Simi to star in Kunle Afolayan’s new movie, Mokalik

Alternative afropop singer, Simi, is set to feature in Kunle Afolayan’s new movie titled Mokalik.

The X3M Music star will star alongside Nollywood famous actors such as Femi Adebayo, Ayo Adesanya, Faithia Williams and Lateef Oladimeji.

Kunle, a renowned Nigerian filmmaker, took to Instagram on Monday to make the announcement while saying it is official.

The Phone Swap director shared a picture of himself and Simi with the caption, “It is Official: Simi @symplysimi is featuring in “Mokalik” a Kunle Afolayan film. ‘Jamb Questiom’ crooner, Simisola Ogunleye, aka Simi, has accepted a role in Kunle Afolayan’s coming film, ‘Mokalik’ (Mechanic). The agreement was formalised on Sunday, at the filmmaker’s office, in Lagos,” he wrote.

It is Official: Simi @symplysimi is featuring in “Mokalik” a Kunle Afolayan film. ‘Jamb Questiom’ crooner, Simisola Ogunleye, aka Simi, has accepted a role in Kunle Afolayan’s coming film, ‘Mokalik’ (Mechanic). The agreement was formalised on Sunday, at the filmmaker’s office, in Lagos. Beaming with smiles, it is obvious that the sonorous singer, who returned with a ‘Yes’ to Afolayan’s Golden Effects’ office after a week of studying the script, cannot wait to make her debut on the big screen. Taking to Instagram minutes later, she shared a voiceless video of herself seated beside Afolayan and flaunting the movie script, with the caption: “@kunleafo and a girl with a script she likes very much.” ‘Mokalik’ (Mechanic) follows the career of an 11-year-old boy, Jaiye, from the middle-class suburbs who spends the day as a lowly apprentice at a mechanic workshop in order to view life from the other side of the tracks. Afolayan says ‘Mokalik’ is a slight departure from the flicks he had shot in the past, adding that there will be two versions of the film; one for the Nigerian market – the other for the international market. Screen-played by Tunde Babalola, inspiration for the story, according to the filmmaker came during his constant visit to the mechanic workshop where he refurbished his much publicised Vintage car (Thunderbird Ford 1965) recently, while the film title, a Yoruba corrupt pronunciation of mechanic is from a scene in one of his late father (Ade Love)’s classic, ‘Taxi Driver’. “Visiting the mechanic workshop after about 15 years opened my eyes to a lot of things that I believe the world should know about our local auto car repairs industry,” he said. Simi will be playing Simi; daughter of a Buka (cafeteria)owner whose character holds a significant part in the movie plot. In the all-Yoruba cast movie, Simi will be acting alongside notable actors like Femi Adebayo, Ayo Adesanya, Faithia Williams, Lateef Oladimeji and comic actors like Wale Akorede (Okunu), Ayo Ogunshina (Papa Lolo) and Dayo Akinpelu (Alabi Yellow). Ire @ayoadesanya @femiadebayosalami @faithiawilliams #film #filmmaking #filmmaker #movie #mokalikthemovie #nollywood #africancinema

A post shared by Kunle Afolayan (@kunleafo) on Aug 27, 2018 at 12:28am PDT

The ‘I Dun Care’ singer took to Instagram over the weekend to reveal that she likes the script very much.

“@Kunleafo and a girl with a script she likes very much,” she wrote.

Mokalik will follow a day in the life of Jaiye, an 11-year-old boy who is sent by his middle-class parents to work at a mechanic workshop — in order to give him a different perspective on life.

Described by Afolayan as one of the Mokalik’s main stars, it seems Simi will be playing a character also named Simi — the daughter of one of the two buka owners in the film — whom Jaiye inadvertently develops a crush on.