Award winning actor and extremely talented director, Mandla N is hard at work to become the next Tyler Perry in Mzansi. Speaking to Daily Sun he said he said he is in the process of building the biggest studios in the continent.With a career that spans for over two decades, Mandla N is well on his way of becoming a mogul and he wants to engrave his name among the greats. The studios he wishes to complete are based in West Rand and are called Power Park Studios. Currently occupying the space is a ‘squatter camp, a supermarket, hospital, prison, police station, government offices etc.’ Mandla promised his big project will be epic, “We’re building things I’ve used and needed in the 20 years I’ve been in the game. We’re still working on it and it’ll be bigger when we’re done with it.”
“We’ve done really iconic shows in Mzansi. Instead of hiring studios, we thought let’s build something we can constantly work from. So we struck a deal with Power Park Studios and they’ll manage it.”
Mandla said other filmmakers will be able to use the studios so as to grow the industry in the country. He admitted that it has not been an easy journey as they faced many hurdles but through dedication and understanding the vision of creating a legacy, he and his partners kept pushing.
Mandla has bagged his very first telenovela called DiepCity which replaces Isibaya. He is also responsible for eHostela and Lockdown. This is one of many telenovela’s hence the competition which will take place will be very interesting. He is also opening up the industry!
He said the leads for his new telenovela were chosen from Instagram , “We’ll be competing with other telenovelas and that’s exciting. I’ve been meeting people on Instagram and giving them opportunities. Some of the leads on DiepCity are from Instagram. I’m heading towards people development for now,” said Mandla.
DiepCity will see some of our favourite faces from other telenovela’s and these include Dawn Thandeka King who played MaNgcobo on Uzalo and Rhythm City’s Mduduzi Mabaso who currently plays Suffocate Ndlovu. Other cast members include; Nozuko Ncayiyane from Scandal! Kgaogelo Monama, Zikhona Bali and Nompumelelo Vilakazi.