12th December, 2014
Funsho Arogundade
Critically acclaimed director Dare Fasasi aka Baba Dee’s highly anticipated release Head Gone has been premiered to rave reviews in Lagos recently.
The movie, a comedy, is centred on a bus load of patients being conveyed to a mental institution, whose paths cross with unsuspecting people along the way and culminates in a string of hilariously unfortunate events.
Head Gone features an all-star cast which includes IK Osakioduwa, Wale Ojo, Yomi Obileye, Akpororo, Basketmouth, 2face Idibia, Eniola Badmus, Tunji Shotimirin, Tunde Obalana, Basorge Tariah Jnr, Hafeez Oyetoro a.k.a. Saka, Alibaba, Zack Orji and Sound Sultan.
It was directed by Baba Dee, himself who also appears in a cameo as a corrupt prison warder. They all come together surprisingly seamlessly to deliver a truly outstanding piece of work that is fresh, original, technically accomplished and is most of all, gloriously funny.
Baba Dee described the movie as the outcome of a decade of work after having been given an idea for the plot by Basketmouth while shooting a video for Sound Sultan ten years ago.
“The intervening period was spent working on the script, reaching out to potential cast members and doing research on Nigerian prisons and psychiatric institutions, including some actual time spent at Aro Psychiatric hospital in Abeokuta (as a researcher and not as a patient,” he eagerly pointed out.
He added that the strength of the movie aside from the script lies in the performance of the cast who came on board eagerly after reading the script.
“Certainly, the on-screen chemistry of the characters and the obvious comfort they had with their roles seem to indicate that the opportunity to take part in a ground-breaking project like this appealed to them,” he added.
Baba Dee pointed out that he does not see himself as a Nollywood director, but rather as a Nigerian filmmaker. And based on the enthusiasm the movie has received especially at its Berlin premiere, his dream of projecting Nigerian cinema to a wider international audience seems to be on track.
Head Gone is currently screening at cinemas across Nigeria.