BONGOLAND II - Bi Chuma Selemani Mzee

Then there was Bi Chuma Selemani Mzee.

It was another casting day in Dar-es-salaam. Gervas Kasiga (Bongoland II casting Director) had one more actor to show me. I told him that this was crucial to the story and so she have to be very good. “I promise that you will like her” he calmly replied. He had no doubt in his mind. Meeting her was crucial because she was one of the last spots that had to be filled and we were running out of time.

It was now dark and as we rode in a cab from Kurasini suddenly our cab ran out of gas. We had to look for another cab in one of the busiest spots in Kurasini. Nevertheless we were late to meet Bi Hindu. Kasiga called her and told her that we were coming as soon as possible. She met us in a bar/ restaurant where I could smell the local favorite ‘kitimoto’ – ‘roast pork’.

I greeted her and she replied with a long sentence, which I could not understand. She just looked at me and smiled. Then Kasiga continued with the introduction. The funny thing was I could only catch few words every time she spoke. Like I heard words like, sawa, basi, ndiyo… inshallah but nothing more. I could not comprehend her sentences fully.

Bi Chuma Selemani Mzee, who prefers to be addressed by her stage name - Bi Hindu - has a small stature about 4’4 and maybe weighs 115 pounds. Yet, her voice is very sharp and authoritative. Her presence was extremely intimidating. I had hard time maintaining eye contact with her…maybe it was because we were over an hour late for our meeting.

After she understood what we were there for, she started to audition so to speak. I looked at Kasiga whose face was gleaming as if he is just about to burst into a big laugh and whispered – (to Kasiga) Mzee, I have a problem… I don’t understand what bibi is saying here! Now Kasiga bursted into a loud laugh, I looked at Bi Hindu…she was also laughing.

Then she held my hand and said – you see I am speaking Kiswahili the proper way. Then she added “Baba nyie watu wa bara hamjui kuongea Kiswahili”. (You people from the mainland can’t speak proper Swahili). Sad but true. Surprisingly, now I could understand her perfectly. Kasiga then told me that she does this often. She would speak “Kimwambao” and a normal Swahili speaker would not fully understand. Then she started teaching me a little bit of what some of the words she said earlier meant and the reasons she said them.

Kasiga had briefed her about the role and as we spoke, she suddenly got into the character and asked Kasiga to tell her some lines from the script. Then she looked at me and said…this is how I would say it. I was blown away by the words she used. Of course the toned down the Kimwambao…which I objected to, so she turned it back up. Swahili never sounded sexier as she delivered those lines.

Suddenly I could see the scene in real time in my mind. Then she moved to another scene which was a serious/funny scene. I was laughing so hard. The thing is…she made the scene full by adding words that obviously were not in the script but were necessary to make the scene more alive and believable and extremely funny.

Suddenly it hit me again…I am speaking by one of the greats. She was there to do the job and she did it well..in fact she did it very well. Bi Hindu has been in many local movies. She is very active and she is apparently known for her no nonsense hard and tough “Bibi wa Kiswahili” – “Swahili grandma” character. There was no doubt in my mind that she could play the role. We made a deal and asked her to come to the set the following day.

She showed up ready to work. She brought two or more outfit for us to choose from and we made her pick one because they were all equally appropriate. We had few takes and then she was done. Just like that. I spent few minutes talking with her. As I talked to her I was amazed by the depth of her ideas. She talked about the fact that she liked the story. She suggested that we go easy on some things like religion. I assured her that this epic has nothing to do with that. She looked satisfied with my explanation. Then she was done for the day.

The depth of her artistic vitality is something that we from the “younger” generation need to appreciate and acknowledge and award. I would be the one to admit first that we were extremely privileged to have Bi Hindu in our production. We are in turn are exposing her to a wider audience. This is something that we ought not to keep quiet about.

As I was writing this article, I felt a sense of pride mixed in with shame and guilt because I can name 10 actors from the United States in my sleep but I know very little from my own country’s icons like Mama Hindu or Mzee Kipara etc.

Our media’s continued irrational obsession and preoccupation with the likes of American hip hop artists or European soccer stars has its price and I guess I am one of the victims. In the old days we would be excused because we did not have TV or the internet but now we do. Let us use these tools to our advantage and highlight what really matters to our culture. Short of doing that our future generations will grow up thinking that to make it is to look like a thug, adopt an unpronounceable three letter name and know how to shake bare bottoms on camera….

We can help by making them aware of the contributions of such icons as Bi Hindu …to emulate!

Bi Chuma Selemani Mzee – Thanks!