Kofi Adjorlolo,veteran actor
The Ghana movie industry will develop and progress if stakeholders, especially Ghanaian producers – who veteran actor, Kofi Adjorlolo, feels have a lackadaisical attitude to work – attach importance to the industry.
Even though the actor sees little difference between Nigerian productions and Ghanaian productions, he told DJ Premier, host of Entertainment Capital, on Accra100.5FM on Saturday June 11 that Nigerians are punctual, a habit, he noted, most of their Ghanaian counterparts lack, as evidenced by their reporting late on set for the shooting of movies.
“In Nigeria, if a movie producer says we are working at this time, they will start production before the time, so it makes everybody very serious working on the field. But in Ghana, there has been a little bit of slack in the industry. Sometimes actors and actresses will be ready but makeup [crew] will take most of the time and also time for reporting. So, some of us have also cultivated the habit of showing up late on set. For instance, myself, if you tell me to come at 9am and you start shooting at 12pm, next time when I’m called to come at 9am, I will show up around 11-11:30am, so, that is what is affecting all of us in the industry. I will say it with no reservations that Nigerians take their work very seriously more than Ghanaians,” he emphasised.
Comparing Kumawood movies to Ghallywood movies, the veteran, who has featured in close to 100 movies, applauded the Akan-based movies, but was quick to add that there would be the need to improve on their content.
Adjorlolo is the son of Mr Johnny Adjorlolo and Madam Matilda Johnson. He is the second of three children. He comes from Keta in the Volta Region, where he had his early education at AME Zion School, Keta Secondary School, and later at Ebenezer Secondary School in Accra, where he had his sixth form education.
“After my sixth form education, I became a professional musician, playing with a number of bands including that of Nigeria's Victor Uwaifo of Joromi fame,” he continued.
“In between, my stay at GBC and working for Media Number One, I was offered a job as a Marketing Manager at Peace FM. After eight months, I was called by the current ambassador to Benin, Mr E. K. Adu, to assist in the establishment of another radio station, now Channel R. Later, my cousin, Richard Prempeh, the Executive Producer of Taxi Driver, asked me to write scripts for the series and possibly join the cast. That is how I entered acting.”
Some of the movies in which Mr Adjorlolo has featured in include God Loves Prostitutes, Mummy's Daughter, My Mother's Heart, Official Prostitutes, and Ghana-Nigeria collaborations such as My First Experience, Golden Adventure and Power of the Gods.
He has starred in several movies with other renowned actors like Ini Edo, Genevieve Nnaji, Patience Ozorkor, Ramsey Nouah, Emeka Ike, Olu Jacobs, and Ikem Owoh, aka Osuofia.
