Movie Review: My Name is Kadi

Producer: Aisha Mohammed

Director: Bright Wonder

Screenplay: JP Wordsmith

Cast: Blossom Chukwujekwu, Kenneth Okolie, Aisha Mohammed, Vincent Opurum, Tina Mba, Sylva Oluchi

Year: 2017

Nollywood took a break from offering us the rich-spoilt-kids narrative, and if you were missing the era, you can have a feel of it with iRoko TV’s latest release “My name is Kadi”.

Kadi is the daughter of a former vice president of Nigeria. She has some tough issues because the first time we meet her; she is being bailed from jail. This leads to a confrontation with her mom, she is sent out of the house and has to struggle to make ends meet. Kadi cannot do anything for herself but is extremely opinionated. She will fight random people for nothing. Eventually, Kadi meets a man who is attracted to her, for her outspokenness. To preach of the power of love, the writer shows us that even Kadi is capable of being transformed.

The writer of “My name is Kadi” banks on the over-dramatization of Kadi to make a film. For example, Kadi sees a man embarrassing a woman at a restaurant, she walks up to him and threatens him, eventually he apologizes to the woman he has offended. The scene alone is one of the over-dramatized scenes in Nollywood. It also takes the prize for being one of the most unusual scenes I have seen in a film. Unusual not because it is good, but because there was an attempt to create a woman empowerment scene that turns sour.

The writing for “My name is Kadi” needed a rework. It needed a little depth (concrete telling to Kadi’s story), a little truth and a little more realistic dialogue. We know there are tough girls out there, but what is the backstory to why they behave the way they do? Because they are rich kids? “My name is Kadi” does not offer any exceptional telling to this. It is there because it can make money from the life of a spoilt rich child.

The writer preaches the importance of being fearless. It is what gets Kadi a lover, but after she falls in love, she changes. She becomes the pleasant girl. The girl that uses google to find cooking recipes and watches cooking tutorials on YouTube, suddenly becomes a pro at cooking. Why? Love of course!

“My name is Kadi” had a chance at creating sustaining intrigue. It even succeeds with moments that has us laughing, but in general, it is full of inconsistencies. It is lost in its own purpose.

The thing about this narrative is, it will find its audience and they will probably rave about it, but it’s not for everyone.

Sylva Oluchi and Blossom Chukwujekwu are a delight to watch. Our lead actress Aisha Mohammed (Kadi) is quite endearing but there are moments that she fails at delivering her lines. There are scenes she recites the dialogue instead of performing them. There are moments she overreacts and these are some of the reasons “My name is Kadi” is not on our recommendation list.

 

About the Author

Rejoice Abutsa is a 22-year-old  aspiring Filmmaker and a big dreamer. She’s also a ‘Theatre and film’ arts graduate from the University of Jos, Nigeri