Read Meet Screenwriters of Top 10 Nollywood Biggest Box Office Hits of 2018
If you are a fan of Nollywood movies, you will notice that they follow some specific types of stories. Movie critics blame screenwriters for often recycling storylines. But these story ideas are hot right now due to filmmakers’ demand. Nollywood filmmakers understand what works and what does not. It’s all about producing movies that can sell quickly. The result is we see different movies with the same storylines. It’s not the fault of the screenwriters. It is what the market demands.
Below are 10 very popular Nollywood story ideas that we see in Nollywood movies.
1. Boy meets girl rom coms
This is the trending Nollywood story idea in cinemas these days. A boy meets a girl and they are attracted to each other. Sometimes, they don’t know it. Other times, they do but find it very difficult to be together. Of course, they can’t be together in the beginning. That will be boring. So the screenwriter introduces various hilarious obstacles on the way. Which makes their eventual romance be worth it. And we are happy for them.
2. Village people at work
Everybody knows who the ‘village people’ are. They aren’t your innocent relatives in the village. They are evil people, mostly from the village, who use diabolical means to bring down their unsuspecting and more successful family and friends out of jealousy. Chiwetalu Agu and Patience Ozokwor are excellent actors in this regard. These are people that will scream, “I will confess! I will confess!” when their evil deeds eventually catch up with them.
3. Christianity abolishes traditional religion
Here, our indigenous traditional religion is regarded as fetish and evil. And Christianity is a welcome balm that will deliver the people out of that bondage. This kind of story idea is widely accepted among a mostly Christian population in the south east, south south and part of south west, Nigeria.
4. Blood money ritual
This is one story idea that literally started Nollywood. Yes, we are referring to Living In Bondage. Kenneth Okonkwo is the baba of this type of story. The story is often about a frustrated poor man who fights his way out of poverty by involving himself in money rituals. And to perform the rituals, he has to sacrifice his loved ones. It addresses the get-rich-quick syndrome and their consequences. The idea is old but it is still relevant till this day. Apparently, Nigerians aren’t tired of ogwu ego movies.
5. Family drama and comedy
Africa Magic and online movie platforms like IrokoTV and IbakaTV love to showcase this kind of story idea. The stories usually revolve around a character, mostly the black sheep of the family who changes for the better or gets worse and suffers grave consequences in the end.
6. Married couples drama and comedy
Couples have problems in their marriages and they deal with them in their various ways. Sometimes,it is hilarious which is called comedy. Other times, it is not. The drama mostly centers on infidelity, domestic abuse, sexual abuse, depression, career and third party interference and so on. Nollywood story ideas about marriage are usually simple to make. That’s why it is a hot cake among filmmakers.
7. Tradition clashes with modern life
This is often produced as a comedy. A character who was born abroad or been away for a long time comes back home and tries to cope with the norms and tradition of the environment. He or she has to commit several hilarious and often unintentional taboos before getting things right in the end. Charles Okocha, aka Igwe2Pac excels in this story a lot.
8. Epic traditional adventures
Who remembers Igodo and Egg Of Life? Yes, this type of movie leaves the audience at the edge of their seats in tension. Selected and fortified warriors are sent into the evil forest to get an object that will be used to save their people. Storylines like this are very intense and filled with suspense. Our hearts are in our mouths as we watch these brave warriors fight so many spiritual battles and lay down their lives to achieve their goals. And our hearts goes to them when anyone of them has fallen. It’s a very emotional adventure that is bound to make you cry. We haven’t forgotten Sam Dede’s Ebubedike’s sacrifice.
9. Royal family crisis
You see all these royal Nollywood movies? It’s here they started. It doesn’t get beyond fighting for the throne in a kingdom. Like the characters in Game of Thrones, characters in these Nollywood royal movies go to great hair raising lengths to sit on the throne. Sons kill their fathers, brothers kill their brothers, families kill families, friends betray friends. There is so much evil manipulations going on, all in a bid to be crowned king or queen as the case may be. Stories that pick this idea are very intriguing. There’s a lot of suspense as well.
10. Royal romance
Like the title implies, the story deals with romantic relationships in royal households. A prince falls in love with a beautiful poor maid and fights to marry her at all costs which also includes incurring the wrath of his proud royal family. Ini Edo, Genevieve Nnaji, Rita Dominic etc got their fame playing these maids. Royal romance brought especially Ini Edo to fame. Remember World Apart. The story could be the other way round where a beautiful princess falls in love with a handsome, very poor guy in the village. These are two hearts yearning for each other but they can’t be together due to their backgrounds. It is either they end up together or they go the Romeo and Juliet way.
There are more Nollywood story ideas but we’re going to stop here. It is interesting to note that these ideas are very old and should be exhausted already. But they remain relevant till now. If you’re an aspiring screenwriter, these are the Nollywood story ideas filmmakers are looking for. Give them what they want and you will make it in the industry. The way Nollywood is going, there will be more story ideas coming. For now, stick to these ones.
Do you know more popular Nollywood story ideas? Let us know in the comment section. Please don’t forget to like and share.