Naman Shrestha
Rolie Nikiwe took the responsibility of directing Netflix’s ‘A Soweto Love Story,’ a South African comedy film that features hilarious performances from a bunch of talented African actors, including Lunga Shabalala, Duduzile Ngcobo, Zenzelisphesihle Sparky Xulu, Ray Neo Buso, and Motsoaledi Setumo. The plot revolves around a bizarre promise that a mother makes when she notices that her three grown-up and eligible sons don’t plan on settling down with a partner and starting a family of their own anytime soon. By using the coveted family house as an incentive and promising the keys to it to the first one who marries before the New Year, she forces them to escalate the process of finding a life partner.
Learning of this condition, all three single sons embark on a mission to find compatible partners by going out on multiple dates with different people. Under pressure from their mother, they all work toward the same goal and race to find a bride for themselves. Given the predominant themes of forceful marriage and difficulty in finding the right partner, which are some things people go through in actuality, questions about the movie’s authenticity are likely to be raised in the minds of many viewers.
A Soweto Love Story is Not Inspired by a True Story
No, ‘A Soweto Love Story’ is not based on a true story. Instead, the credit for the hilarious storyline must be given to a couple of talented screenwriters Darrel Bristow-Bovey and Zelipa Zulu, who have previously worked together on the drama series ‘Rhythm City.’ They both collaborated again and made the most of their creative minds and excellent penmanship to come up with a unique and entertaining screenplay for the South African film.
Whether it is the expectation to get married at a certain age in a conventional society or the trouble of finding someone compatible, both of the elements drive the plot forward and are a reflection of the reality of the world we live in. This might be the reason you find the themes and elements of ‘A Soweto Love Story’ true to life. Besides that, some of you might feel a sense of familiarity while watching the film due to the fact that similar subject matters have been tackled in quite a few other movies and TV shows. One of the aptest examples has to be that of the 2011 romantic comedy movie ‘Arthur,’ which is a remake of the 1981 eponymous film written and directed by Steve Gordon.
Just like ‘A Soweto Love Story,’ ‘Arthur’ too revolves around the protagonist getting forced to marry a woman to be able to claim some kind of inheritance. Helmed by Jason Winer and starring Russell Brand, Helen Mirren, Jennifer Garner, Greta Gerwig, and Nick Nolte, the narrative focuses on the titular character who gets in trouble with the law and is given a choice by his mother — to marry Susan or lose all of his inheritance. However, when he catches the eye of free-spirited Naomi and sparks fly between them, his marriage gets compromised and he is torn between choosing money and love. So, with all the above-mentioned factors in mind, we can conclude that ‘A Soweto Love Story’ is a work of fiction, despite having a few realistic themes and elements.
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