{"id":274109,"date":"2011-01-15T01:23:56","date_gmt":"2011-01-15T01:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ghanamma.net\/?p=47693"},"modified":"2011-01-15T01:23:56","modified_gmt":"2011-01-15T01:23:56","slug":"rich-oganiru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/01\/15\/rich-oganiru\/","title":{"rendered":"Rich Oganiru"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
Rich Oganiru<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\nLeading actor, Rich Oganiru, has dazzled movie-buffs in more than 120 movies \tsince he joined Nollywood. Instead of being a happy man in view of this rare \tand intimidating record, the ex- naval officer from Owerri says that he\u2019s \tfar from being fulfilled as his bank account is yet to read the six digits. \tHe is not financially comfortable either.
\nHow did you come into the industry as an actor?<\/strong>
\nWell, those who knew me right from the begining knew that I\u2019ve been in \tentertainment for a very long time. I started as a musician. Sometime in the \tpast, I won the best gospel artiste award in this country at the Nigerian \tSong Festival (NISOFES) 1997.
\nDo you have any album that has been released?<\/strong>
\nWe\u2019ve released a few albums as a group but I\u2019ve not recorded a solo album. \tHowever, I am now in the studio working on a solo album.
\nYou said you\u2019ve been into showbiz since you were 13, when did you join \tNollywood, precisely?<\/strong>
\nIt was in 1994 and the first movie I took part in was Shattered Dreams. \tLater, I did Venom of Justice which I sponsored. That was the first film \tOmotola Jalade-Ekeinde did and I starred in it. It was a failure because, do \tI say I was a novice in the business then. But I\u2019ve been able to learn.
\nBefore then, what were you doing?
\nI was formerly a naval officer.
\nWhat rank?<\/strong>
\nLets keep off that. Going by Bongos Ikwue\u2019s song that goes thus :What\u2019s \tgonna be gonna be. I\u2019ve been in the showbiz right from when I was in the \tNavy, so acting has been part of me. Even in the Navy, I was in the music \tdepartment.
\n
\nHow many years did you spend with the Navy?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t want to go into that. I don\u2019t want to talk about my career in the \tNavy, and it\u2019s not necessary.
\nSince you came into the movie industry in 1994, how has it been?
\nIt\u2019s been growing; it\u2019s been quite an experience. I\u2019ve experienced more of \tthe ups than the downs in the industry. If you\u2019re asked to mention the stars \tto be reckoned with in the industry today, you would mention Rich Oganiru. I \thave been able to star in, at least, 120 films.
\nOne hundred and twenty films! Has that made you a millionaire?<\/strong>
\nIt hasn\u2019t eventually. It\u2019s quite terrible. We joined the industry when \tacting was almost done for free and our people were being owed. Being owed \twas the normal thing. We were able to clean up what these younger ones: \tJim Iyke, \tGenevieve and others are enjoying.
\nSometimes, do you feel that you\u2019ve not reaped enough from fruit of your \tlabour in the industry?<\/strong>
\nI don\u2019t want to jump into hasty conclusions. If I feel sad, I\u2019ll be jumping \tthe gun, which I think is not the right thing. The Bible says: In all \tthings, give thanks to God. Everybody has a process and time. When your time \tcomes, nothing will stop you. So far, so good, I am not doing badly but we \tare hoping to do better.
\nTalking about movies, which of your movies actually made you a household \tname?<\/strong>
\nFrom inception, I would say Rituals by Keneath Nnebue. Since that time, I \tcan hardly name any film that is not in that class that I have featured in. \tEven the marketers and producers are very careful when they invite me. They \tdon\u2019t call me for anyhow role. Even the most recent one is spinning the \tglobe now. It\u2019s called \tQueen of Aso Rock, there are quite a lot of them.
\nIt seems in most of your films, you are stereotyped, it\u2019s either you are \tplaying a rich husband or a rich man, don\u2019t you see yourself as a \tstereotyped actor?<\/strong>
\nThat is one of the things I had to de-emphasize. I felt that I have been \tunder-utilized and that was one of the reasons that made me to leave Lagos. \tRecently, I have been able to do some films in which I acted roles that are \tdifferent from what I\u2019ve been doing. I\u2019ve done films in which I was a clown \tlike in Woman. In Broken Engagement, I was living abroad and I was a kingpin \tcoordinator. So far, I am about the only actor, if I am not mistaken, who \tcan fit into any kind of language, call it Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo. I\u2019ll be able \tto pick the accent, give the delivery with the reflexes that is expected.
\nYou said you are also a musician, what kind of music do you play?<\/strong>
\nI play secular music. I play country music, and I play reggae. Because of my \tlong stay in music, I can say I play all kinds of musical instruments; I \tplay the sax, guitar and I am more of a song writer.
\n
\nWhen is your first album coming out?<\/strong>
\nWe are looking at August this year by God\u2019s grace. We have not given the \talbum a title for now because we are trying to be exact with developments. \tLast year, we were supposed to go on tour of Europe. We are facilitating \tefforts to complete work on the album, I am going into joint ventures with \tsome partners.
\nHow many tracks do you have in this album?<\/strong>
\nThere are eight tracks in the album.
\nAs a pioneer actor, can you say this is the Nollywood of your dream?<\/strong>
\nWhat we are experiencing so far is a fast movie industry. I have heard a lot \tof comments from my fans in Hollywood and London, and our conclusion is that \twe have been able to move on a very faster lane than they when they were \tstarting Hollywood. What we were able to achieve in less than 15 years, they \tcouldn\u2019t achieve in sixty years.
\nI am telling you in the next 20 years, we\u2019ll be on top, we will be leading \tthe movie industry in the world. We are number four so far, all what we are \tlooking for now is a re-engineering of our economy by the government. Let \tthem get involved in what is happening. If they got involved in this \tindustry and the bourgeois come in and understand how rewarding this \tindustry can be, I am telling you when they realise that this industry can \tyield more money than oil industry, we\u2019ll be number one because we have the \tbest talents.
\nYour name used to be Rich Azu, it\u2019s now Rich Oganiru why the transformation?<\/strong>
\nRich Odichinma Azu is my full name. I couldn\u2019t understand it wasn\u2019t just me. \tI\u2019ve been having a rethink about the name until two men of God told me, \t\u2018look, God asked you to change your name.\u201d I am telling you that as soon as \tI changed my name, everything about me changed entirely. It was so \twonderful.
\nTell us more about yourself<\/strong>
\nI am from Owerri in Imo State. I am in my late forties. I got married in \t1994 and I have two boys
\nHow does she feel when you play husband to lovely actresses in movies?
\nIt\u2019s the usual thing with human beings, especially in Africa where people \treact to instincts and get jealous. I would not say yes or no to whether she \tgets jealous or not. But sometimes, every woman would like to mark you by \ttelling you not to do this or that.
\nHas she ever asked you to stop playing such roles?<\/strong>
\nSometimes she does. The issue is for you as a husband to tell your wife this \tis it, tell your wife this is how the job is. For now, she has understood \tthe job and we are not talking about that now because it\u2019s no \tlonger a problem.
\nI have seen you in movies holding and caressing beautiful women, actresses, \tmost times did you get hard on while playing these roles?<\/strong>
\nIts quite unprofessional for you to start getting hard on, when I smooch and \tdo that thing, I\u2019m just living a life that is not mine, I\u2019m playing the \trole. Most times like \tOmotola and others with whom I have played such roles, \twe\u2019re not the best of friends. I found out I don\u2019t feel nothing about it. We \tcan kiss, smooch but that is for that moment. Immediately after that, I\u2019ve \tnever stood one day to have a chat with \tOmotola.
\nIn Nollywood today, you are among the most handsome married actor, so you are in the public eyes, how do you cope with ladies, do they harass or disturb you or want to get friendly with you intimately?
\nI would not say no. Ordinarily, before the movie industry, a lot of people and sometimes-even guys try to get close to me. But the one that pains me most is the fact that I receive calls from gays looking for my anus. What I do is that I look for opportunities to get them closed up so that I can deal with them. I get lot of calls from people that I don\u2019t know telling me that they love me but I have ways of approaching such issues.
\nYour dream as an actor and for Nollywood?
\nMy dream as an actor is that I want to build an empire of perfection; an empire where I can produce films that can be respected all over the world. I want to produce films that can stand as a legacy for all generations. My dream is to be a mouthpiece for this nation in the international community through the work of art. My dream is that God should help me so that my life will not only revolve around acting but be a blessing to people who watch my films. My dream is that apart from acting, my music should heal the sick and raise the dead, deliver people from subjugation, make people who don\u2019t know Christ to know him as their Lord and personal Saviour.
\nFilmography:Queen of Hasso Rock, Wasted Effort, Pay Day, Lacrima, Stoneface in Love, Givers Never Lack, His Majesty, Yellow Fever, My Destiny, Battle Of The Rich, Political Control, Touching Love, Total Control, Last Confession<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Leading actor, Rich Oganiru, has dazzled movie-buffs in more than 120 movies since he joined Nollywood. Instead of being a happy man in view of this rare and intimidating record, the ex- naval officer from Owerri says that he\u2019s far from being fulfilled as his bank account is yet to read the six digits. He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-274109","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nRich Oganiru - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/01\/15\/rich-oganiru\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Rich Oganiru - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Leading actor, Rich Oganiru, has dazzled movie-buffs in more than 120 movies since he joined Nollywood. 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