Saratu Abubakar, better known as Hajiya Karama, in the film Kwana Casa’in of Arewa 24 Station, in this interview with IBRAHIM HASHIMU in Kano tells her history and how she got into the Kannywood industry.
Introduction
My name is Saratu Abubakar; I am a native of Suleja town and I was born in Gauraka local government area. I did primary and secondary education here, and then I did my NCE at the Niger State College of Education, Minna, and I graduated in 2014. Now I am in the second year at Bayero University Kano where I am studying for a degree in English/Education.
How did you find yourself in Kannywood?
The way I started the film, first of all, there was an interest and secondly, it was like a game because there was a group of Suleja people to which I belong. There is another Kannywood member, Aminu Maje. I asked them on the way to Abuja if they were going to shoot the film, Hajiya Babba? As a joke, I said the ‘people of Suleja are we going to appear in the film?’ He just talked to me privately and said that if I was interested, I should tell him so. And then he said ‘don’t worry.’ That was how I started.
What movie did you start with?
The film, Hajiya Babba, was my first film, which we did with the late Rabilu Musa Ibro, AK and Baba Mai Aya.
What year was that?
It was in 2014, when I returned home, after we had finished our exams; we were on vacation for the first semester, that was when I was taken to Abuja.
So, how did you come back to reside in Kano?
I came back to Kano in 2020, because I had a sister here in Kano, and I used to go to Kano with a lot of clothes. But after I got a job with the movie industry, I came back to Kano for Kwana Casa’in. When he was in Jigawa where the movie was being shot; we would go to work today and would be asked to return the next day. Considering the distance between Jigawa and Suleja, my elder sister told me to come back to Kano and stay. And also I was studying for a bachelor’s degree; that was why I returned to Kano.
How did you get accepted in the Kwana Casa’in film? Did you know anyone at Arewa24 Station?
To be honest, I often talk on social media and so nearly everyone knows me, especially as I was very loud. At that time, there was a video that we made with my aunt, Hajara Haidar. The video got up at that time. She was the aunt of the director of Kwana Casa’in, T. Balarabe, that is (Bozy). Then she said she was my aunt and he went to my page and saw the videos I was doing, and he told her that an actress had been found and took my number from her and called me. We talked about this and that. I said, ‘Director, since I have you, we should be in the Kwana Casa’in movie,’ and he asked me if I wanted to feature in a movie and I told him that I am an actress. Well, in Season 4, he sent me the script and I went for the audition, and that’s when I was hired.
Could you recall a place that was difficult for you to shoot in the Kwana Casa’in movie?
The truth is that there was none, and this was because my skills were not many then, but now my skill set has started to increase. But there was a place in the 6th round, when I couldn’t hold the words, the words were long, until he said I was about to give him trouble. So, this is the only thing that can be said to have given me troubles.
