MELVIN ALUSA AND ILLYA FRANK SUDDEN EXIT FROM SALEM
With over a hundred episodes aired on Maisha Magic Plus since it’s inception on April 11th 2022, Salem has gripped fans all over the country and beyond. Filled with captivating drama, the series has scooped numerous awards and gathered an admirable amount of devotees overtime with a star studded cast featuring the likes of; Melvin Alusa, Illya Frank, Bryan Kabugi and many more.
On August 10th 2022, Mumbi Maina who played ‘Zahra Mufasa’ one of the main characters in the show for the first five months of it’s
Television dominance announced on social media her departure due to unavoidable circumstances and from then on got replaced by Illya Frank. Without giving out the details for her departure, this left fans speculating.
Illya Frank helmed the character from August 2022 and was welcomed by fans until March 28, 2023 when she also took on to social media and announced her exit but in her case, highlighted the reasons behind her withdrawal from the show.
“Players in the industry should also be reminded to be making decisions with greater transparency and consideration for the artists involved. Actors and crews in our local industry need to learn how to speak up and stand for what is right, honest and healthy onset.
The culture of fear needs to end,as artists should not have to compromise their well being for the sake of their careers. It’s time for the industry to create a safer and more respectful working environment. The industry should be the one to nurture creativity,not exploit it and it’s time to speak up and demand better as a community.”
Illya Frank’s Instagram statement
She also wished her new replacement Jackie Matubia all the best and showered gratitude to her fans for their support and enthusiasm.
Few days later, after Illya Frank’s exit, Melvin Alusa, who played the main character in the show ‘Melchizedek Karani’ took on to social media and released a statement announcing his withdrawal from the show. A portion of his statement reads;
“I am dedicated to my craft and have honed and mastered my skills for close to 2 decades. I must therefore, preserve and protect it jealously. I unfortunately couldn’t bear the toxic work environment anymore. The bad leadership, emotional blackmail, gaslighting, manipulation and health hazards,led to an environment that became impossible for me to perform my role as an actor, and to deliver powerful moments to the role and story as a whole. It’s at this point that I felt the need to leave with my dignity intact and my head held high.
I am now requesting the Salem Production team to manage the welfare of their actors and crew many of whom are suffering in silence.”
The statement fueled soaring responses from fans and artists alike who condemned the actions of the production team and the issues addressed.
Over the years, there have been raging campaigns from actors over harsh working conditions in different production companies and in the wake of Alusa and Frank’s exit, artists have gathered once again online to figure out solutions that can be put in place to protect the welfare of Actors and Crew members in the Film industry.
A solution that has been mentioned over the years amidst the Kenya Actor’s Guild inactive state, is the formation of an Artistes’ Union, an association set to protect and nurture creativity not only for the Actors but also for the crew members resulting to better quality work hence enjoying our craft even more.
For online masterclasses in Arts visit the link https://academy.sanaapost.com/
Elijah on the other hand has made it known that, the governor dies. He plans to off her by hanging, but we do not expect the strong, resilient, Governor Nerimah Mkung to go down without a fight, that just wouldn’t be her. We see her tackle the Mighty Elijah in one flip and we are once again reminded that this is not the kind woman to mess around with. Malik shows up to help her out but unfortunately all efforts go to waste when the governor is shot. Everyone panics.
In the office of the governor, everyone is uneasy, all for different reasons. The cabinet Secretary, CS Mudanga, ABEL AMUNGA (Sense 8) has decided to pay the office a visit and the acting deputy governor, Chris Komu, MAQBUL MOHAMMED (Varshita) is not ready to meet him. Of course by now we know he was the suspected mole and we love to see how he deflects when he is not in control. He pretends to be concerned about the governor but he also wants her to die. This is in an effort to draw attention away from the stolen money. The CS has made it clear that the purpose of his visit is to retrieve the 4B that was given as ransom in exchange for the governor.
Now my concern for this episode and the people of Bwatele is the police. Why are they doing things anyhow? Sinjin especially. I understand that he wants to be virtuous by letting go of the young goons, but who is supposed to be making arrests, who is going to hold them accountable and ensure they don’t go right back into crime much less giving the bad guys updates on where they are? Why are we not seeing people being brought in for questioning? Why is Sinjin depending on Malik for information? There’s just something about this particular police force that is not making sense.
As usual, MERCY MUTISYA never disappoints when it comes to writing. The Governor’s office decides to pay full ransom as demanded by THE HIVE. What could possibly go wrong when everything and everyone is doing exactly what is required of them? The transaction of course. We see a confused government and disorganized police force lose everything in plain sight. This goes ahead to show how deeply rooted THE HIVE is and just how weak and fragile the police department is.
First of all, hands down to MAQBUL MOHAMMED’S (Varshita) incredible acting skills. He plays Chris Komu, he is left in charge of the office of the governor, Okusimba Sibi, AINEA OJIAMBO (Kina) when the governor is arrested and the deputy/acting governor, Nerimah Mkung, WAKIO MZENGE (Selina) is abducted. Chris manages to fool everyone into thinking they are the problem and he does so successfully as he orders a very high level arrest.
However the hero of this episode is Saji, DERRICK KINYANJUI, a young boy desperate to save his parents Malik Maka, PETER KAWA (Uradi) and Debra Maka, NYOKABI MACHARIA (Maepress) who got caught up in the chaos between the government and the people of BWATELE. He is the shining example of an underestimated hero that no one sees coming. We appreciate this for his character, but what next? Will they manage to get back home?
