By Olukorede Yishau
Toyin Abraham is the reigning Best Actress in Drama. She was crowned at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards (AMVCA) which held at the Eko Hotel and Suites last weekend. Her win is coming some weeks before her latest movie, ’The Fate of Alakada’, will hit the cinemas April 3.
Some years back, Toyin was some sort of bad news. Her marriage to Niyi Johnson crashed. She had an affair with Seun Egbegbe, who was later involved in a phone theft scandal.
Fame became too much for her to handle and she became irresponsible. She thought codeine would make her high and took a lot of it. She smoked a lot and looked so skinny. She had a group she smoked and gossiped with. She was the butt of some people’s joke. She was down and some people must have written her off like they wrote off Tiger Woods.
Tiger Woods ruled the world of golf. He commanded almost all the sponsorship deals there were in that sector. The world was at his feet. Then it became public knowledge that he was an unfaithful husband. Bad press followed and he lost focus. His A-game took flight and he became beatable. Analysts wrote his obituary; he would never bounce back, they said. He should forget everything about golf, they begged him.
Woods got off the scene. He must have cried in his quiet moments. He must have rued the day he allowed his third leg to take him on a journey he was not prepared for. But, just when we had all confined him to history and were looking forward to historians telling us how he was the biggest disappointment in the world of sports, Woods came back, not anyhow; he came back with a loud bang. Like a Phoenix, he rose.
The ‘crazy’ Edo girl, who was once known as Toyin Aimakhu, must also have shed tears when it appeared everything was upside down. The social media did not help matters. She was disrespected. She was discountenanced. She was written off as a failure. Even colleagues wondered if she was battling generational curse and some of them also helped to fuel the bad news around her. With time she acknowledged her bad habits and influences. She did away with them and she is better for it.
In 2017, Toyin started coming out in new light. She let Egbegbe, Johnson and drugs stay in her past. This Ibadan-bred babe had stellar theatrical exploits that year. That was the year ace actor and director Omoni Oboli predicted that the world would celebrate Toyin for her role as Iya Bola in her flick Wives on Strike: The Revolution.
Omoni had said: “I am so proud of you my darling. The world will celebrate you some more after they watch #Wivesonstriketherevolution. You murdered your role as Iya Bola! I could not have cast a better actor. I’m so glad you took all we talked about into consideration and you ran with it! You just wait for the accolades and the awards! I love you, my baby girl.”
Reading between the lines, I have a feeling Omoni was one of those who sat Toyin down and talked senses into her. I could not agree less with Omoni’s submission after seeing the movie. Toyin was simply crazy in that movie. Other actors were good, but Toyin was the life of that film, which showed that comedy could be full of messages for us all to learn from. Every scene with this outstanding talent was of standard. After seeing that movie, my mind was simply made up about who should earn my trophy for Actor of the Year 2017.
Other movies she was part of in 2017 include ’Pathetic’, ‘Tatu’, ‘Alakada Reloaded’, ‘Okafor’s Law’, ‘The In-laws’ and ‘Celebrity Marriage’. Toyin gave her all. She was like the most-sought-after actor that year. Almost all the major productions at the cinema that year had Toyin playing one major role or the other and she delivered extremely well.
In Tatu, she interpreted the role so well that one could not but feel the character’s pain. The scene where she was put in a hole was well delivered. In ’Hakkunde’, she was simply crazy. The role needed a mad actor to play Aunty Yetunde and Toyin fitted the bill. Perfectly.
In ’Alakada Reloaded’, which she produced, there was almost no dull scene. Not a few even clapped when the credits were rolled at the end of the film when I saw it at the cinema. It was one film in which Yoruba was the main language yet made a significant impact at the cinemas home and in the United Kingdom. That year, Toyin proved her cross-over acting prowess. She delivered Yoruba roles well. Give her a role in an English production, she will kill it. She can play a pauper, a clown, a rich brat, an old woman, a madwoman and all. I have seen her play three persons in a film, Eta, and she delivered in a way I have seen only Tyler Perry do.
In 2018, she dazzled in ’The Ghost and The Tout’. You need to see ’London Fever’, ‘Mentally’, ‘Dance to my Beat’, ‘Love is in the Hair’, ‘Esohe’, ‘Alani Baba Labake’, ‘Ebi mi ni’, ‘Alakada’ and ‘Sola Fe Pami’ to appreciate the good in this talented Edo lady.
At 36 and now a mother, Toyin has not slowed down. She shot ’Elevator Baby’, the movie that gave her the Actress of the Year when she was seven months’ pregnant. From 2017 to date, I doubt if there is any actor that is as busy as Toyin. Take a trip to the cinema now and check the movies on display and chances are that Toyin is in three or more of them. ‘Dear Affy’, in which she played a blogger, has been on the number one spot for about one month. It was produced and directed by her manager Samuel Olatunji.
Next month, this actor, who has become a brand to reckon with, will release the latest in her Alakada chronicles, ‘The Fate of Alakada’, featuring the sensational comedian Broda Shaggy. I believe it will be an instant success.
My final take: Being down is not the same as being out. It is an offence to be down and not make an effort to get up. Tiger Woods and Toyin Abraham have shown that bouncing back can be sweeter. So, get up and stand up to be counted.
