CELEBRITY PROFILE: TUNDE KELANI

Veteran Film Maker, Tunde Kelani

Tunde Kilani was born on February 26th, 1948 in Lagos State to yoruba parent from Ogun state. Tunde is a renowned film maker whose practice of film making spans over a decade with major blockbuster and award winning movies to his credit.

Born in Lagos, Tunde was sent to live with his grandparents at Abeokuta from the age of 5, attending the Oke-Ona Primary School in Ikija, Abeokuta and the Abeokuta Grammar School in the process.

Kelani’s grandfather was a chief – the Balogun of Ijaiye Kukudi and the young boy witnessed from close quarters aspects of Yoruba ways of life with the religion, literature, philosophy and Yoruba worldview taking roots in his young mind.

Also introduced to Yoruba literature early, the young Tunde became obsessed with the arts having seen how thrilling an impact books and theatrical performances of the Palmwine Drunkard, Oba Koso, Kurunmi, the Ogunde plays and more had on him.

In a recent interview with National Mirror, Kelani said:

‘When I was very young, I took to literature, I read everything I came in contact with. My show of fantasy came from books and stories. So, I was dreaming; I was lost in the world of books and stories… D.O Fagunwa was king in the art of telling stories.’

Another aspect of creativity that would go on to shape his life was his involvement in photography from primary school. So taken in with photography was Kelani that he became an apprentice photographer after his secondary school education before later undergoing training at the then Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) before he attended the London Film School.

On that, he said in the same interview: ‘You know that D.O Fagunwa writes with precision and the greatest sense of imagination. So, he fuelled my fantasies a lot. I discovered photography quite early too in Abeokuta then. I decided that I wanted to be a photographer before I went into motion picture production.’

After his training, he kicked off his career in 1970 as a BBC TV and Reuters correspondent, travelling around Africa to cover developing stories armed with the camera as his weapon.

Once through with his London Film School training, however, Kelani was fired up and upon coming back to Nigeria, he co-produced his first film with Adebayo Faleti called Idaamu Paadi Minkailu (The Dilemna of Rev. Father Michael).

Unknown to many, Tunde Kelani has also worked on most feature films produced in Nigeria far back as a cinematographer including 16mm feature classics like Anikura, Ogun Ajaye, Iya Ni Wura, Taxi Driver, Iwa and Fopomoyo.

In 1990, Kelani was an assistant director on the set of a major American drama, Mister Johnson starring Pierce Brosnan, Maynard Eziashi and based on Joyce Cary’s 1939 book.

In a career spanning more than four decades already, TK specialises in producing movies that promote Nigeria’s rich cultural heritage and have a root in documentation, archiving, education, entertainment and promotion of the culture.

That readers would surely go on to become leaders has played out well in the career of Tunde Kelani as the renowned producer developed a keen interest in reading at a very young age, starting with the 5 classic works of renowned literary giant, D.O Fagunwa.

With some of his favourite writers being Kola Akinlade, Amos Tutuola, Cyprian Ekwensi, Akinwunmi Ishola, Adebayo Faleti, Wale Ogunyemi and Wole Soyinka, some of Kelani’s best films are literary adaptations, including Koseegbe, Oleku, Thunderbold (Magun), The White Handkerchief, The Narrow Path, Maami and the recent Dazzling Mirage.

In 1991, Tunde Kelani started his own production company, Mainframe Films and Television Productions also popularly known as Opomulero. Incorporated in 1992, the company was set up ‘to promote our rich cultural heritage and moral values both within the country and the outside world at large, to improve the standards of film production in Nigeria and to give technical support to other production houses both within and outside Nigeria,’ according to the company’s best.

22 years down the line, not many would argue that TK has not kept the promise in all spheres. First off the prolific movie production kitchen of Kelani is the classic, Ti Oluwa Nile in 1993. The two other sequels of the movie followed that same year while another trend-setting movie, Ayo Ni Mofe as well as its sequel, Ayo Ni Mofe 2, were released in 1994. Kelani released Koseegbe, which has continued to reverberate several years after, in 1995 and followed up with O Le Ku in 1997, Saworoide in 1999 and White Handkerchief in 2000.

In Nigeria, the name Tunde Kilani, the filmmaker stands for quality film production, which narrates the life and culture of a people, which predominantly promotes the rich culture of the Yoruba people (western Nigeria) where he hails from and also films that addresses societal ills and wrongs in the present day Nigeria, where the younger generation are fast forgetting their cultural heritage. Tunde Kilani's films are highly regarded for its strong cultural undertone and efforts at promoting Nigerian rich cultures.

Beyond being the one who calls the shots as producer and director, the Ogun State-born man of amiable disposition regards himself as a storyteller, director, cinematographer and literary enthusiast.

Kilani is among Nigeria A-List and best cinematographer and movie director, whose early influence in Life, growing up with his grandparents at Abeokuta, the Capital of Ogun state, had exposed him to the depth of the Yoruba culture. His works also expose the sufferings in society, a typical example is Maami which starred Funke Akindele as the lead role, acting a role of a very poor mother who wished her son a better life, but the challenges of single parenting and lack of fund made things tough for mother and son, leaving both with the determination to rise above their challenges and succeed against all odds.

Other not less impressive films that the great man has made available to fans include Thunderbolt: Magun (2001), Agogo Eewo (2002), The Campus Queen (2004), Abeni (2006), The Narrow Path (2006), Life in Slow Motion (2008), Arugba (2010), Maami (2011) and Dazzling Mirage (2014).

He is happily married and blessed with children. Tunde Kilani resides in Lagos State, Nigeria's commercial nerve center where he practice is trade of Cinematography and Movie production.