Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday Life Reporter
TO erstwhile lovers of the small screen in Zimbabwe, he has always been known as Snake. Sure, on his birth certificate and other identity documents, he is identified as Prince Zulu. However, that name was erased in the minds of most Zimbabweans when he appeared on Amakorokoza, a local drama series as Snake.
On that show, he was a man gifted with a serpent-like venom, a viciousness that could match the creepy crawlies found in the world’s underbelly.
Alongside the equally disreputable Teresia, Snake became a legend and an unforgettable part of Zimbabwean TV lore. He was one of those characters that local viewers who have always had a hard time separating real life from fiction found hard to imagine as anything but the slippery and cunning serpent preying on the vulnerable.
Over the years, many have had a hard time divorcing him from the character that foreshadowed the violent ways of the country’s illegal gold panners, who have since become more visible away since then.
Away from the set, however, Snake is just a man like any other, a father and a mentor. At least, that is what his daughter actress, Sasha Zulu said.
“Growing up I always looked up to him. He was someone who inspired my love for acting and that is why I decided to follow this path. I never associated him with the character that he played on Amakorokoza. He was never Snake to me but a father whose work I wanted to emulate,” she said.
Recently, the film, Freedom Comes Dancing premièred at Stanley Hall in Makokoba. The screening of the film was a momentous occasion, as it not only brought cinema back to the city’s oldest township but also saw Zulu star opposite his daughter on the big screen.
Produced by Rawsoot Studios Films, the one-hour-long film was directed by seasoned musician and performer Hwabaraty, real name Japhet Mlauzi.
The storyline follows the trials of a young woman born and bred in the dusty streets of Makokoba who has a dream and passion to break out of the township and make it in life through dancing.
Showcasing the talents of dancers from dance groups, Loxion Dance Crew and Jabula Arts, the film was a celebration of local talent on the big screen. For Sasha, it enabled her to achieve her dream of starring opposite her father.
“I never thought that this moment would ever come but this is something that I always dreamed about. I have a dream and I always wanted to see it come to life with my father beside me because this is the man who inspired my love for acting,” she said.
The film’s director Hwabaraty said casting father and daughter was a happy accident, as he met Sasha while doing a video shoot for his daughter and was immediately intrigued by her talent.
“Zulu is someone that I have worked with on many productions but this is the first time I was working with his daughter so it made for an interesting dynamic . . . He has a talented daughter and she has been working with my daughter who is doing amapiano. So, I met her when they were doing a music video for my daughter and I fell in love with her talent. So when I met these guys from Rawsoot, we decided that we should start from the grassroots because we had met these young actors during that video shoot,” he said.
Hwabaraty said he was intrigued by the fact that there was a father who, just like him, was watching his daughter blossom in showbiz.
The relationship between Sasha and Zulu, he said, aligned with the storyline of the movie, which is based on the relationship between Hwabaraty and his daughter. As he wanted to be the director, he revealed, that he could not act in the flick.
“I particularly wanted to do this because we share the same story as fathers. After all, I get to work with my daughter. So that gave me extra motivation because as father and daughter, they get along well. They have a really good relationship and I feel like I was meant to do this because my child suggested this. The story is about my daughter and me, but I couldn’t act on this because I wanted to direct the film.
“So instead, they suggested that he should come in. So we had quite a few rehearsals to see if the energy they have would translate on screen because sometimes it doesn’t gel on set. However, with them everything was just genuine and maybe because the story that we were trying to tell resonates with them.
“It was great working with them and I hope that in future we get to work together again,” he said.
While he might have had fears initially that Sasha and Zulu’s chemistry would not blossom on screen, those were quickly put to bed when the two got on set.
“Working with them together was good. The relationship and chemistry were great. I am a person who believes in legacy. Zulu is someone who did a lot in the industry and some people might not know this so by casting both of them I was doing an important thing because it would reveal that this young actress is his daughter,” he said.
Hwabaraty said he always had a desire to bring Zulu on the big screen, as he was someone who had contributed extensively to the local arts industry.
“People might not know this but he is someone who has done a lot for the industry in Bulawayo so working with him on something like this is something I always had thought of doing at the back of my mind,” he said.