Samod Biobaku witnesses DaGrin's resurrection

Ghetto Dreamz

DaGrin resurrects

· KSB breaks down in tears

By Samod Biobaku

Sixthsense34@yahoo.com

The event was the press screening of the movie, Ghetto Dreamz (a movie depicting the life and times of the late rapper, DaGrin). The date was April 12, 2011 and the venue was the Silverbird Galleria in Victoria Island, Lagos.

As early as 9:00am, prominent faces like Daniel Ademinokan (Director), Doris Simeon (actress), Ope Banwo (Stingomania boss), Trybson and other members of the Stingomania crew were on ground to witness the screening of what many have already tagged ‘movie of the year.’

The general expectation of guests at the event was perhaps best captured in the words of a staff of the cinema who expressed his anticipation when ushering a guest into the venue of the screening: “Ah! That DaGrin movie wey we don dey wait for since. Ah! DaGrin…”

Towards the end of the screening, popular Gospel act, Kenny Saint Brown also known as KSB found herself in a sort of dilemma.

Visibly overwhelmed by emotion triggered by the tragic images she was watching, she had the choice of either remaining in the cinema and cry her eyes out in body-racking sobs or quickly trace her way out of the venue in order to be able to cry without disturbing other viewers.

She however chose the latter towards the tail end of the screening especially at the point where DaGrin’s dead body lay lifeless in the hospital as his mother wailed uncontrollably.

While majority of the scenes were loaded with the visual reflections of DaGrin’s sufferings as a young aspiring rapper, as expected, a healthy dose of homour was infused into vital points of the movie – something in the form of a comic relief.

However, the movie, ‘Ghetto Dreamz’ was predominantly laden with tragic scenes capable of shattering the coils of sensitivity especially for the extremely emotional types.

With Rachael Oniga playing DaGrin’s mum, Kasumu Odumosu (Pa Kasuma) playing DaGrin’s father, Trybson playing DaGrin, the casts especially DaGrin’s close pal in the movie, delivered their roles as professionally as expected – deeply into the characters.

The movie successfully captured various aspects of DaGrin’s life; his endless battles with his parents, his disinterest in education, his obsession with music, his incredible determination to succeed and how he remained resilient despite being constantly disgraced, humiliated and embarrassed by music promoters and record label owners.

Ghetto Dreamz also cast a beam of revelation some of DaGrin’s ungodly affiliations and indulgences especially during the heart of the suffering - The most prominent of this being his involvement in cyber fraud.

The venue of the screening was classy, the cast interpreted their roles well, audio output was on point except for a scene where DaGrin had a conversation with his mum at her shop; while his mum could be heard, the wrong placement of the microphone reduced DaGrin’s lines to hushes.

The movie is expected to premiere at the cinemas on the same day DaGrin departed this world, April 22, 2011 and viewers across the globe are keeping their fingers crossed for one of the most anticipated movies of the year.