CHASING ZAYA // A REVIEW

“It feels like a Nollywood movie to me bro…!”
~ Timi

Written by Karyn Udeh, produced by Blessing Obasi-Nze, executively produced by Aisha Yishawu (also starring as Zaya) and directed by Miracle Nduka, is this family drama titled “Chasing Zaya."

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With an applaudably impressive runtime, this movie dives right straight into the heart of the story without any form of dilly-dallying as it highlights friendship, expectations, disappointments, embarrassments and generally how people fail to see what is right in front of them till they lose it.

PLOT SUMMARY (May include spoilers)

Timi (Stan Nze), Nenye (Chinelo Ejianwu), and Wale (Okusaga Adeolu) all grew up together as childhood friends.

When both guys are smitten by Zaya (Aisha Yishawu) during an outing that involves all three friends, the relationship of the trio would then be put to the test as their friendship is threatened. With emotions flying all over the place, certain decisions are bound to be made.

MY THOUGHTS

As stated earlier, I loved how the direction of this movie kept things short, precise, and pretty much straight to the point. There were no overly repetitive dialogues, and neither were there any unnecessarily dragged scenes.

All the actors performed believably well…though I think I might need some getting used to Saga’s style of acting and his facial expressions. I often find I can’t seem to get past it.

My best character has to be Mimi (Zaya’s friend), played by Osereme Inegbenebo. I'm not sure if she’s had a lead role by now, but the girl is definitely born for the top. I love how effortlessly natural she interpretes her role in movies. I can’t fault it even with my eyes closed. And she’s pretty woman too!

The storyline was brilliant, and execution as per direction was smooth as silk. The message was passed crystal clear as the plot was seamless. Although hair and makeup weren’t particularly superb, however, cinematography, picture quality, soundtrack, and audio quality were all amazing.

As for relatability, forgive me, but are there really people who would be friends for that long a time and not realise that they’re catching feelings? This is because I’ve seen this sort of theme used in movies in diverse ways. This particular one was well played out in the plot, though.

For post production, the editor may want to check the casting list at the end of the movie as some names appear to have been misplaced. For instance, I do know that Wale was played by Saga, but that list says otherwise. The character of Wale was swapped with another name.

Furthermore, in my opinion, it wasn’t very well clearly established as to the kind of business the two friends were into in that office of theirs. Nonetheless, this was interesting, relaxing, entertaining, and enjoyable to watch. I appreciate the ending. That was beautiful. So, NO! It wasn’t predictable.

Kudos to everyone involved in this project. This comes recommended at the rating of 7.5/10.

Thanks for stopping by.
SOKA🖤