VOLUME: Tania Shakirah Kankindi shines in the currently streaming Kenyan Netflix Musical Series.
The Kenyan Netflix musical drama series, Volume, by Josh Gitonga, started streaming on the platform on 20th December. The series follows the story of Benja, a talented young man from humble origins who, while chasing his dream of making a living through music, gets entangled in dubious dealings.
The musical series of six episodes cost over 17 million Kenyan Shillings to develop, which is approximately up to 413,000,000 Ugandan Shillings.
The series happens to have two Ugandan actresses in the cast: Tania Shakirah Kankindi and Natasha Sinayobye. Natasha plays Andrea, a talent manager who played a critical role in helping Benja reach musical heights through Ivy.
Tania plays Tanya (close to her name, huh!), a lady who comes into the life of Benja after his stardom breakthrough, making him forego his long-term girlfriend, Lucy. Tanya later dies of a drug overdose at Benja's concert.
Despite her fate in the series, Tanya is a boss in her own right. She's an enterprising student, runs her music shows around campus, is a go-getter, and goes after what she wants no matter what. She is also a free spirit who loves a good time and everything that comes with it is stylish and loves music.
Tania told Azadi Ash in an MBU interview about how it was to work on the project in Kenya. “It was like a breath of fresh air to work with Primary Pictures. Tosh didn’t really direct the episodes I’m in; Abu Melita did!”
“But the whole team was just so wonderful. They seemed to have put in a lot of work in pre-production so everything moved so seamlessly. There was a person for everything. The actors were treated with care and respect. I absolutely loved working with each and every person on that team. Kudos to Tosh Gitonga; he chose well.”
According to the reviews online, the Ugandan actresses in the series did great in their roles. This is highly likely to increase the employability of Ugandan actors across the continent and the world if Volume is successful enough on Netflix.
Tania has already had a great year in 2023, being nominated for the Best Actress category at this year’s Ugandan Film Festival, an award that went to Tracy Kababiito. She was also nominated for the Best Supporting Actress award at this year's first edition of the iKon Awards, an award that went to Rehema Nanfuka but won the Best Actress Award category at the Pearl International Film Festival. This is in addition to TV series appearances like the Kojja series on Pearl Magic Prime and multiple feature film appearances, including All for Love, My Sister's Keeper, and more.
Tania will also be appearing in the TV musical series titled Borders, which will premiere on January 27th at Motiv, Industrial Area, courtesy of the Uganda Communication Commission. The series tackles cultural music in Uganda.
So, after having a successful year in 2023, she is starting the new year on a high note, and hopefully, we can expect even more projects from her soon.
By Martin Kabagambe