It’s not everyday you get to paint with a master, neither is it everyday you get to sing with the divas and the nightingales. For up and coming movie star, Akah Nnani, he got his chance to perform with the masters and needless to say that being star-struck did not hinder his performance.
A great talent in his own right, Akah as he prefers to be called is no naiveté; he started with TV movies with the then Africa Magic Original Films and has since worked on several productions and web series. His latest endeavour, was his role in the much awaited movie, Banana Island Ghost and he was opportune to star alongside veteran actor Saheed Balogun.
A star himself, Akah confessed to being absolutely star-struck. “I was playing alongside Saheed Balogun. I had to bring something to the table that will help me not to be eclipsed by his greatness. That was a huge task for me, and I was always saying to myself that ‘oh my God, I hope I’m getting it right.’ I had never worked with him before, I had never even seen him before, but I knew I was going to work with him when they had told me that Saheed will be on this project. I was eager, I was anxious and I kept thinking I grew up watching Saheed Balogun on TV.”
Going on, he stated that after working with Balogun, he realised that “He is hilarious, but I was tensed, I kept worrying what the experience would be like. Would he be good to work with? Would he be kind? I didn’t know what it would be like so I have to confess that I was a little bit nervous but he’s the best guy to work with. He put me through everything we needed to do, we worked on stuff together and he would even ask me ‘what do you think about that?’ and if I say ‘oh well I felt if this one was…’ he’ll be like ‘okay that works.’ It was just surreal for me.”
Akah’s situation is not an unexpected one, it is simply the irony of life, a star being star-struck, all as a result of Banana Island Ghost.
