Learn from foreign movie industry – Samira Bawumia to “Kumkum Bhagya” critics

The wife of Ghana’s Vice-President, Samira Bawumia has advised local movie producers to learn from their foreign counterparts and improve upon what they are doing.

According to her, there was no need for Ghanaian movie producers to reinvent the wheel but rather strive to meet the expectations of movie lovers.

Mrs Bawumia has recently been criticised by some sections of the public after she posed for photos with casts of popular telenovela Kumkum Bhagya when she visited India in July.

The criticisms were born out of concerns that telenovelas have gradually killed the local movie industry.

But speaking to the press on the side-lines of the Black Star International Film Festival in Accra, Mrs Bawumia advised movie producers to learn from their foreign counterparts.

“The question we should ask ourselves is why the consumers prefer them (telenovelas). Why do they want to see those above the Ghanaian offerings? So we have to learn from their successes, what is making them exciting, what is making them interesting and learn from them and improve upon what they are doing,” she said.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel. I believe that you learn from others who are doing well. So we should look at what they are doing, what the Ghanaian consumer wants and give them that. Really, it’s a competitive market but we also have to rise up to the occasion and know what our customers want and know what our views want and give them just that,” she added.

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