How I was crowned the Queen of Kannywood – Kannywood actress, Halima Atete

Halima Atete joined the popular Kano base Kannywood industry as an actress and producer about ten years ago. She joined Kannywood after attending her primary school, government girls secondary school Maiduguri and Borno College of Islamic and Legal Studies where she obtained a diploma in Sharia and Civil Law. She was sometimes ago nominated by all stakeholders in the Hausa Film Industry in the North in collaboration with Zamfara State Emirate Council as the Queen of Kannywood, Sarauniyan Kannywood.

Halima Atete over the years has become a hot cake in the Kano Film Industry that if a producer, marketer or director wants his film to be successful in the market, he must feature Halima Atete in the film as a lead actress or supporting actress. They are about six or seven in this group namely; Halima Atete, Nafisa Abdullahi, Jamila Nagudu, Fati Washa, Hadiza Gabon, the expelled Rahama Sadau etc. On the side of male actors, they include; the King of Kannywood Ali Nuhu, Sani Sadiq Sani, Sadiq Ahmad, Yakubu Muhammed, Nuhu Abdullahi, and a host of others.

READ ALSO: My happiest day was when I was nominated to play the lead role in “Labarina” – Kannywood actress, Maryam Wazeery

In fact, according to Halima Atete, there is nothing left for her to prove in Kannywood. Her only desire now is to have a crisis-free career and to settle down and be a producer where she will only be investing in the industry, but she will of course not feature in films again after getting married.

“You see, I featured in high rated films alongside high rated actors and actresses like Ali Nuhu, Sadiq Sani Sadiq, Sadiq Ahmad, Aisha Aliyu, Jamila Nagudu, Fati Washa, Hafsat Idris, Rahama Sadau and the rest. Also, I acted successfully as a no-nonsense police officer, a truck driver, a male actress in Matamaza and several other roles that are very challenging. As such, I have nothing to say rather than to thank Almighty God my colleagues in Kannywood and most importantly my admirers, because I always get several text messages and whatsapp chats from people who admire me because of the role I play in a particular film or some will call and say they want to have me as a friend or to tell me that I am their role model.”

Halima Atete spoke with Neptune Prime’s Kano correspondent, Saleh Inuwa recently where she talked about her career, money, men, challenges, future plans and a host of others. Especially her turban by the Zamfara State Emirate council as Queen of Kannywood after her nomination by members of the Hausa Industry across the north.

EXCERPTS OF THE INTERVIEW

Neptune Prime: The last time I interviewed you was ten years ago at Green Park hotel where you went there to participate in Ahmad Bifa’s film ALMOORU, that interview ended very shallow because you were not forthcoming, but now you are almost the best actress in Kannywood, how did it happen?

Halima: Thanks for reminding me of that interview, remember during the interview Hadiza Aliyu Gabon had to intervene to explain some points, but honestly speaking, Halima Atete of today is not only a successful producer. I produced films like Daga Murna and several others that I featured top class actors like Ali Nuhu, today, but I have also virtually dominated the industry, those I used to admire their acting skills before I joined Kannywood today, am not only rubbing shoulders with them, some of them after we finish shooting a film will come to me and say Halima you are a wonderful actress to me this is not a mean achievement.

NP: Tell us your initial challenges?

Halima: When I joined the industry newly, I was always very jittery before the camera or when I was asked to play alongside top-class actors or actresses but I quickly overcame that. Similarly, my colleagues in the industry are very cooperative that they assisted me to grow easily, today, I acted as a truck driver in the film Kallabi where I was even attacked by armed robbers in the film. I featured as Army Commander, as Matamaza in a film that Late Ibro Rabilu Musa was my father but because he was lazy, I always stand for him whenever people challenge him for a fight or anything of that nature. I played the role of his strong and stubborn male son. In fact, after the film, I noticed that you men are luckier than us because I can wear my jeans go out and play, go out and dance with friends and do other things that ordinary a lady cannot do, so I enjoy acting like a man, unfortunately, my father in the film Rabilu Musa later died in real life. May God give him paradise.

NP: So Today, how rich is Halima Atete?

Halima: Well, to start with, I cannot count the number of films I featured in because they are many, some of them include Matamaza, Kallabi, Wata hudu, dakin amarya, in fact, they are too many. Then stakeholders of Kannywood from all the northern states met and nominated me as Queen of Kannywood, later, Zamfara Emirate Council organized a beautiful turban ceremony for me, I built my own house, I have cars, my bank account is not doing badly. I have admirers all over the country, God gave me good health, I am Muslim, I am very pretty and sexy, I was opportune to perform Hajj to the Holy Land so you can see that I have nothing to say that to finish my career successfully.

NP: With what you have achieved within the ten years period in Kannywood, which others did not achieve in years, how do you cope with enemies?

Halima: Well, all of us have enemies but I always make sure I pray hard and leave everything in the hands of God, you know even if you have nothing in life, you will still have enemies, but I always feel sad when I hear what people do say about us. I want people to know that most of what we do in films are not real, we are only creating awareness, like in Matamaza, I featured as a man with mustache and male dresses, ordinarily, I can’t do that in real life. We are as decent as any other person in life, we are as soft as cotton and as pure as holy water. As such, people should feel free and approach us for marriage and they will never regret it whenever they do that. I am promising you though I am the jealous type, what I did in Dakin Amarya when my husband Ali Nuhu took a second wife Aisha Aliyu Tsamiya and I almost set our house on fire was just a film but that film has endeared me to many people especially women folk because I play the role perfectly well. The properties including the plasma television that you saw me destroying in the film were real, they were new before I destroyed them and the injury I sustained on my hand was real.

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