Handprint release comedic Beauty series

GASEBALWE SERETSEM
Correspondent | Tuesday May 7, 2013 00:00

 

Set in the late 80s, the series explores the life of Beauty, Elsie Ntshonono, who is a goal-getter who wishes to be rich without sweating much. In her neighbourhood, the scheming young woman is famous for her naughty escapades that always backfire to the amusement of her housemate, Basadi (Boipelo Seleke). Beauty is forever pursued by her landlord, Rex (Booza Lefutswe) who wants his rentals while the former is busy chasing after fame and fortune.

Other notable characters in the series are Mary (Ditsietsi Motswasele) and Banki (Samuel Gape), the irresponsible and sometimes downright foolish pair who work for Sir Bernard (Bhupendrakamar Sharma).As mentioned earlier, the series is set in the late 80s and the producers did their best to make sure that the wardrobe corresponds with the era.

The vehicles used also bear the number plates from that era, something that the producers from more famous No 1 Ladies Detective Agency movies missed. If you are hoping to see someone holding a cellphone to his ear in the series, hard luck because back then they only used landline telephones, something the producers noted.

Sadly, the advent of technology gave the producers a headache because satellite dishes made their appearance although they were not available in large numbers then.Unfortunately, the Beauty series is low-budget and many who are used to watching high-quality productions are going to be hugely disappointed.

Although it is widely accepted that storylines for comedies are generally relaxed, this reviewer found the ones for the series wanting. As in other works from this production house, the characters are at times too loud and rusty making the viewer want to cringe.

However, in some scenes, the actors outdo themselves in some episodes and this shows that with the right grooming, this country can produce good screen actors.The picture quality in the DVDs is quite good and the actors have potential and something says that if money was no issue, more could have been achieved with this production.

This series strongly suggests that if given good financial backing, the Botswana film industry could go places. Scripted and directed by Fenny Lekolwane, the Beauty series, like other Handprint productions, will most definitely appeal to those who love home-brewed and support comedies. The DVDs are available at most if not all Choppies supermarkets nationwide. Beauty is set to be shown on Botswana Television (Btv) soon.