A Nollywood filmmaker, Niyi Akinmolayan, has dedicated his new film, ‘Progressive Tailors Club’, to late actress, Rachel Oniga.
Until her death on July 30, the veteran actress featured in some of the best Nollywood and Yoruba movies.
The late Oniga was one of the actors in the star-studded movie set to hit the cinema on October 29.
Ahead of the premiere of the movie, the filmmaker wrote a tribute on Instagram to the late actress and his mum as he dedicated the movie to them.
The political satire film stars Beverly Osu, Uzor Arukwe, Funnybone, and Blessing Jessica Obasi with Rachael Oniga, Lizzy Jay, Adedimeji Lateef, and Bolaji Ogunmola, in supporting roles.
The film deals with members of the Progressive Tailors Club where they gather for a meeting to elect their new leader. However, when a longstanding, trusted executive is eliminated for corruption, it comes down to a choice between the old, the new, and the ridiculous.
Until Oniga’s death, the filmmaker had planned on dedicating the film to his mother who died a decade ago. The filmmaker also recounted that the actress who also featured in the movie was the first to call him back after he sent out the scripts to the cast and she was pleased with it.
“Today is a little bit bittersweet for me. I had hoped I would be dedicating Progressive Tailors Club to just one person; my mum. She was the inspiration for the movie as much of the ideas and characters inside were from the Tailors club she founded while alive and the stories she shared after their meetings. She passed on 10yrs ago but she still lives in my head.
”Aunty Rachel Oniga was the first actor to call back after we sent out the scripts. We spoke for almost an hour. She said ‘Niyi where do you get all these Crazy ideas from’. I told her they were all my Mum’s. She said…ah we must dedicate the movie to her memory o. Then we laughed real hard about Mrs Edem; the character Rachel plays in the film,”.
He also added that although he does not believe in the afterlife, he can find some solace in knowing that as long as his movie exists, these two beautiful women will forever be alive to him.
