WATCH: The Return of Gringo Series premieres tonight

TAURAI Boora, the late Lazarus Boora (Gringo)’s son is set to premiere a comedy film titled The Return of Gringo Series at Ster-Kinekor, Joina City in Harare tonight.

Lazarus must surely be smiling from above as his son is continuing with what he loved till his last breath, acting.

Fans of Gringo drama series, a product of Enock Chihombori, are going to be taken back to the good old hilarious days when Gringo used to leave his fans in stitches through his funny acting skills. Prime-time television on ZBCtv surely gave families viewing pleasure in an era when situational comedy was at its peak in Zimbabwe.

Gringo, together with his sidekick Mbudziyadhura were part of a rare breed of laugh-a-minute individuals, rubbing shoulders with the likes of the late Mukadota, Timmy naBonzo, and Paraffin. In an interview, Taurai who will be playing the role of Gringo said the Return of Gringo is a comedy series that is a mixture of what the old Gringo used to do and what junior Gringo does.

“At first, I used to do skits and some other things, but now, we’ve worked on the Return of Gringo series with the initial cast. It’s a mixed version that entails the old one and the current things happening so that I can be comfortable with the character. A character that was started by someone else is very difficult to take over as many people will be comparing the two.

“That’s why we’ve called this series the Return of Gringo because it’s a merger of the senior and junior Gringo,” said Taurai.
Quizzed if acting is something that he was always passionate about, he said he started taking an interest in it during his high school days where he would perform in drama plays.

“I started acting when I was in Form 2 up to Form 4. I then went to Rusape where I would write my own scripts and stage

theatre plays at a school there. From there, I started doing my own thing including dance choreography in acting,” he said.

However, there was a challenge as his father did not want him to take up acting as he wanted him to become a lawyer.

“I wasn’t that much into acting as my father didn’t want me to do acting so I opted to focus on dancing,” he said
Taurai said although initially his father did not want him to be an actor, he used to teach him some of the skills in acting.

“He used to indirectly teach me some of the things about acting because he didn’t want me to do acting. It was only three years before he died that he started wanting me to pursue acting and supporting me in that regard.

“But back then, he didn’t even want to hear me speak of acting as he wanted me to become a lawyer yet that’s not what I saw myself as,” he said.

The rare relationship that Taurai had with his father was to die for. Taurai said the two would constantly check up on and vent to each other.

“My relationship with my father was not that between a father and son, but that of best friends. He used to share with me the things that were affecting him and I’d also share with him the things I was going through. We were very close that we’d feel comfortable discussing anything with each other,” Taurai said.

He said he is yet to accept that his dad is no more.

“His death hasn’t really clicked to me. Yes, of course, he is no longer there, but there are times when I expect a call from him asking me how I am and stuff. We had that relationship that even at night, he’d call and we’d talk about a lot of things.”
Lazarus died in 2020 following years of battling with cancer and his son acknowledges that it has not been an easy journey continuing with his father’s legacy.

“At first, it was very hard for me to continue with the legacy as the load was too much for me. I was not fully focused on this until I met with the old horses whom my father used to work with, the likes of ‘Mdara’ Gweshe Gweshe (William Matenga), Godobori (Chati Butao), and Mbudziyadhura (Blessing Chimhowa) to name a few who started teaching me some of the things which my father used to do.

“I then mixed what my father used to do with what I do. I’m so grateful to God to be working with some of the aforementioned people that my father used to work with. I’m happy that the legacy is going forward just as my father wished that it could have,” he said.

He said moving forward, his wish is to see the Return of Gringo Series showcased all over Zimbabwe.

“When we get much funding, our wish is that the Return of Gringo Series be taken to all cities in Zimbabwe. But if that fails, we’ll post the series on social media, especially on YouTube and when there are TV channels that want the content, we’ll definitely take it there,” Taurai said. – @TashaMutsiba