ACTSCENE: Avril is a hustler in the movie ‘World Tofauti’

Avril Nyambura will soon be seen on the screens in her latest film called World Tofauti as a hustler.

Avril plays the role of Nina in a story about people from different backgrounds who meet and fall in love in spite of all the odds.

The 31-year-old singer and actor first broke into the world of acting in MTV’s Shuga series and was later featured in Noose of Gold, were she played the role of Corrine, a drug trafficker.

In the movie, Hinga (played by Innocent Njuguna) is a decent man with a good job and lives in a posh estate. He is set to marry his long-time girlfriend and fiancé, Ciru, played by Maureen Njau. Ciru is a controlling drama queen who expects things to be done her way.

Speaking to ActScene, Njuguna said that making the film was a new challenge for him because he was used to getting the same roles. “It was different because most of the time I’m cast as a thief in cartels, but in this role I had to compose myself and be a good guy.”

In the film, Hinga’s fiancé wants to buy her wedding gown outside the country and yet she had not given him prior notice. On his way to the airport, his car tyre bursts, and he meets Nina, who is a beautiful go-getter and risk-taker from the slums. She does what she can to survive the harsh ghetto life.

Hinga loses his laptop, air ticket and passport, which are stolen by Nina and her gang. The police swoop in on the gang but Nina manages to escape with the help of Hinga. Nina returns the favour and brings his stuff back. They get attracted to each other and fall in love in the process.

World Tofauti, is a film by Kikwetu Production Studios and was produced and directed by award-winning filmmaker Kang’ethe Mungai. Kang’ethe told ActScene that his aim was to be authentic and Kenyan.

“My idea was to show Kenyans how different Nairobi is. You meet people in the city and you have no idea how their lives are; the contrast of the two worlds,” he said. He added that shooting in Kibera was very challenging because he had to ensure the safety of his actors, but the people were very friendly.

The film will have a red-carpet premiere on December 22 at the Kenya National Theatre. Kang’ethe concluded by saying that River Wood is planning to have a Kenya movie month starting next year.

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Hugh Jackman has revealed why he was apparently neither shaken nor stirred by the possibility of playing James Bond.

Jackman couldn’t understand the “unbelievable and crazy” storylines in James Bond movies. The 49-year-old actor told Variety in an interview that he was once called to take on the role of 007, but he just couldn’t get on board with the scripts.

He confirmed that he did indeed get an approach to scout out his interest in playing British’s most famous secret agent. And that he ultimately chose to turn that potential opportunity down.

“I was about to do X-Men 2 and a call came from my agent asking if I’d be interested in Bond,” Jackman told Variety. “I just felt at the time that the scripts had become so unbelievable and crazy, and I felt like they needed to become grittier and real.”

Jackman recalled his agent telling him he doesn’t “get a say” in the scripts and “just have to sign on.” He added, “I was also worried that between Bond and X-Men, I’d never have time to do different things.”

Instead, he went on to star in the X-Men sequel, which came out in 2003, and British actor Daniel Craig eventually took on the role of James Bond in the franchise from Pierce Brosnan in 2006’s Casino Royale. He continued acting the role for three other movies, the latest one was Spectre in 2015.

Craig will play the role for presumably his final time in the thus-far untitled James Bond 25 that starts shooting early next year. Jackman said he tries to mix it up when it comes to his roles.

“But there was a time between X-Men 3 and the first Wolverine movie when I could see the roles getting smaller,” he told Variety. “People wanted me to play that kind of hero part exclusively. It felt a little bit claustrophobic.”

Making sure not to become just an action hero, Jackman pursued other more varied roles. He was nominated for an Oscar in 2013 for his role as the brooding Jean Valjean in Les Misérables.

The father of two earlier this year had a sixth operation to remove traces of skin cancer from his face. He has been vocal about his battle with basal cell carcinoma since doctors spotted his first abnormal mole in 2013.