Malawians have offered mixed reactions on their take on the Malawian movie Fatsani which was aired on regional television platform MultiChoice Africa’s Zambezi Magic channel on Sunday evening.

The listing of Fatsani on Zambezi Magic meant more Malawians finally had the chance to watch the highly sought-after film which was previously only accessible on the global online film streaming platform, Showmax.

Sukali: We need to perfect some few things

From the reactions on various social media spaces, it is clear Malawians do not agree on the quality of the production, with some questioning the execution of the script by some actors and the coherence of the storyline.

One Felix Mame wrote on Facebook: “The only good thing about this movie is the quality of the picture. As for the rest, nop!”

Another movie fan, Milly Mwachande saluted the storyline, but faulted the way some actors executed their roles save for the role of the head teacher played by Edwin Chonde.

Media personality Greyson Chapita felt the project was a bit rushed as most of the actors appeared to have memorised their lines rather than being in the characters they were playing. He said this may be due to lack of adequate drilling on their roles.

“I watched from start to the end, but I could not pick the actual message and story. From the events at the school, the corrupt head master and government official to the coming of the city council, vendors and the Fatsani link.

“However, the movie itself is an indication that with resources, skills and knowledge we may be talking a different story altogether,” he said.

Going by people’s reactions, it was not only Chonde who won plaudits for his performance in the film. Other characters who won over people’s hearts were Nambewe played by Uthandiwe Chidambo and the lead role Fatsani played by Hannah Sukali.

Neema Naluso wrote: “Malawians, let us learn to appreciate our local entertainment. The head teacher and Nambewe did well for me. You have tried your best.”

Another viewer Aumex Kamwendo said: “This movie may be overrated, but it was made with a lot of effort. It is not easy to come up with something like that. They just needed to bring in more actors with the required energy”.

Wisdom Kauza Mtama said: “IThis is the first time I have seen something beautiful since The Last Fishing Boat. Respect to the young girl, she has a bright future in this industry.”

Producer of the film Gift ‘Sukez’ Sukali said the reactions have given them positive energy as they plan for their next projects.

“There are things that we have learnt from this maiden project such as distribution of the movie. We now know which platforms are better with the experience we have had. Next time people will not have to wait longer to watch our production,” he said.

On the highlighted shortfalls, Sukali said it is inevitable for a film production to contain some errors. He pledged to work on perfecting some of the points that people have pointed out.

He said: “We need to perfect some few things. Maybe we need to allow the cast to train more ahead of production.”

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