PICTURES: Ngoda actress Carol Mashingaidze’s first interview in 17yrs

Joe Njagu promised me 30 minutes of the crew’s time. Nothing more. They were running out of time. Their Worldwide launch was set for Friday 31 March in Harare. They were scrambling to push VIP ticket sales and ticket deliveries for the premiere of ‘Ngoda’.

What I got was 2hrs instead due to: my early arrival, a sudden power cut affecting an area usually spared of one of Zimbabwe’s 5 certainties (death, taxes, power cuts, no water, and rising prices). In most places blackouts are using up almost 18 hours or more of a day. Sometimes all.

As generous as the offer from Joe was, meeting the available 4 male cast and crew members I felt I needed more. The sudden and unexpected appearance of Carol Mashingaidze-Zimbizi was by far the best coup possible. End of March anyway.

What had been a promising interview had just turned into a potential jackpot. The problem? Carol doesn’t do interviews. Not since 2006, when she featured in her first project as a 19 year old actor. Her dad, her biggest fan, told every one who cared to listen: “My daughter is on TV.” Carol took part in her only interview in 17 years. She then persuaded her friends and relatives (in advance) to buy the Sunday Paper to read it.

Imagine the teenager’s shock when the headline screamed instead “Actress fired!” This actress. Carol Mashingaidze. She then read of her termination in the newspaper. She got what she wanted but not the way she wanted it. Just like that, it rained on her parade. Female actors and musicians have often met a sad end to their jobs in a men’s world. Thankfully it usually turns out to be just rock bottom, the only way being up.

It got worse. Her biggest fan, her dad, here hero, died soon after. Carol was now an orphan. 2006 was a very bad year for her.

17 years later, Four huge guys negotiated for me to get my sudden interview. I wasn’t leaving without interviewing one female actor. Well, actually, I was. Joe politely made it clear. “There is no female actor today.” Joe is a good guy. But even he sometimes has to deliver bad news. I felt like a bad actor being told: “We have to let you go. It’s not working. Sorry.” On the bright side he gave me 4 lead characters.

And then… Carol drove in in her white car: “There she is,” Joe muttered. Four bouncers headed straight for her window. I doubt they even wasted greetings.

And then the negotiations began. I could only see Eddy Sandifolo’s face as he desperately negotiated with his “screen wife.” A losing battle. A nervous crew member assured me this interview wasn’t likely going to happen.

In the process, he mentioned that Carol had acted in the “Mugabe” film, not yet released. “As who?”

“Grace Mugabe,” he said.

Cats have slow heart rates. You sometimes think they will be smashed by cars, but they aren’t. You blink. They don’t. They dash for safety eventually. Only just.

That’s how I met Carol. Later on she explained: “I changed my mind. It was something Joe said.” I eagerly inquire: “What did Joe say?” She answers: “He said you are harmless!” I am sure Joe meant well. But I am not complaining.

She walked towards me. I am nervous when people request interviews on my behalf. They can be too helpful sometimes even while meaning well.

Extending my hand for a handshake I exclaimed: “Doctor Stop it!” That broke the ice very nicely. I am about to interview someone I have never googled before. Sometimes I google, sometimes I don’t. It’s by far preferable to know people as they want to be known.

Carol is married, a 35 year old mother of 2, a boy and a girl. If you aren’t told you wouldn’t know. She wasn’t chosen to act as Grace Mugabe in the “Mugabe” movie for nothing. That was her last female Lead Actor role.

One scene made her uncomfortable, a kissing scene. So they asked her husband to come and stand close by. I reply: “I can empathize. Sometimes directors ask for these things, which may not even be necessary to telling the story at times.”

She is not kissing anyone in Ngoda, I think. As much as the power cut earned me more time, it meant I couldn’t watch the movie either. But asking the crew which part of the movie was their “Wow!” moment they settle for Carol’s final scene. So here, ladies and gentleman, is Carol Mashingaidze, the First Lady of “Ngoda.”

The interview itself never actually started officially, we just dived right in.

“Have you met Grace Mugabe?” She laughs at my question burying her head in her hands. “No!” She replies.

“Even if the interview fails, hazvina basa. Tiri vanhu,” offers Carol. Essentially she is saying “No pressure.”

“In Ngoda I was Chenge, wife of Lead actor Eddie Sandifolo, the legendary Eddy Sandifolo. I am a submissive wife. I am very loving and understanding. Throughout the whole movie we see Chenge’s patience, support and resilience.”

Carol thinks the Diamonds era in Zimbabwe was catastrophic. “It became even more real for me while reading the script. We lost a lot of illegal miners. When I read the script I had to take it up.”

“Joe and Eddie (the directors) encouraged me to trust them. Even when I was confused by the script. We had an intense and amazing rehearsal process. At one point I had to completely immerse myself in the script. I had to move away from Caroline and become Chenge (her role). It wasn’t easy. Eddie took me aside for a pep talk. I had to regroup. I only appreciated it after the process.”

“The intensity of Eddie’s delivery took a toll on all of us. It made me deliver also, as a co-star. People are going to love it. It’s going to open wide doors for actors and Zim film talent. It’s another film like ‘Neria’ and ‘Yellow card.’ I have not watched the finished product yet. I am waiting nervously for Friday.”

Carol is not wrong. “Ngoda” has already won gold at NAMA in Zimbabwe. “Joe and Eddie are legends, that’s all I can say.” She is not wrong. The NAMA award seats in pride of place by the desk behind her perhaps as a reminder of what can be done.

In 2006 a 19 year old Carol was in the series “Estate blues.” She has since worked in theatre with renowned Producer Davies Guzha. And she was ‘Grace Mugabe’ in “Mugabe.” She has worked with Leonard Mhatsa and Jason Mpepo just to mention a few.

“We are telling our own story,” she offers. Joe Njagu has made it his mission “to change the African narrative one movie at a time.” Some wonderful projects have been shot in Zim. But maybe the ones paying the piper called the tune too much. In case of the older movies some jokes and prejudices didn’t age well. Or innocent attempts were made to portray projects for Hollywood that, though shot locally, fell short on local identity.

Njagu co-produced “Cook off” with Thomas Brickhill before 2020, Netflix’s first Zimbabwean project. The project’s lease has been extended on Netflix for the next two years (from 2023) and may be available on other networks as the Netflix exclusivity period has expired.

Revealing the destiny of “Chenge” the character played by Carol in the movie risks spoiling any shocks or suspense for which audiences pay good money. I have watched enough ZBC repeats to know when not to pre-empt stuff.

Actors, especially female Lead actors, naturally assume the limelight.

Arnold Zimbizi, her husband is one of the Executive Producers. “I am the strict one (of the 2 parents). He is very supportive and very nice to the kids. The girl is older followed by a boy.”

“I was born and bred in Chitungwiza. Unit K and Unit ‘Elo,’ (L) as we say. I stayed in Chegutu. I studied at Seke 3 High and Seke 8 primary school. I went to David Whitehead Primary in Chegutu for a year. Then I returned to Unit M.”

“My mum died when I was in Grade 6. My dad died in 2006. He was so proud of my appearance in ‘Estate Blues’ before he died, He would brag about me everywhere he went, even in bars. He was buried in Chivhu, our rural home.”

“This movie came at a time when I needed it. I needed closure. I lost a lot of people in a short time, my best friend, my Mbuya, my Sekuru. My final scene made me feel helpless and contemplative. I broke down afterwards. It felt painful.” Art imitated life. “I needed time to compose myself. It was intense.”

“I act as a freelancer but am also a make-up artist. I want to try my hand at directing and writing, I have so many stories in my head that need to be told. ”

“I met my husband while doing Theatre development. So he understood the journey. We work on my scripts together as I prepare. There is a director screaming to get out of his body.”

“My previous intimate role made us both uncomfortable. The director allowed him to seat in. Kissing is against our culture. You have to think of your kids. You can show you are in love without kissing. Sindi Zlathu in ‘The River’ does it so well.”

“I love South African soapies.” She discussed different South African TV series and soapies. The plots can border on the unbelievable. It’s a problem Zimbabweans are facing watching well-funded South African efforts but yearning for home-grown Art. “Ngoda” fills in the gap for decent local content. Njagu’s experience and exposure is the guarantee.

I am obliged to cite my own Series that I am watching. She asks me: “Which season is it?”

I reply: “I don’t know. Summer? Winter? I am not sure.”

Having run out of questions the interview ends abruptly. Men conceive complex plots. Women explain well. Carol does anyway. What’s left is for Friday to come and with it our sob story. Forget Gold. This is “Ngoda.”

I have just met the ‘first’ lady who played “Dr Stop It.” She may have been buried alive before but Carol came back to tell the story and to land roles worth dying for, with a little help from Ngoda’s cast and crew.