By Richmore Tera and Tendai Rupapa
BELIEVE it or not, musicians Suluman Chimbetu and Peter Moyo have ventured into acting. This means that apart from playing music they are now trying out other art genres although it remains to be seen whether it’s for fun or for the love of acting.
Freddy Manjalima aka Kapfupi started out as an actor before switching to singing and he has excelled as an actor-cum-musician. The two musicians have made cameo roles in season two of the hilarious comedy “Bag Rabvaruka”.
By featuring in the comedy, Sulu and “Young Igwe” have taken after fellow musician Jah Prayzah, who starred in “Bag Remhosva Season 1” as himself — a talented young musician whom ghetto youths look up to for inspiration. The latest comedy is, however, illuminated by the inclusion of the two popular faces of Sulu and “Young Igwee”.
Sulu stars as a simple town boy who is dating a girl called Maria (Yeukai Chigogo). Maria, however, is the apple of many people’s eyes and their love affair is on the brink of falling on the rocks following the mischievous machinations of Mabla (played by Lloyd Kurima) and Sekuru Zvambu (Jabulani Sigauke).
On the other hand, Peter plays the role of a chief or “Igwee”, who presides over the case of female rapists who are accused of raping Mabla’s elder brother, Mazepe (Peter Hlukula). Mabla is the main character in the comedy and he is infamous in his community for his pranks that lead others into “hot soup”.
However, he is not alone in his life of mischief — Sekuru Zvambu — is another notorious citizen who disregards his advanced age to cause chaos in the neighbourhood because of his lust. Sulu confirmed his role in the drama, describing it as fun.
“For me, it is a way of exploring the world, and was great fun. This is my first professional acting role, although I have acted in school dramas before,” he said. Peter, however, was not readily available for comment.
Kurima — who wrote and directed the comedy — said: “Since we are in the same arts field, they (Sulu and Peter) expressed interest in featuring in the second season of the comedy after watching the first one in which Jah Prayzah was included,” he said.
Kurima said Sulu and Peter were doing it not for money but for the love of acting. Recorded at International Sounds and Sights, the drama will hit the streets first week of September. Kurima said he decided to market the DVD on his own to counter piracy.
“I sell the discs on my own to deal with piracy. Sometimes I receive calls from people requesting for the discs and this alone is a clear testimony that pirates are not having a chance to pirate it. This is exactly what we are going to do with this new one,” he said.
Recorded at Sights and Sounds International, the drama features adverts by some companies who will be advertising their products and businesses. Kurima is not new in theatre circles, having starred in numerous street theatre and television productions.
Born on August 23, 1986 in Mbare, Kurima’s passion for acting first manifested itself while he was still at Budiriro 1 Primary School before further nurturing his talent at high school. In 2000, the artiste joined Voice of Wisdom led by Tawanda Masarira, popularly known as Kahembe in acting circles, and together they ventured into street theatre.
This saw the duo producing plays like “Mwana Dofo”, “Pastor Kahembe”, “Bag Remhosva” and “Vamwe Vanhu”. Kurima then formed his own group, Budiriro Theatre Arts, last year after parting ways with Voice of Wisdom.
