Munya Vomo
After getting good ratings in it’s first season, Forced Love returns to SABC1 with more laughs.
The show stars Zola Nombona, who plays Kat, a feisty businesswoman who is about to be appointed as the CEO of Minoal Cosmetics. While this is all good and well with her professional life, her busy schedule is now putting strain on her marriage to Dumisani (played by Mbulelo Grootboom). He is also busy on the farm that they own and to lessen the burden, he hires some help, only it turns out to be more than what he bargained for.
Enter Chanel (played by Shamilla Miller), a striking young lady whose presence causes problems for Kat and Dumisani’s marriage.
Then there is the rising star, Khanya Mkangisa, who plays Nonhle, who uses her post-graduate assignment to search for her love. As part of the assignment, Nonhle has to create a blog whereby she gets friends whom she asks to have as “guinea pigs”. They reluctantly do it, but as it pans out, the project leads her to potential love in Thami (Mzu Ntantiso).
What Forced Love does is bring out the diversity of the actors and what they can do. We have seen Nombona all over of late and she seems to be an all-rounder. From the gritty drama Z’bondiwe to this comedy, the young actress knows how to play with our emotions.
Grootboom first stole our hearts in White Wedding when he played Tony. His comic timing was perfect and suited him very well for this role. Although Forced Love is not all laughs, when they are needed, this guy knows how to deliver them.
Mkangisa, like Nombona, is another talent to look out for. She did very well in Shona and Connie Ferguson’s drama Rockville, where she played a prostitute. She was also in Z’bondiwe with Nombona before they both moved to Forced Love. Their chemistry works and it helps that their characters interact a lot.
Then there is Miller who is a face you will remember from several adverts. She is so striking that she should get any role she auditions for, but the reality is her talent speaks for her. In Forced Love she is thrust into an arena full of established actors and holds her own, making it obvious that she is on her way to the top.
A great cast is one thing, but good direction and a tight script are essential in any TV show. Forced Love did well in these in the first season, but it remains to be seen how they do this time around.
Forced Love, Fridays, SABC1, 8.30pm.