''Mokalik'' ( en, Mechanic) is a 2019 Nigerian bilingual

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film produced and directed by veteran filmmaker

Kunle Afolayan Kunle Afolayan (born 30 September 1975) is a Nigerian actor, producer and director. He is widely credited for elevating the quality of Nollywood movies though larger budgets, shooting on 35mm, releasing in cinemas, and improving cliché Nollywo ...

. The film stars newcomer Toni Afolayan in the male lead role along with

Femi Adebayo Femi Adebayo Salami (born 31 December 1978) is a Nigerian film director, film actor, lawyer, producer and Special Adviser to the Governor of Kwara State on Arts, Culture and Tourism. He is the son of the veteran actor Adebayo Salami. Early ...

. The film had its theatrical release on 31 May 2019 and received extremely positive reviews from critics while also performing well at the box office. It was acquired by

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in July 2019 and was streamed on 1 September 2019. The film has been included as a part of "Made in Africa" collection in May 2020 by Netflix to be streamed amid the global COVID-19 pandemic. The film was also nominated for the Best Film category during the 2019 Durban International Film Festival. The film was also premiered in several film festivals.

Cast

* Toni Afolayan as Ponmile *

as Mr. Ogidan * Wale Akorede as Baba Nepa * Charles Okocha as Emeka * Halimat Adegbola as Mama Goke *

Tobi Bakre Tobi Bakre (born 1 June 1994) is a Nigerian actor, model, host, compere, and photographer. Tobi rose to fame after finishing up as a finalist in the Big Brother Naija (season 3) reality TV show in 2018. Early life and education Tobi was bor ...

as Goke * Simi

Synopsis

The story revolves around a 11-year-old boy Ponmile (Toni Afolayan), who is from the middle class suburbs and spends the day as a lowly apprentice at a mechanic workshop in order to view and glance the life from other angles. When his father arrives to take him home Ponmile has to make up his mind if he wants to return to school or take on his apprenticeship for full-time on a long-term basis.

Production

The filmmaker Kunle Afolayan cast his nephew Toni Afolayan in the main lead role who also eventually made his acting debut. Popular singer Simi also made her acting debut through this project and Tobi Bakre who participated in the ''

Big Brother Naija (season 3) ''Big Brother Naija Season 3'', also known as ''Big Brother Naija: Double Wahala'' is the third season of the Nigerian version of the reality show Big Brother. Produced by South Africa's Red Pepper Pictures and it was launched on 28 January 2018 ...

'' also made his acting debut. The film was predominantly shot in a mechanical village and also in

Agege Agege is a suburb and local government area in the Ikeja Division of Lagos State, Nigeria. Etymology When the kolanut plantations in the Agege area started to flourish it attracted huge settlements. Agege experienced rapid development ...

and

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

. The post-production works were done in Nigeria. The film was shot with a special flexible cinema camera

Canon EOS C300 Mark II The Canon EOS C300 Mark II is Canon's update to its first generation cinema camera, the Canon C300, and is part of the Canon Cinema EOS line. Notable new features compared to the previous model are the implementation of a sensor capable of a 15-sto ...

camera. The film director revealed that this film was made with the intention of releasing it in Yoruba language as it was his first major film in the Yoruba language.

Reception

Nollywood Post in its review praised the movie's accuracy "The drama, the mischief, the retail stores, the canteen, the graduation ceremony down to the costumes, excessive make-up use, and the chain of command in an environment like that was accurately portrayed."

References

External links

* {{Kunle Afolayan 2019 films 2019 comedy-drama films Nigerian comedy-drama films English-language Nigerian films Yoruba-language films Films shot in Nigeria Films shot in Lagos 2010s English-language films