By Tosin Ayinde

Not many, especially from the southern part of Nigeria are readily familiar with Taurarwa magazine, a soft-sell news platform that is native to Kano State. For an average northerner, especially the ones who are resident in Kano, Sunusi Shehu Daneji of Tauraruwa is a household name. The veteran reporter coined the term, Kannywood in 1999.

Kannywood, located in Kano State, is a Hausa-language film industry of Northern Nigeria akin to Nollywood in the Southern part of the country. Surprisingly, Kannywood, Hausa-language cinema, came into force three years earlier before Nollywood came into being. Interestingly, Kannywood and Nollywood derive from Hollywood, the centre of the American film industry.

Notably, the evolution of Kannywood can be easily traced to creative productions from RTV Kaduna and Radio Kaduna in the early 1960s, when in those times, drama productions that were relatable to the Northern audience when veteran actors like Dalhatu Bawa and Kasimu Yero held sway before the duo of Usman Baba Pategi and Mamman Ladan added the Hausa comedy. This brought a dramatic change in the Hausa language cinema and further promoted the development of drama production which held the Northern viewing audience captive.

Kannywood received a boost in the 90s due to the evolution of the middle class, the advent of technology and the paradigm shift in the taste and fashion of the Hausa viewing audience. Bollywood, formerly known as Bombay cinema, a film industry based in Mumbai, India, became an attraction and focus for the Northern viewing audience. This had a dramatic influence on the growth and development of Kannywood. This enabled the evolution of a cinematic synthesis of India and Hausa culture which became quite popular and attractive to the Northern viewing audience. The era was a defining moment that characterised the growth of Kannywood as it was regarded as the first commercially successful Kannywood era. Turmin Danya, also known as The Draw was a film production that was influenced by Bollywood, and it was regarded as a commercial success. This accomplishment was then consolidated by superlative productions like Gimbiya Fatima In Da So Da Kauna, Munkar, Badakala and Kiyarda Da Ni. Also, new actors like Ibrahim Mandawari and Hauwa Ali Dodo became popular and set the stage for celebrity status.

Kannywood is dominated by Hausa/Fulani celebrities but the ones that stand tall are Ali Nuhu, Fati Muhammad, Rahama Sadau, Rabilu Musa Ibiro, Ciroki, Mai Aya, Dunbaru, Saratu Daso, Hauwa Maina, Mandawari, and Hamisu Iyan Tama, among others. There are others like Mansura Isah, Madam Koredo, and many others who are not from Hausa/Fulani tribes. However, the most decorated Kannywood actor of all time is Ali Nuhu. The Vento Furniture ambassador is a cross-over actor who takes up roles in Nollywood productions and he is regarded as the king of Kannywood.

Kannywood actors, unlike their counterparts in Nollywood, are somewhat conservative and are not influenced by Western culture. Most of Kannywood’s major productions subtly depict and seek to protect culture and tradition and the films are rendered in the Hausa language, though subtitled for the benefit of non-Hausas. But a few of them, like Ali Nuhu, while still maintaining the Northern cultural heritage take up roles in Nollywood.

Ultimately, Kannywood, unlike Nollywood, is a highly regulated film industry which is largely influenced by religion, culture, and tradition, and in so doing, it seeks to promote the rich and undiluted culture of the Hausas, a major tribe in Nigeria.

Meiza Nigeria