Can Khanyi Mbau help lift standards in the film industry?

There was a time when the South African film industry was synonymous with drama but there’s a new romantic comedy being filmed that could change that.

The South African novel‚ penned by Cynthia Nozizwe Jele‚ titled Happiness is a Four Letter Word‚ is being turned into a feature film with not one but three leading ladies. The film follows three friends searching for happiness while trying to juggle their hectic Johannesburg lifestyles and images of success and acceptability.

Leading the cast are Mmabatho Montsho as Nandi‚ Khanyi Mbau as Zaza‚ and Renate Stuurman as Princess.

Montsho‚ who first made her television debut in Generations long before the labour disputes‚ said that the film was “something new” from the local industry.

“It’s exciting to see three female leads‚ we are not someone’s girlfriend but we are the story. We can’t always have films that depict black women in the same way‚” she said.

While Montsho said her role as a perfectionist lawyer was challenging because the character was in a transitional phase of her life‚ someone who may not find her role outside of her comfort zone is Mbau.

She plays the glamorous housewife‚ which she candidly admits to being in her personal life. South Africans will know her as the television presenter and former wife of multi-millionaire and controversial businessman Theunis Crous.

Mbau said: “I can definitely relate to my character because I was married to a multi-millionaire. So on set I find myself going back to the emptiness and the crannies of my past. My past was very colourful and negative but I’ve grown from that”.

The novel scooped up the 2011 M-Net Literary Award but it’s too soon to tell whether the film is likely to do well‚ since filming has only just started. But apart from the star-studded cast‚ the film is directed by award-winning Thabang Moleya with funding from the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) and forms part of a slate of films that aim to develop key areas of black talent in the industry.

The film aims to raise the level of local film industry and the representation of black females both behind and in front of the camera.

Montsho said: “In reality we have a long way to go‚ even in the film industry. In real life it’s extremely hard‚ particularly for women of colour. We have to work hard to not be the perpetual trainee. But we can’t ignore the women that are blazing the trail for us”.