Radio star makes film debut

Transitioning from being a musician to actor usually requires a hyped about film that everyone talks about ahead of its release. While this tactic worked with Lady Tshawe when she starred in Qiniso and more recently with Selmor Mtukudzi in Escape, musician and radio personality TKP Zimhouse has kicked off her local film career by starring in a local short film, Ekhaya.

The ten-minute film which was written and directed by award winning indie film maker Nigel Ndlovu is about a pardoned ex-prisoner seeking revenge and his fair share of the cake from his friend. TKP plays the role of Mandisa, the wife of the friend.

Speaking to Sunday Life about her acting experience, TKP said, “This being a low budget film, we had to work with what we had. We had to make a lot of compromises but the team I worked with was really hardworking. We had big dreams, hard word and really nothing else but that made it an even richer experience.”

Having started drama and performance in South Africa, TKP was approached by the Ekhaya producers who asked her to be their leading lady.

“I first tried my luck in acting in acting when I was in South Africa, I had a cameo role in the soapie Rhythm City but I came back home before my acting career could take off. For a while I put the acting dream on hold because I did not know many people in the film industry. I finally got my break in the stage play, Prayer for Grandmother, which was where the Ekhaya team identified me then called me to audition for them,” she said.

Comparing music to acting, TKP said the two were not very different as they required the same process. Having had a taste of both the music and drama world, TKP maintains music is still her main forte.

“Acting is great. But music is still my main thing. I do have another acting project coming up however. All I can say at this point is that it is a Harare production and we will start filming soon.” – Nkosilesisa Ncube