Actress Bimbo Akintola has lamented the decline of passion in Nollywood, saying the industry has shifted from being driven by creativity and hunger to a focus on glamour and materialism.
In a recent interview, she recalled the early days when actors worked tirelessly without regard for sleep, food, or long hours, driven by a desire to make a difference.
Akintola noted that the current focus is on looks and appearances, rather than content and storytelling, citing the rise of cosmetic procedures like BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift) as evidence of this shift. She contrasted this with the passion and dedication she observes in stage actors, who prioritise delivering their best performances.
Akintola said: “The Nollywood now, The passion is gone. When we started, when we joined the industry, it was passion driven. Hunger. It was passion driven. Hunger. How much were people being paid? It wasn’t a lot of money.
“But the passion to just make a difference, to do something that you were, you felt was your reason for being in. And every person that we met was on that same level of passion. Even the old auntie Jokey, auntie Shola, all of them were so passionate about the work. You had people who would not sleep. You should sleep on set now. You would not sleep.
In fact, who’s talking about food? Who’s talking about working 12 hours or 14 hours? You work till you finish. You work till the next day. Till the next day and you’re still back there to continue. Yeah, you did a lot of overnight. It wasn’t about glamour. Our work is gritty sometimes.
“It’s not just glamour, it’s gritty, it’s reality. You need to feel it. Yeah, we reflect life back at the society. I think when you do stage, you still get that passion. You still see passion driven people who just want to do their best in front of the audience. My makeup is not right for this. No, no, I can’t wear this. Are you? Is that what the film is about? I need to wear this. I need to wear that.
“I need to do this. Well, yeah, we’re more concerned about outfits. We’re more concerned about how we look. Which is why there’s a, generally, there’s a spike in BBL. Everybody’s BBLing. Because it’s now about looks and it’s not about content. It’s not about what you have. Looks will fade no matter”.
