SABC1 is keeping up with the latest TV |trend – home-grown telenovelas – with Uzalo. And it marks Leleti Khumalo’s |small screen comeback.
SINCE John Kani’s iNkaba debuted on Mzansi Magic, there has been a greater predilection to produce locally-flavoured telenovelas.
Not long after Monde Twala, the managing director of e.tv channels, confirmed that they were releasing a telenovela that was going to go head-to-head with SABC1’s Generations – The Legacy in December last year, Uzalo was already in production for SABC1.
This new telenovela, the brainchild of the inimitable Duma Ndlovu, also marks the comeback of Leleti Khumalo (Zandile Mdletshe) and features Bheki Mkhwane as her husband, Pastor Melusi Mdletshe. In the juxtaposed criminal world of the storyline, Mpumelelo Bhulose rules with a corrupt fist as Muzu Xulu. That’s not forgetting a host of fresh-faced talent in the series, which is produced by Stained Glass Pictures production house and filmed on location in KwaMashu’s F-Section.
Last seen slipping into the skin of high-flying businesswoman, Busisiwe Dhlomo, in Generations – a role she inhabited from 2005 to 2007, much in the actress’ personal life has changed, too. Now a wife and mother to 20-month-old twins, she has had her hands full in the past two years.
She laughs: “I put off kids for so long and I wanted to take a break to have my family. In between, I did a bit of this and that. Having them has changed my life. It’s a big adjustment – now I’m juggling everything around. It is a matter of putting what has to be first, first. I put my career aside for a while. Now I am back doing what I love.
“Hey man, it’s not easy at all, though. When I came home yesterday, I didn’t even cook for my husband. Fortunately, he understands. My kids were so happy to see me. I think I spent a few minutes with them and then I just got into bed and slept. I am getting used to this new rhythm.”
Interestingly, she got wind of this show after bumping into Ndlovu, who encouraged her to audition. Unfortunately, every time she tried to set up an audition time, there was a schedule clash between production and her and it never came to fruition.
As fate would have it, a month later she received a call that put a smile on her face.
The veteran actress shares: “I thought maybe it was not meant to be. When I got the call asking me to come through, I was out of the country and I said I would do it when I returned.”
After being debriefed about her character, she was immediately sold.
She recalls: “I said: ‘Well, I’m interested. Let’s do it!’ Everything happens for a reason and happens when it is meant to – not when you want it to.”
On playing the preacher’s wife, she notes: “I have always had roles where I could be something of me in the character. This one, however, is very challenging because she is far removed from me. But I love the challenge of working hard every day to get the character right.”
To help her lend authenticity to her character, Khumalo has spent time observing people from a similar background and – as clichéd as it sounds – re-rented The Preacher’s Wife.
She explains: “I didn’t want to set it on one person. I have taken elements from different people so my depiction will be based on a mixture of all of them.”
Khumalo was also full for praise of her co-stars – especially the greenhorns.
What’s also intriguing about Uzalo is the other big character – KwaMashu.
She shares: “We mingle with people from the township when we shoot, which makes this show unique. And it is an outside broadcast in KZN, nogal. We started shooting in November.”
As for being back in front of the camera, she says: “It’s a mixture of feelings. It is over-whelming. Once again, that means pressure as there are a lot of dramas and soapies on TV now, which are very good, so we have to be better. I know my fans have been waiting for me. All I can say is that I am back and I have to be on point so I don’t disappoint them. This role is taking me out of my comfort zone.”
Uzalo offers a polarised view of what makes a family, family; with the storyline diffused with issues of identity, inheritance, loyalty, ambition, family ties, guilt, love and revenge.
• Uzalo debuts on SABC1 and airs Monday to Wednesday, 8.30pm, from February 9.