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Kenyan Drama series ‘Nganya’ opens on iflix


A new original Kenyan production created by Nice Githinji Nganya premiered on Kwesé iflix on Thursday night to users across Africa. The new show is a thirteen-part drama series full action and done in Sheng with an option of English subtitles.

Produced by leading Kenyan production house, Assignments Studios, Nganya is a gritty Swahili drama centered around the matatu business in Nairobi’s Eastlands.

In a criminal underworld teeming with shady characters, our hapless matatu team soon find themselves tangled in a web of corruption and deceit.

The public transport industry in Kenya can be associated with cartels, crime, drugs, prostitution and heavily corrupt police involvement. Gathee, the taxi driver, and his conductor, Jamoe, operate a twenty-seven seater van, commonly known as Nganya, on a route in Eastland’s, the crime Centre of Nairobi City.

Gathee is the experienced one and Jamoe the rookie, while not always the best of friends, they have created a good working relationship in order to survive.

MATATU CREW

Gathee, a husband and father, is leading a double life and hiding a deep secret from his wife. So overwhelmed by competing needs, he makes bad decisions in his attempts to ensure the safety and well-being of his family.

Jamoe, new to the industry and rough around the edges, takes on dangerous work to put more money on the table.

Speaking to Nairobi News, Ms Githinji, who has worked with top production companies in Kenya, said that she created the show four years ago and tried to hawk it to local stations but it wasn’t until several months ago that Kwesé iflix picked it up.

“It wasn’t an easy sell, most of the stations told me that it was not what they wanted. Others told me to change the content to be a little more friendly. I thank Kwesé iflix for believing in our work and picking the series,” Githinji said.

ALL-STAR KENYA CAST

The show features a talented all-star Kenyan cast consisting of Maina wa Ndung’u, Mbeki Mwalimu, Isaac Kiarie, Peter Oruka, Jerry Mokua, Mwaura Bilal, Tim King’oo and Nice Githinji who plays Malaika.

Githinji also disclosed that they had already finished shooting Season 2 and that production of Season 3 will start in 2019.

Asked why she chose to do it in Sheng, she said “Why not, we see South Africa peddling their show with languages that we do not understand and even Nigeria does the same. We have Sheng and it is our language. Besides, how many matatu people have you met calling or talking to you in English?”

LOCAL SCRIPTED DRAMA

The year 2018 marks the launch of Kwesé iflix’s original programming, with a slate comprising local scripted drama, raw stand-up comedy, plus pan-regional alternative news and live coverage. Such innovative content encompasses many firsts for African entertainment.

“Our exclusive original production, “Nganya”, underlines his companies ambition to be part of the entertainment revolution in our markets,” said Kwesé iflix CEO, Mayur Patel.

He added that they are excited to be releasing this drama series for their users to download and watch.