TAMALE RELISHES 'LOVE OF AA' (SHOWBIZ, BACK PAGE, JAN 13, 2011)

By Nurudeen Salifu

A LARGE audience turned up at the Picorna Hotel in Tamale last Saturday night to watch Kwaw Ansah’s Good Old Days – The Love of AA as it was shown in the metropolis for the first time.
The large numbers compelled the organisers – TV Africa and Tarch House Productions – to hold three separate shows between 6:00pm to 12:00 midnight, although they had initially announced only two shows.
When the first show kicked off at about 6:45pm, the Theatre Gardens of the hotel was filled to capacity and characterised by some silence as the expectant audience sharpened their appetite to have a taste of Kwaw Ansah’s movie.
It was not long that the silence succumbed to laughter and excitement as the audience responded to scenes filled with humour, such as the scenes where AA (Abudu Andani) asks his colleagues to wish him luck, where sweet words flow from AA and Esaba’s love letters and where AA’s witty little younger brother expresses his unrelenting desire for kelewele.
A feeling of “Oh, we too are in there” took charge when AAs mother uttered some sentences in Dagbani – Akperi-la yin yeri (are you going mad). One could here voices in the audience murmuring: “Ei, she spoke Dagbani and “Yeah, I was told they speak some Dagbani in the movie.”
At the end of it all, the message was clear, The love of AA is not just a love story, but one that tells about the effects of intra and inter-ethnic conflicts and how unity could strengthen the fabric of society.
Indeed, the movie depicts the ‘good old days’ in various aspects, ranging from the dressing of the cast, the hairstyles, the environment and the mannerisms.
For many in the audience who watched the movie, aside the message of unity and love for one another, Kwaw Ansah’s movie was pregnant with lessons on parenting and respect for the elderly.
The actions of the parents of the two teenage lovers seem to portray good parenting. In fact, they demonstrated considerable understanding of the lives of their children and took note of changes. They showed much concern and were careful in reproaching the children.
And for some, the use of love words and phrases, such as: “My dearest hibiscus” and “My dearest sunflower” reminded them of their teen ages, when they used to write love letters to colleagues.
“I remember we used such words and others like “from my brightest corner” at the time we were students,” Mr Abdul-Razak, a patron told Showbiz.
Hajia Katumi Alhassan, a retired midwife, commended the organisers for their decision to showcase the movie in Tamale and entreated them to endeavour to bring more movies to Tamale so as to resurrect cinema.
For now, the clarion call is for Kwaw Ansah to make the DVD of his Good Old Days – The Love for AA available.