The dream of every upcoming actor or actress is to feature in a film produced by FKD, a Hausa Film Production Company owned by Ali Nuhu which he named after his mother. FKD means Falmata Kadiram A Kanuri Woman from Borno State where Ali Nuhu hailed.
In 2016, the King of Kannywood Ali Nuhu decided to produce a film called “Mansoor” that will be a talk of the town for a very long time to come and he also insisted that he will feature actors and actresses that are not popular so that he will lift them from grass to grace.
On the 19th of December 2016, Ali Nuhu and some of his crew for the film Mansoor assembled at a private school called Dan Dutse opposite Kano Capital School to shoot the film Mansoor and some of the artists he invited include the Kaduna based Hausa Musician Umar M. Sheriff who is to play the lead role in the film. Also, invited were Baba Karami, Baballe Hayatu, Abba EL-Mustapha, and Bilkisu Shema who is to play the lead role for female while Maryam Yahaya was billed to play a supporting role to Bilkisu Shema.
But along the line, things did not work out the way it was planned, even though all actors and actresses received their payment in advance, accommodation, transport, costumes were provided for them in advance. Then on the morning of 19th December 2016, the film kicked off but with Maryam Yahaya playing the lead role even though she featured only in 3 films before Mansoor, now after Mansoor, she has become a household name, and Ali Nuhu whose company produced the film with him as the director and Naziru Dan Hajiya as the producer and so far according to reliable source got more than N20 million from the film and it is still selling fast in the market.
Neptune Prime’s correspondent in Kano, Saleh Inuwa met with the young Maryam Yahaya weekend in Kano and had an exclusive interview with her where she talked about her family background, her ambition in life, how she played the lead role in Mansoor and several other issues.
EXCERPTS OF THE INTERVIEW
Neptune Prime: Before we go deep into the interview, we want you to clarify the insinuations that it was actually your money that Ali Nuhu used to produce Mansoor, that was why Bilkisu Shema was dropped to pave the way for you to play the lead role?
Mariam: Long pause, honestly, Kannywood is a very big industry with fine actors and actresses and for me to emerge from nowhere, and play the lead role in a serious film like Mansoor produced on FKD stable. Definitely, you will hear people saying all sorts of things, the lead role was actually to be played by Bilkisu Shema but when we went for the shooting of the film, the producer Naziru Dan Hajiya put several calls to her but she was nowhere to be found and after brainstorming with Ali Nuhu they decided to change the script of the film by jumping some scenes. At this point, I was called by Ali Nuhu to face the camera and start the auditioning for the role reserved for Bilkisu Shema and even though I was tensed, I did my best and later I was given the lead role and today honestly I have no regret, the film has made me a celebrity instantly. I, therefore, thank God, my parents, Ali Nuhu, Naziru Dan Hajiya, Umar M. Sheriff who featured as my boyfriend in the film and my father in the film Sadiq Ahmad.
NP: If I may ask, who is Maryam Yahaya?
Maryam: I am from Kano State, Goron Dutse to be precise. I attended Bokabo Army Secondary School in Kano where I obtained my higher school certificate. At the time Mansoor was shot, I was 19-years-old, but I am now 25-years-old, and I cannot express my joy to King of Kannywood Ali Nuhu for giving me this opportunity which has made me, what I am today.
NP: If not because Ali Nuhu is a complete gentleman and does not womanize, one will expect or accuse you of using your beautiful body to secured the lead role in the film Mansoor?
Maryam: I am extremely happy that even a senior media personality like you can attest to the fact that I secured the role based on merit. Like you rightly pointed out, Ali Nuhu only asked me on the day that we were to start shooting the film Mansoor to do the auditioning for the lead role because, the lady that was supposed to play the lead role Bilkisu Shema did not show up on location and this was a film that a lot of money was put into it and any delay in shooting the film will attract heavy loss for the producers, as such, the film was done with professional touch and expertise. Everybody was treated with respect and dignity so there was nothing like sexual harassment, in fact, I am not even happy to mention this word because all those that featured in Mansoor are people that are well to do financially. My boyfriend in the film Umar Sheriff is a successful Hausa Musician, Baba Karami is a stakeholder in Kannywood, Abba El-Musptaha, Baballe Hayatu and Tijjani Faraga are all first-class actors and producers, of course, because of the way I became successful after my role in Mansoor and because of the way producers are now coming to me for one role or the other, I will not be surprised if people come up with all manner of rumour to run me down but thank God today I am a successful actress.
NP: Now that you are a celebrity, what will be next on your card, I mean are you going back to school or you will get married?
Maryam: Both, even if I get married tomorrow, I will still go to the University for my degree, we are in an era that nobody will wait for you or take your responsibility, especially, with the level at which female education is on a top priority of some northern governors and other politicians alike. In Kano, we have 3 universities, namely, North-West University, which is now renamed Maitama Sule University, the University of Science and Technology Wudil, and Bayero University, Kano. We also have Colleges of Education, Nursing and other schools of management as such, I will take my time and look for admission into one of these schools and further my education, but the truth is, if a God-fearing person, that will take very good care of me comes my way any moment from now, and ask for my hand in marriage. I will not hesitate to marry him, but on the condition that he will allow me to further my education, he will allow me to also remain in Kannywood even as a producer or to do other businesses after I finish my school, anybody ready for that, then he is welcomed into my life, the day I will be given out as a bride, I will want my parents and Ali Nuhu to give me out jointly because I will never forget what Ali Nuhu did to me in life.
NP: Let us now come to the film Mansoor, even though I personally watched the film more than 3 times, I also watched it when it was premiered in Kano and Kaduna, what was the main message in the film because, apart from the romantic role you played in the film, the film was full of dancing and singing. About six songs in all and even Umar Sheriff that Ali wanted to use the film to promote him, he was given the role of a child that was born outside wedlock, as such, the film ended up messing him up instead of making him a star?
Maryam: First, I am not in a position to judge what the producer of the film or Ali Nuhu himself intends to achieve by shooting the film Mansoor, but the film was very successful and educative, it made people like me to be known all over the world. But let me try to explain what the film is all about, in the film, Maryam Yahaya myself was cast alongside Umar M. Sheriff as his girlfriend, the no-nonsense Jos based film producer and actor Sadiq Ahmad was my father in the film while Umar Sheriff featured as a son to Baba Karami but my father insisted that I should not be into any relationship because I was still a college student. My boyfriend in the film Umar M. Sheriff was my classmate in the secondary school that we attended, later, I was removed from the school by my father and sent to another school because he does not want my relationship with Umar M. Sheriff who he claimed his paternity is not known, but Umar M. Sheriff who later confronted his adopted father Baba Karami to tell him who was actually his parents, this, he did not get an immediate answer but he was asked to inquire between Ali Nuhu, Abba El-Musptaha and Baballe Hayatu who among them impregnated his mother when she stayed with them in the same house. As a single lady, but all of them denied that they never had canal knowledge meaning none of them had affair with him mother, Umar continues to search for his real parents, later, it was discovered that a serving governor, in this case, Tijjani Faraga was the one that drugged his mother when she was working for him as his personal secretary and slept with her in which she took in and gave birth to Umar Sheriff and since then, Tijjani Faraga who is now a serving governor did not give birth to any child again. So this was how Umar M. Sheriff ended up as the son of a Governor while my father later accepted that we should continue with our relationship and get married if we want. So to me, it’s like the rich also cry if you are poor, rich people will not want you to marry their daughters but when you are rich, people will be inviting you to be into a relationship with their daughters, I think that’s how far I can go but the film I can tell you is very educative above all, we have made a successful outing and people have been asking for my number for a film or relationship but I intend to mind my business because I am still young and I don’t want to disappoint my family.
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Comment: WOW GREAT GOOD JOB MY ACTREES