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Two years later, the 36-year-old will see her
first feature film, the cross-cultural love story "Namaste
Wahala", debut on Valentine's Day on Netflix.
The film, whose title translates in Hindi and Nigerian pidgin as
'Hello trouble', tells the tale of a Nigerian woman who falls in
love with an Indian investment banker living in Lagos. The young
couple face a series of challenges - including their families -
to be together.
"I wanted to do something that will be more relatable so it is a
full-on Nollywood movie, but I brought in some Indian actors to
make it a little bit more fun," Daryani Ahuja, who directed,
executive produced and acted in the movie, told Reuters.
"What I tried to do is the '90s style Bollywood ... the singing
and dancing around trees. We have all of that. It is a very
cheesy, mushy romantic drama."
Born of Indian parents, Daryani Ahuja has lived most of her life
in Nigeria.
"I have lived in an Indian house, I know the Nigerian culture,
the pidgin, the food and it is so interesting how even though
everybody thinks with 'Namaste Wahala' the cultures are
different, we are actually so similar," she said.
"We are actually all one, and that's the whole theme of the
movie."
The 110-minute film stars Indian actor Ruslaan Mumtaz and
Nigerian actress Ini Dima-Okojie in the lead roles.
"It is very important to make films like this when you show
cross-cultural love stories, because in every country ... people
just separate each other as far as religion is concerned,"
Mumtaz said. "Especially in India, you can't marry somebody if
they are from a different religion or from a different caste."
Mainly shot in English, the movie had a production team of more
than 60 people across India and Nigeria. Production was
completed before lockdowns made making movies difficult; the
original release date was April.
"The thing I love the most are the underlying messages which is
the beauty in embracing your similarities, the beauty in
embracing love even if you are from different backgrounds,"
Dima-Okojie said.
Putting out hundreds of movies and television episodes a month,
Nollywood is the world's second most prolific film industry
after India's Bollywood.
Nigeria has a growing base of Bollywood fans, who watch its
sitcoms subtitled in English, and "Namaste Wahala" is creating a
buzz online.
Daryani Ahuja says she hopes to make a sequel in the coming
months.
(Reporting by Nneka Chile; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian'
Editing by Mike Collett-White)
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