Pix: George Nweke

"What is this Nnaji mystique that has her audience colliding heads so joyfully, crawling, craving some time in her sun? Star quality is what it is. The amount of talent dripping from her little finger is more than many of our other female leading ladies have combined..."
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"hi genny, how is your weekend?" - A Nigerian Movie Fan.

The above line was taken from the Guest Book on Nigerian movie actress Genevieve Nnaji's website, http://www.genevievennaji.com/. Yeah, "Genny" is what they call her out here in cyberspace. Or "Gene". Or "'Vieve". Or just "G". How about that? The star/fan relationship has progressed to first names now. At the writing of this piece, there are 3549 entries in the Guest Book, spanning 355 pages of 10 postings per page. The fans stop by for all shades of reasons, but many, like the fan quoted above, merely come to find out how her day or week is going.

For the benefit of those of you who are not Internet savvy, a Guest Book is like an online message book. It is a series of messages left by visitors to a website, just as visitors to a house will leave notes to indicate they were around. Now, 3549… That's a lot of entries for any Guest Book. Even the biggest Hollywood stars usually have just a smattering of entries on their websites. Imagine you received so many visitors to your house within the space of a month (the Domain name was only registered late September 2003). Don't forget it isn't everyone that visits this particular house that leaves a written message. Some, like me, just sniff around and leave without a word.

What else do you need to identify a superstar in the making?

"hi, how come u don't reply mails" - A Nigerian Movie Fan.

Buddy, did Jennifer Lopez ever reply your mail? Why do you think Genevieve Nnaji will? Can you imagine how many other fans like you are scattered around the world, waiting for her to respond to a phone call or email or personal visit? We are commoners and the stars live up there while we live down here. When they give us a good movie, they are sharing a part of their souls with us and we need to be contented with that. So don't get all itchy if Ms. Nnaji is unable to personally contact you. That is the way it works worldwide. The stars shine while we bask in that glow…

But isn't Genevieve Nnaji slowly becoming the Nigerian movie industry's first true superstar? She is transcending stardom into…SUPERSTARDOM! It takes a series of factors to make this possible. Nigerian movies are suddenly earning international attention (acclaim will come later!) for the industry's ingenuity and resourcefulnes

s amidst a stifling economic environment. The Internet is getting a foothold in Nigeria, and our youngsters are beginning to realize the vast possibilities awaiting them thereon. Nigerians in the Diaspora and Africans have discovered how to connect with the cultures they left behind through watching Nigerian movies, which in turn has led many reputable international publications to do stories on the Nigerian phenomenon (the movies, not 419). Oh, we should not ignore the GSM revolution in Nigeria, the ease of text messaging, the availability of phones to many youngsters who can now yap and yap and yap all day and night about the latest movie and star and…And Genevieve Nnaji, just at the appropriate age of 24, appears to be the front of this national and cross-continental conquest?

Of course we have stars aplenty in the movie industry. I mean what do you call Liz Benson, lovely elegant Lizzy of so many men's fantasies? Then there's Regina Askia, no strong actress, but a graceful head-turning model and beauty queen. Oh, and how can we skip Uche Osotule, angelic, a lady to the hilt, unpretentious, endowed with an incredible acting range that most male actors playing against her have been seriously incapable of equaling. There are others, stars all of them, faces that briskly move video movies on retailers' shelves.

These other folks, however, have functioned largely within Nigeria. They are just now being exported as much as Nnaji, but the other factors, those external things that no actor has any control over, did not come together for these most beloved leading ladies at the right age and time. And so they remain enormously popular, makers of the way, but it is Genevieve Nnaji that is benefiting from all the hard work they have done. Nnaji is the one becoming more than a star, the superstar!

"please genevieve can you give me your Email address or phone number" - A Nigerian movie fan.

What is this Nnaji mystique that has her audience colliding heads so joyfully, crawling, craving some time in her sun? Star quality is what it is. She is a talented actress, no doubt about that. The amount of talent dripping from one of her little fingers is more than many of our other female leading ladies can boast in their entire body. Even when she's being a bad girl, as in the irrationally jealous sister role she played against the under-challenged Omotola Jolade-Ekeinde in Blood Sisters, she steals scenes. No, she doesn't steal scenes...The scenes become her. The scenes simply develop a mind all their own and mould themselves lovingly around her. You have to look at her face. It calls you. A beautiful girl, she uses those eyes compellingly. Its like the camera was made for her!

Hers is the kind of unannounced presence that goes on to permeate the place and space. Charisma… She oozes charisma, easily outshining others in the same scene with her merely by her gestures, even without lines. Some would call it over-acting. I think it is just a lack of polish, an absence of technique, the result of too many classes in the confusing schools of experience under the tutelage of directors that are themselves in need of directing, in dire need of schooling in their craft.