He came to the spotlight known as Dapi in
Tiriparwendo but his flirtation with the local film industry goes back to 1999.
The only reason his name would not turn heads is
because he worked mainly behind the scenes in a career that saw him conquering
Europe.
He was one of the scriptwriters of Studio 263 and to
those who watch film credits - the name Lexta Mutasa will definitely ring a
bell.
H-Metro’s Latwell Nyangu (LN) hooked up with him. Read on…
LN: Mungandishagade here if I say Dapi, what do people
call you?
FM: Dapi, Shagada, Kokoda!
LN: Wow, and what are your responses?
FM: I like it and I make sure
whoever greets me in that way, I make them laugh. People think I am always in
character so I make sure I crack one or two jokes.
LN: Is it an advantage to be popular, what have you
experienced from your side?
FM: It’s nice until you are caught
on the wrong side of society ‘rules’ or the law but for now I am enjoying the
heat asi musi waunobatwa wakashama unoshagadika.
LN:
Can you just take me down to the character Dapi, recite Kushagada?
FM: Ndokushakada ukashagadika semashakada akabikwa
akashisha, already it’s like rapping. I don’t just end there. The beauty of the
language is how far I can go with that jargon. I rap dramatically, in character
and the language appropriately.
LN:
Let’s trace your journey of acting. How did it all start?
FM: During my days at primary school, I was very
good, even writing and performing poetry. While at high school and I went on to
do quite well and when I went to UZ that’s when I started doing literature and
creative writing.
LN:
While at school, were you serious or you were doing it because teachers would force
you to do it, which was which?
FM: There is the casual experience one gets while at
school but the main element is that my father (late) was a writer of novels and
was my major influence into the arts. I would listen to his story telling and
develop some plays out of it.
LN:
Who was your father?
FM: Norbert M Mutasa.
LN:
So was he the source of your inspiration?
FM: Yes he inspired me, 100 percent.
LN:
But initially from within yourself, do you have the talent?
FM: The talent is there and its inherent, I was born
with it. In life when you grow up, you won’t really know what you will do in
life. I am naturally a performer and writer.
LN:
Just in short summary, tell us about your father’s legacy!
FM: He published 11 novels, ten of them in Shona and
the eleventh one was in English. The first novel was published in 1978, Mapatya. Other books like Misodzi Dikita neropa and Nhume yamambo have been rated the best
and are in school syllabuses.
LN:
Now, I am interested in knowing the day you became your own man. When did you become
a serious actor?
FM: I was a brilliant actor as a student at UZ and
during that time my major break came in 1999 when I toured Europe as a member
of a cast called New Angle Cultural Productions which was led by Professor
Farai Dere. He was a lecturer at the University and we came up with the series before
touring Europe. Our production was called Jekanyika
the prince of Gondwanaland and I featured as Mambo Dendera.
LN:
Why did you go to Europe, and was this your major break to Europe?
FM: We went to showcase our play and that was my first
major break as a student.
LN:
Was it mainly because of that production?
FM: It was
mainly because of that production, as a student and assistant to Bere, the
production became special to me.
LN:
And was this your rise to limelight?
FM: Yes, you can say
that because previously I had
featured in about 10 plays from the theatre arts department as a student. But
this one is a major breakthrough because it came as an international
production.
LN:
So how long did you stay in Europe and what was your experience?
FM: We were there for a couple of months and it was a
culturally enriching experience in many ways.
LN:
Which part of Europe were you in particular?
FM: Netherlands and Belgium.
LN:
Now that you were back on the home soil, how did you adapt?
FM: On my return, we staged Jekanyika at Reps Upstairs, HIFA-2000 followed by a series of plays
before my graduation in 2000 and it was time to leave the University.
LN:
Life after UZ can you shed more light in terms of the film.
FM: In 2002, I joined the Studio 263 team of
writers.
LN:
Who did you work with?
FM: Chief writer and Creator of the story Aaron
Chiundura-Moyo, Sekuru Tawanda Gunda-Mupengo and myself. Gunda left later at
episode 200 and I remained with Moyo up to episode 500.
LN:
What was your role in the process?
FM: I joined ship as an episode writer only later to
become script writer and editor.
At the time I left
I was the script supervisor.
LN:
When did you leave and why?
FM: I left in 2005 at episode 500 because I had
achieved a landmark. I joined them at episode 16 and from there I wrote 160
episodes. It was quite an achievement since I gained experience, excellence in
writing a new genre called soapies.
LN:
After you left Studio 263, tell me about your next projects?
FM: I wrote episodes for a drama series called Mhembwe Rudzi for ZBC in the same year.
I also wrote the first episode scripts for Small
House Saga that same year. I diversified
into music and came up with an album poetry dubbed Mboni. That same year I joined Tiriparwendo
with Moyo who had since left Studio 263.
LN:
It seems the events were just happening in your favour, how did you fall in
love with Tiriparwendo?
FM: While I was at Studio 263 things were not that rosy,
the chief writer and the director had bad blood (Moyo and the late Godwin Mawuru)
and that forced Moyo to quit and start a new project of his own. I had worked
with him for more than 500 episodes and we had known each other and you know as
writers, we created Tiriparwendo.
LN:
Will it be wrong to say Aaron Chiundura Moyo groomed you?
FM: Not at all, because he spotted me while my
father was still alive. My father and Chiundura Moyo were close friends where my
father would give some of his books to Moyo to make plays since he was the
Chief writer at ZBC. But Moyo advised my father to allow me to write the books
for television.
LN:
So was this a first traditional drama series in Zimbabwe?
FM: Yes, because there was never a traditional drama
series in Zimbabwe.
LN:
Tell me your experiences with Tiriparwendo?
FM: It was quite a learning experience, I discovered
a lot.
LN:
Can you share with me the differences between Tiriparwendo and Studio 263?
FM: At Studio
263 I was a creative force, being behind the camera and now with Tiriparwendo, the script was being
written for me, I was acting, imagine over 200 episodes of acting unlike with Studio
263 where I had over 500 episodes of writing.
LN:
So which is which, spare me from confusion here, are you a writer, an actor, a
singer or you are just everything?
FM: Firstly I am a writer and then an actor because
I am born to write, dai baba vangu vari actor I should have started as an actor
but he was a writer.
LN:
So where are your strengths between acting and writing? It seems you gained
mileage when you were on the screen, and when you are behind the scenes people
don’t notice who you are?
FM:
That’s the sad part of it, as a writer you are very underestimated and
disregarded that’s why it was easier for Chiundura Moyo to lose his Studio 263 concept because claim yako inenge iri pakutii, ukaudza vanhu kuti
ndini vekuStudio 263 vanhu vanoramba. Right now people would associate me
with acting, they don’t even think I can be a writer. They think I am good as
an actor but I am better as a writer- I am creative.
LN: Tell me what you take as special during
your script writing peak?
FM: I feel special because no one in Zimbabwe has
written more than 160 episodes for television.
LN:
And your best highlights with Tiriparwendo?
FM: The scene I did with two characters and I know
Zimbabwe used to enjoy them. Myself as Dapi
against Chabvonga (Eddie Sandifolo) and Dapi vs Kutapira (the late-Nevernay
Chinyanga-Muvengwa).
LN:
Now that you were in Tiriparwendo, what was the end result of it, and tell me
the position you had!
FM: I wouldn’t say Tiriparwendo has ended, it’s still
going, and the story should not end it’s like a metaphor of human existence-rwendo
runopera nekufa kwemunhu, so the story continues.
LN:
You have drawn attention with your language, while writing, do you take
drugs, smoke marijuana or drink alcohol to beef up your creative imagination? Tell
me the secret behind your maverick language?
FM: Creativity, naturally I am a word juggler, you
know how the Okochas of this world do with the ball, I can do that with the
language kusvikira maneta.
I created the word kushagada and people now associate me with that word. I also
inherited from my father and I would say ini ndiri mukaranga akaringana.
LN:
So you mainly into traditional dramas, is that so?
FM: It seems because when you look at Jekanyika we could dress in leather,
tichiridza mbakumba, muchongoyo, and we could sing cultural music.
Even the language was just African.
LN:
After Tiriparwendo what else did you do?
FM: I have done a number of projects with ZBC-Shadows, Akanga nyimo avangarara-as a head of police-I featured in The Gentleman, Sinners which is yet to
be premiered and Legacies.
LN:
Do you have your own production?
FM: Currently I have already shot a drama series – Dapi naKahembe - a clash of comedians.
LN:
What are the challenges you have noted in this film industry?
FM: The economy, there is talent and we have the
right education to film. There is no money. Once that is sorted,we have a great
future industry.
LN:
After all has been said, would you stutter when asked what you have benefited
from this industry?
FM: I have benefited largely from the arts, the
industry has made me, the arts have made my life-I have learnt to love myself
and others through the arts. Socially I have benefited.
LN: And your comment on the deadly piracy
cancer?
FM: Piracy is
a necessary evil, I wish someone could pirate Tiriparwendo and flood the market
with it-to me it’s like change money-they become unnecessary kana economy
yashagadika, mukavasunga hamuvapedzi. Let the economy be solved first.
LN:
Do you have any award in your name?
FM: Honoured at HIFA 2012 as best writer in the play
called Zimbabwe: the Destination of
choice and I co-authored a novel The
Dangerous journey with my father.
LN:
What else do you do besides acting?
FM: Lecturer with ZIFTESSA for two years and I am
working with Islamic Centre in Waterfalls as their head of Shona cultural
studies. I own Shagada Arts.
LN:
Give me a brief background of Felex .
FM: I was born on November 5, 1976 in Gutu and completed
my primary school in Gutu before I finished my high school in Shurugwi.
LN: Did you remain there after your studies?
FM: Yeah, my father had a farm in Shurugwi, and he
was District Administrator so, Shurugwi is my second home. I am either in Gutu
or SHURUGWI.
LN:
Tell me how you ended up in Harare?
FM: I came to Harare for the very first time in
1996, to pursue my education at UZ.
LN:
What were you studying at UZ?
FM: I was studying the Bachelor of Arts and
literature, drama and film up to 2000.
LN:
Any last words to anyone relevant to this film industry?
FM: The sky is only the beginning, I am sure we have
not reached our limits – let’s go furthest – we can do better than Nigerians, even
Hollywood is not a limit to us.
LN:
Thank you Dapi.
FM: My Pleasure Mr Latwell.
For
feedback email: nyangu.latwell27@gmail.com
0774
186 242
-HMETRO
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