by Thinus Ferreira
Netflix has acquired and added 1986's iconic 10-episode Shaka Zulu drama series just before MultiChoice and M-Net's new 12-episode Shaka iLembe drama series will make its debut on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) this Sunday night at 20:00.
A rising tide lifts all boats and Netflix appears to be betting that a surge in interest and online Shaka searches might channel some viewers to the video streaming service to sample the Harmony Gold and SABC co-production from William C. Faure that starred Henry Cele in the iconic warrior role.
On Tuesday Netflix SA, through its Eclipse Communications PR agency, was asked why Shaka Zulu was added now to the streamer's catalogue of content but it didn't respond with an answer.
Adding Shaka Zulu to Netflix just before the debut of Shaka iLembe on Mzansi Magic is the clearest move of so-called "counter-programming" yet by the streamer within the South African market.
It's a technique long-employed by rival American TV networks that would directly schedule a similar type of competitive content in the same timeslot as a first-announced original, hoping to dull some of its shine or dent ratings and lure over some viewers.
While the gaze of the 1986 series in English, told through flashbacks by the Irish Dr Henry Fynn is decidedly from a European settler perspective, the new Bomb Productions 2022 series done in isiZulu with a stellar ensemble cast and Lemogang Tsipa in the title role, flips the story to a South African gaze - telling the story of Shaka's rise to Zulu king from an insider's perspective.
While the 1986 Shaka series has nudity and violence, Shaka iLembe ups the ante for the modern sensibilities of the HBO-sensitised audience, with more nudity, sex, violence and blood splatterings in service of the story, for a show definitely not meant for younger viewers.
Shaka iLembe was filmed in four locations across KwaZulu-Natal, as well as in Gauteng around Johannesburg and the Cradle of Humankind, employing one of the biggest cast and crews in South African television history at 9 150 people who contributed to the sprawling project.
While Shaka Zulu is a limited series of 10 episodes, MultiChoice and M-Net envision Shaka iLembe to run for three seasons.
