Latoya Newman
Durban - RAISING his hand in class one day to volunteer to audition for a movie role - despite not having any acting experience - marked a turning point in Aaqil Hoosen’s life.
At the weekend, 14-year-old Aaqil won the award for best newcomer actor at the Simon “Mabhunu” Sabela KZN Film and Television Awards for his debut acting role as Ticky in the local film, the Kings of Mulberry Street.
The awards took place virtually on Saturday. They were held during the Durban International Film Festival and are aimed at recognising outstanding achievement in the film and television industry in the province.
Aaqil featured in one of the lead roles and performed 90% of his own stunts while shooting in 2018.
Aaqil spends his free time drawing.
He loves graphic novels and prefers Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to DC Comics.
But his interests changed one Friday in 2017, back in primary school.
“I was in Grade 6 at Dianthus Primary School when a teacher came to class to tell us about a film and a particular character the producers were looking for. They wanted someone to audition for the part. I put my hand up. I thought why not go for it? Two weeks later, I was chosen. I went through three more rounds of auditions and I then got the part.”
By 2018 rehearsals had started.
“At first I was nervous. Learning the script was easy. My mom helped me. I had never done rehearsals before. But after I got to know everyone, I felt more comfortable and everyone in the cast was helpful. It was a wonderful experience,” said Aaqil, of Verulam.
The aspiring actor and Mountview Secondary School pupil hopes to feature in more films.
Kings of Mulberry Street won two other awards: best supporting actress (Rizelle Januk) and best use of KZN in a film (Judy Naidoo).
The comedy-drama was produced, written and directed by Naidoo.
It revolves around the adventures of two young Indian boys. They have to find a way to overcome challenges in order to defeat the bullying local crime landlord who is threatening their families.
Januk said the first time she read the script she thought it was going to be difficult.
“I had never read a script where an Indian (female) character was written so strongly.
“My character had a strong will and a mind of her own. She was not subservient. I was so impressed by how Judy had written her Working with the cast, especially the children, was phenomenal. I would love to be able to work with them again.”
Naidoo said the awards were an honour for the team.
“We have screened at 21 festivals, including internationally, and four of these are Oscar (Awards) qualifying festivals,” said Naidoo.
“So this speaks to the calibre of the film. I am extremely proud of the actors’ achievements. I knew I had good actors when I saw the effort they put in at the auditions. They both made their characters look effortless because of the amount of research and work they put in.”
The film was recently selected for La Femme International Film Festival in Los Angeles, as the main feature at the opening of the Romford Film Festival in London and for the Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival in Ohio in the US.
It won best child actor awards at the inaugural South African International Film Academy Awards (Aaqil Hoosen and Shaan Nathoo) and best feature film awarded by the Iron Giants Youth Jury, Children’s Film Festival Seattle, US.
Kandasamys
Kandasamys: The Wedding (the sequel to Keeping Up With The Kandasamys franchise) won the award for best feature screenplay (Jayan Moodley and Rory Booth) after being nominated in seven categories. Moodley, writer/director of the Kandasamys movies, said storytelling was something communities must not let go of.
“It’s a way to have our voices heard. During apartheid our voices were always shut down. It’s so important in our democratic South Africa to have this representation from all of our communities,” she said.
Moodley said work had already begun on a third sequel.
“In about a week, we will be shooting our third Kandasamys film. For now we can share that all the characters from the sequel will resurface in the new film.”
Booth is a stage, television and film actor. He also writes and produces music and has penned skits for stage.
He said this particular award helped him realise his talent as a film writer.
“The best acknowledgement is from the people we write for, from our audience and how they respond. But it feels great when your peers in the film industry acknowledge your film in this way,” said Booth.
Kandasamys: The Wedding opened in April 2019 with a box-office record-breaking R5.8 million in its opening weekend. It was the highest taking of all the films on circuit, and the highest grossing local comedy in five years at the time. It surpassed their first film’s opening weekend by R4.1m.
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