Big Girl Small World is a light-hearted Kenyan romantic comedy-drama. It’s a story about a plus-sized radio hostess or On-Air-Personality called Ciku (June Njenga) whose rising fame in Nairobi nosedived following the release of a scandalous sex tape of her and her stand-up comic boyfriend- Cassim with a C (Emmanuel Mugo). And you’d think that was the worst of it. There’s more. She’s sacked, her boyfriend cheats on her and is accused of fathering a child! Doesn’t sound like much of a comedy, right? Wrong. While BGSW doesn’t come out desperately trying to make you laugh, it’s a comedy on life and makes you realize that there is humour all around us if we could stop taking life too seriously.
BGSW follows a career lady through the vicissitudes of her life, laughing with her, laughing at her, and laughing for her. It is also about a triangle of relationships. We meet three guys with interest in this delectable lady, their various approaches and her responses to each one. There is the broke-ass bloke who compensates with self-confidence and sex appeal, then the rich, debonair older gentleman with enough suavity to spare, and the friend/confidante who just doesn’t know how to get out of the friend zone! Does it all sound familiar? Many ladies encounter these personalities in their lives and their reaction to each type depends largely on what stage they are in life. To handle all personalities at the same time? Now, there’s the rub… and the humour.
HUMANITY OF CHARACTERS
Every girl has a support system, yeah? Some babe or crew to run to for advice or just to be listened to or to gist (hey, I didn’t say gossip!) with. A BFF. Well, Ciku’s BFF happens to be a free-spirited, happy-go-lucky chick called Aisha (Daine Njuguna). You can’t help but like Aisha. She’s effervescent and infectious. Fresh from a self-imposed exile in the UK, Aisha seems all put-together and confident. But she’s not. She is searching for something that has eluded her for three years. Inner peace and fulfillment. Her solution to Ciku’s problems and hers is to hang out, have fun and ‘forgerabourrit’. Hakuna matata is her mantra and girl, did she live by it! Oh! Then there’s the other BFF (Maureen) who out of jealousy over Ciku’s success turns sworn enemy and later dates her close friend. All sounds too familiar, huh?
Living in a typically traditional and conservative African society, Aisha’s pursuit of hedonistic bliss raises many eyebrows and wags a few tongues in a manner that draws smiles and chuckles. Ciku and Aisha are two modern ladies who create their own fun, have their own drama, against a society that can be quite disapproving. This scenario is presented in a comical and relatable way in BGSW. It is a comedy about flawed characters trying to pick themselves up. The humour is not your fall-out-of-the-chair type. It won’t necessarily leave you in stitches. No. It’s more of a heartwarming type of humour that you enjoy because it is realistic and relatable to your everyday experiences.
For example, one of my favourite characters in the series is Ciku’s mother. Her blunt comments, endless nagging and no-nonsense disposition remind you of someone you may know or might have known. Someone you had as a mum, an aunt, grandma, or mother-in-law. Someone who had the skill of embarrassing you in public and in private. And we all had a good laugh remembering this! Ciku and her siblings had a provincial upbringing in a strong Akorino family (a Kenyan Christian denomination known for their white headdresses) and according to her mum, she had strayed from the path. She blamed Ciku’s misfortunes on ‘back-sliding’ and being overweight. She never missed an opportunity to nag her daughter about not being hitched in her thirties and the need to shed weight to attract a man. Sounds familiar? Well, here you finally find humour in it!
THOUGHTS ON STORY & PRODUCTION
Perhaps the fact that BGSW was written by an all-female crew makes each episode hit home to all the sisters out there trying to find themselves. I also have to commend the directing by Nick Mutuma, set production, editing and cinematography. It’s some great credit to the Kenyan film industry. My first peak at it too. The director approaches simple, prosaic scenes so artistically that I was left with little to fault. You will see what I mean as you go through the series. Original, creative approaches to a change of scene for example or an actual sequence – sparing us the motions. Like award-winning S.A. director, Adze Ugah, said in an interview with Teambooktu: Directing is about telling your story effectively and in tandem with the theme or genre. In this case, the genre is comedy- and there sure was directorial humour in this production.
MY VERDICT
BGSW leaves us with valuable lessons about life and choices. It is done without being too didactic, preachy or patronizing. After all, it’s all about drawing humour from life’s travails, picking oneself up whenever there’s a setback (heck, I practically lost this entire draft and had to start the article all over again!) Ciku leaves us with some real sobering words at the end. I am not sure if there will be another season but this one ends beautifully. There’s still a lot to see but it doesn’t really matter if we don’t because the road to self-discovery isn’t a day’s journey. Most classic foreign romcoms have a happily-ever-after ending with the main character finally recognizing their true love. The climax is this eureka moment. Can’t Buy Me Love, Clueless, Hitch , 10 Things I Hate About You, Sleepless in Seattle – you name it. Same M.O. However, this series does not give us that pleasure. We are left to imagine and fill in the blanks ourselves. To draw our own conclusions on Ciku’s love life going forward – that is if a second season doesn’t happen.
So I drew mine and I liked it. You can draw yours too.
13 episodes. PG Content advisory. A Showmax Original.
Worth watching.
