Check Out Charles Novia’s Top 5 Best Nollywood Actors

The list is here again,Check Charles Novia’s 2014 best Nollywood actors and guess what,AY makun made it to the top five. I must be lacking behind in Nollywood movies that apart from AY,i have no idea who the others are. Read;

I did promise that my next post will be a review of the Best Actors in
Nollywood in 2014. Last year, OC Ukeje won for 2013. I am sure many
read my list for the female counterparts for 2014 and whilst the
criteria for judging the actors in 2014 won’t be any different, I have
gone the extra mile to add snippets of what I believe were the extra
efforts these actors on the list made to merit the mention they have
received.
As usual, I sampled opinions of tested and trusted film professionals
and critics who put heads together with me to scrutinize the art of many
shortlisted names after which I had to arrive at the five names based
on my overall veto. It is important to note too that there were no
dissenting opinions amongst my team of experts about the Number One
choice.

For the crowd which believes that an actor’s popularity and fan base
automatically means that such an actor must be on lists such as this, I
say to you; get your heads out of your closets. On this platform, all
levels of professionalism are used as universal templates. I do not give
a damn about the number of years an actor or actress has spent in the
industry when I draw up such lists. I am more concerned with areas of
the actors body of work for the year and how impressive such was when
placed under an artistic microscope.
Using criteria such as interpretation, characterization,
internalization, enunciation, and actor’s visualization among others,
the following actors are my top 5 for 2014.

NUMBER FIVE: AYO MAKUN (AY)

Sometimes we have an impression that stand-up comedians are just a
stereotypical bunch and do not really act outside the ambits of their
profession. But it takes a lot of self-training coupled with an inherent
acting talent for a stand-up comedian to mimic different characters on
stage whilst on his routine.
Transiting to the Big Screen and exploring all the elements of acting in
such a move calls for some balls on the part of such a stand-up act.
And AY proves that he has balls.
In the movie, ‘30 Days in Atlanta‘, one was impressed with AY and his
acting prowess. Bringing to life and to the screen, a social media
legendary character known as Akpos, one could see that AY went all out
with the character. His jokes were on point. His deliberately obtuse
responses to obvious situations were good and most of all, he maintained
a verve and onscreen energy which was demanded from the character all
through the flick.
That energy though might have been overdone in areas where he played to
the gallery but such were quickly overshadowed by the
brilliantly-plotted script in which Akpos shows us how a ‘Waffi’
neophyte epitomizes the average Nigerian who travels for the first time
out of his country. In ’30 Days in Atlanta’, AY didn’t have to act
funny. He was funny. Having seen him act in the tepid ‘AY’s Crib’, his
sitcom on television where all he seems to do is to deliberately or
curiously bulge his eyes when rendering his lines, I was wary of what to
expect in his movie. But he was well-researched for the role and had a
great supporting cast which helped his delivery.
AY deserves the accolades he has been getting over that movie. Most of all, he deserves to be on my list this year.

NUMBER FOUR: TOPE TEDELA

‘A Mile From Home‘ is Tope’s breakout movie. Having won a few laurels on
account of the movie for ‘Best Actor’, I was curious to watch the movie
earlier on in the year and when I did, I was not disappointed by his
characterization in the movie.
He played a character which requires the utmost physical interpretation
for the role as well as layers of emotional demands and intrinsic
internalization. Where the dictates of the character needed him to
deliver, Tope Tedela did.
However, a trained eye could see that the young man still has a lot of
work to do in some areas of his acting skills which a short course in an
acting school would enhance if he so desires but that trained eye would
also recognize that there’s a zeal within his talent which can be
nurtured for the future. It is heartwarming to see the new generation of
actors coming all out to prove that talent is king, beyond good looks.
For Tope Tedela, his talent may well take him places.

NUMBER THREE: LUCKY EJIM

Lucky Ejim’s name might not ring much of a bell to many but his art
clanged more than a Church Bell for me in 2014. The movie ‘Render to
Ceaser’ in which Lucky plays a psychotic villain had a run at the
cinemas earlier in 2014 and Lucky stood out for me as the man of the
movie. He was superb in his characterization and his articulation was
brilliant too. Now, there is a difference between playing a villain and
making the viewers accept that an actor is one. In this movie, Lucky
blurred the lines and all through the movie, he was as good as they come
in acting. After his commendable outing in the 2009 movie, ‘The
Tenant’, we had to wait for years for the Canada-based actor to return
to the Big Screen over here. And he didn’t fail.

NUMBER TWO: MIKE OMOREGBE

His name on this list would shock a lot of people who may not even know
who he is. But he is an ACTOR and his artistry deserves my commendation.
If anyone has watched ‘INVASION 1897‘ by Lancelot Imasuen, you would
agree with me that Mike Omoregbe, who played the role of ‘Oba Ovoramwen’
was as brilliantly regal in the role as he was visually a sizzle in his
interpretation. His carriage and internalization for that role was
quite an aesthetic delight and he did stir a lot of African cultural
enthusiasts with his various levels of interpretation for that role. For
a first timer on the big screen, I must doff my heart to this new
entrant on the block. Actors such as this should not escape Nollywood’s
radar in the present future.

NUMBER ONE: SADIQ DABA

Sadiq Daba is my number one actor in Nollywood this year. If his
ascension to this list in the first place would shock anyone, I would
gleefully go the extra mile to add an electrocution value to that shock.
The Veteran Actor has perhaps given us his role of a lifetime and one
which we will never forget in years to come.
I do not wish to believe that Uncle Sadiq’s role in ‘ October 1‘ could
very well be a magnum opus to the industry, having being called out of a
self-imposed retirement by Kunle Afolayan. It shouldn’t be. As the
Colonial Inspector in ‘October 1‘, Mr Daba shows us all why tried and
tested actors of his professional ilk are still the unbeatable best. One
could appreciate that he personally put in a lot of research and hard
work into his character and limited himself professionally to acceptable
areas of believable acting, eschewing melodramatic dictates which other
actors cast in that role might have been tempted to accede to.
His acting reached a powerful crescendo when in the last scene, he
confronted the White Colonial officers. That was an awesome
interpretation. In this age of harried and hurried actors who believe
that they know it all, they can learn lots from actors like Sadiq Daba.
He gets my ultimate diadem for 2014. Congratulations, Sir.