Sibling rivalry knows no bounds in the world of Igiza, the brand-new Kenyan thriller series.
As episode one kicks off, we meet identical twins Linda and Nicole in their very different worlds.
Serah Teshna, who plays twins Linda and Nicole, describes her dual roles as every actor’s dream. "But at the same time, it comes with a lot of demands because you really have to distinguish these two characters, even for the audience to be able to see the difference," she adds.
Joining Ndanu in the lead role is Kevin Samuel, an actor who we last saw on our screens in Mali in 2015, and who now returns as Linda’s ambitious and calculating husband Reggie.
Like Linda, Reggie will do anything to get ahead, even use his wife’s business to launder money for a very dangerous crime syndicate.
"His ambition has pushed him into doing some questionable things and has now landed him in a position where not only his life, but the life of his family is under threat," Samuel says.
For him, one of Igiza’s greatest appeals is how dark the show is willing to go.
"I’m sure there’s no other locally produced show that goes as dark as this one."
Episode 1 also introduces us to Blessing Lung’aho as Dom, Nicole’s very capable accomplice.
It’s a different pace from what Lung’aho is used to in his predominantly telenovela roles.
Igiza’s storyline plays out against the backdrop of Nairobi’s fashion industry and the money laundering world, popularly known as wash wash.
The prison setting is also key to the show’s storyline, introducing us to an interesting cast of characters who are not so different from those plotting in the world beyond the prison walls.
These include Musa, the crooked warden (Ainea Ojiambo, Kina); Senje, the hateful prison guard (Eillene Otieno) who derives pleasure from tormenting Nicole; and Salome (Sheila Ndanu, Maria), who runs the prison and who has a bigger stake in Nicole’s revenge mission than we first realize.
A lot of preparation went into capturing this prison world as authentically as possible.
"We visited Lang’ata Womens Prison to learn about the different prison dialects, procedures and what the experience is like for both inmates and guards," Shuria says.
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