''Inale'' is a 2010 Nigerian

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

produced by Keke Bongos and directed by

Jeta Amata Jeta Amata is a Nigerian filmmaker, born on August 21, 1974, to popular Nigerian actor Zack Amata. He comes from a family of veteran filmmakers including Ifoghale Amata, Zack Amata and Fred Amata. Growing up in the film industry, following his ...

. The film which stars

Caroline Chikezie Caroline Chikezie (born 19 February 1974) is a British Nigerian actress, best known for playing Sasha Williams in '' As If'', and Elaine Hardy in ''Footballers' Wives''. In 2016, she gained attention in Nigeria playing the title role in the N ...

and

Hakeem Kae-Kazim Hakeem Kae-Kazim (born 1 October 1962) is a British actor and producer. He portrayed Georges Rutaganda in the film ''Hotel Rwanda'' (2004) and won a SAFTA for his performance in the film '' Riding with Sugar'' (2020). He produced and starred ...

in lead roles, is set in

Otukpo Otukpo is a town in Benue State, Nigeria located in the North Central (Nigeria), Middle Belt Region of Nigeria. It is also the eponymous name of a subgroup of the Idoma people. Otukpo is the headquarters of the Otukpo Local Government Area. It i ...

and tells the tale of Inale and Ode, who are both in love with each other but their love is threatened by tradition as Ode must win a customary wrestling tournament before he can take Inale's hand in marriage. The film premiered in Lagos on 22 October 2010 and was met with mixed reception. It received five nominations at the 7th Africa Movie Academy Awards and eventually won the category for Achievement in Soundtrack. ''Inale'' has been said to be very similar to a folktale about Idomaland.

Plot

Odeh and Princess Inale are in love. However, according to the customs of the land, Odeh has to wrestle several other suitors of Inale in order to be able to have Inale's hand in marriage. Odeh wrestles several men and wins in all the fights; King Oche, the King of

and Inale's father declares Odeh the winner. Just before the wrestling ceremony ends, a masked stranger appears and challenges Odeh to a fight; the Stranger wins and he's revealed to be Prince Agaba, a Prince from Apah, a nearby village, which has been in a long rift with Otukpo. The king reluctantly declares the new winner and tells Prince Agaba that his wife would be escorted to his village the next day. Inale is thrown in sorrow through the night, but the king refused to compromise despite pleas from the Queen, Ochanya and other palace people. Next day, Inale tells Odeh affirmatively that she'll come back to him, as she's escorted by her sister, Princess Omei and her maid, Omada to Apah. During a break in their journey, in Omei's absence Omada pushes Inale into the river to drown and lies to Omei that Inale has committed suicide. The ladies eventually conclude that Omada pretends to be Inale to Prince Agaba and the people of Apah, who doesn't know what the princess looks like, so as to avoid a war between the two communities. The duo arrive in Apah, with Omada disguised as Inale and Ome as a maid; As soon as Omada is Queen, she begins to maltreat Omei. Omei as a result tries to open up to the people about the state of things, but no one would believe her. One of the guards in Apah recognizes Omei to be a princess and sets her free from the dungeon Omada has put her in. Omei returns to the river where Inale drowned, and Inale who is now a mermaid appears to her; Inale tells her everything Omada did to her and reveals that she can't leave the river, lest she dies. At another time, Odeh in his grief wanders to the same river, and he sees Inale. She tells him that for her to be able to be with him, he has to challenge Prince Agaba for a re-match and defeat him; only then can she be freed, and if this is not done before the next sunset, Inale would be gone forever. Odeh duels with Agaba once again and he is defeated twice, before Odeh finally defeats Agaba. Agaba hands over Omada to Odeh, and Odeh announces to everyone the true Identity of Omada. Odeh and Agaba rush to the river and rescue Inale, while Omada runs into the forest and was never seen again. Inale and Odeh get married, while Prince Agaba also marries Omei, and the two villages unite to become one great Nation.

Cast

as Inale *

as Ode * Dede Mabiaku as King Oche *

Ini Edo Iniobong Edo Ekim (born 23 April 1982) is a Nigerian actress. Ini Edo began her film career in 2000, and has featured in more than 200 movies since her debut. In 2013, Ini Edo was a judge for the Miss Black Africa UK Pageant and De9jaSpirit ...

as Omada * Keppy Ekpeyong as Prince Agaba *Lola Shokeye as Princess Omei *Eunice Philips as Queen Ochanya *

Mbong Amata Mbong Amata (born 21 September 1985) is a Nigerian actress. She has appeared in films such as '' Black November'', ''Forgetting June'', and '' Inale''. She won the "Most Beautiful Girl" ( Akwa Ibom) in 2003 and was the 2nd runner up in the 200 ...

as Keke * Nse Ikpe Etim as Ori * Omawumi Megbele as Ene

Production

The film was shot on location in Benue and

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Music and soundtrack

The background music of ''Inale'' was composed and scored by Joel Goffin. The film features original songs from Bongos Ikwue, who composed the songs. Some songs were also written by Jeta Amata. All the songs were recorded at BIK Studios, Nigeria.

Track listing

Release

The theatrical trailer of ''Inale'' was released on 23 June 2010. It premiered in Lagos on the 22 October 2010 and had an Abuja premiere on 28 October 2010. It got theatrical release in November in selected cinemas across Nigeria. It also had a rerun during the 2011 through 2012 Christmas and New Year celebration period. The film was released much later in South African theatres on 26 July 2012.

Reception

Critical reception

''Inale'' received mixed reviews; while it was praised for its beautiful production, it was criticized for its storytelling. Victor Olatoye of Nollywood Critics gave it 4 stars and stated: " If you crave for a well produced traditional Nollywood movie I suggest you see Inale. This is one Nollywood movie anyone could enjoy. The visuals were beautiful, the actors acted effortlessly". He praised the cinematography, editing and sound of the film, but talked down on the music, which he feels isn't traditional enough.

Elnathan John Elnathan John (born 1982) is a Nigerian novelist, Satire, satirist and lawyer whose stories have twice been shortlisted for the Caine Prize for African Writing. Career Elnathan John was born in Kaduna (city), Kaduna, in North West (Nigeria), no ...

, on the other hand, commended the music but faulted the scripting and the choreography of the dance and fight scenes. He concluded by stating: "It is a tremendously ambitious attempt at producing a musical. The effort is commendable; however its ambitiousness seemed to be its undoing. More time and resources seemed to be pumped into the production to the detriment of the very basis of the film - the script. Lazy scripting, good production, lack of attention to important detail; Certain unimportant details seemed to get the attention, almost as if the director wants more to impress the Nigerian audience than to make a good film". Osugo Joshua-Karis gave it 7 out of 10, stating: "''Inale'' is touching a story of love, fighting tradition. All in all, ''Inale'' is a great movie for relaxation".

Accolades

''Inale'' received five nominations at the 7th Africa Movie Academy Awards; including awards for Best Nigerian Film, Achievement in Soundtrack, Achievement in Visual Effects, Achievement in Makeup and Achievement in Costume Design. It eventually won the award for Achievement in Soundtrack. It also received five nominations at the 2011 Best of Nollywood Awards and won the category for "Best Soundtrack of the Year". The film got four nominations at the 2011 Nigeria Entertainment Awards and also won "Most Entertaining Film" category at the 2011 Monaco Charity Film Festival Awards.

References

External links

* * * {{Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Soundtrack Nigerian musical drama films 2010s musical drama films Films directed by Jeta Amata Films shot in Los Angeles Best Soundtrack Africa Movie Academy Award winners 2010 drama films 2010 films 2010s English-language films English-language Nigerian films English-language musical drama films 2010 musical films