Actor Deyemi Okanlawon has replied those criticising the late Biyi Bandele’s Elesin Oba: The King’s Horseman.
Since its release on Netflix on Friday, the film has gotten both negative and positive review from critics.
Produced by Mo Abudu and set in the Oyo Empire, Elesin Oba is the story of a king’s horseman who must commit ritual suicide to follow his deceased king into the afterlife.
However, his best intentions are derailed by his sexual desires which leads to catastrophic consequences and ends in a deadly clash with the British rulers of the day. The horseman is unable to fulfill his ultimate commitment to the king, leaving his spirit to roam the earth, spelling doom for the land and its people.
Responding to the criticism in a Twitter post on Saturday, Deyemi Okanlawon stated that only those with love for art and experience would understand and appreciate the film which was an adaptation of Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman.
The actor who played the character Olunde also joked about his character always dying in movies as seen in Blood Sisters.
He wrote: “Elesin Oba is a work of art – the late Biyi Bandele’s visual rep of Wole Soyinka’s lit masterpiece… but as with any art form you can expect that some, who perhaps lack art appreciation experience, will view it upside down. Rgds, Olunde, Deyemi. Best In Dying in Nollywood Films.”
