting negativity, it’s okay. But I want to say that the press also owes the society a duty; the press needs to highlight the things that are positive. It doesn’t have to be negative news or bad news to sell. You guys should look for nice things and project them.
It seems some of these ‘undressed’ ladies even have the support of their husbands.
Everybody has a goal. Everybody has an objective. And everybody knows just what they are ready to put up with to achieve their objective. The people you are talking about are adults. And if they are adults and they are comfortable with it, then it’s okay. It is not for me to say it is right or wrong. That I may not subscribe to it does not mean that other people shouldn’t. It’s a free world. One thing that is paramount is the free will of the individual. So, we should allow everybody, especially adults, to express their free will in whichever way they choose, as long as it is not against the law of the land.
Where will you get in your career and you say: yes, I have arrived?
It is a difficult one. One thing that is constant in life is change. If you get somewhere, there is a bridge to cross. What will give me the satisfaction of saying ‘I have arrived’ is more than just my work. I want to be a happy person. I want to fulfill my reason for being on earth. My reason for being on earth is to develop myself, physically, emotionally, spiritually and materially. If I am able to do all of that, in such a way that I know I have lived according to what my creator destined for me, then I will feel fulfilled.
Nothing in life, in my work, that will make me feel I have finally arrived. If I win an Oscar tomorrow, it is the beginning.
