GBV highlighted in Broken Promises 5

The fifth instalment of the Broken Promises movie franchise premiered in Durban last week.

The release of Broken Promises 5: Vengeance marks the 20th anniversary of the Broken Promises franchise. The film will be released in cinemas from September 6.

The movie is written, directed and produced by Kumaran Naidu, formerly from Chatsworth and now living in Gauteng.

Naidu said the movie, with a cast of 270 members, was shot in a record time of 11 days in March this year. Playing lead roles are Theshen Naicker, Jenell Moonsamy and Nathaniel Singh.

"I decided to give new talent an opportunity to be in a film," he said.

He said when he made the first Broken Promises in 2003, he did it for the fun of it because of his love for the movie industry.

"I found a common problem in the Indian community was the issue of the terrifying mother-in-law and the scared daughter-in-law in many households. I used to hear stories and wanted to put it in a film. The other issue was the Hindi and Tamil debacle and I wanted to thrash those beliefs. I wanted to highlight the issues through comedy and that saw the start of Broken Promises," said Naidu.

He said through his films he tried to highlight problems affecting the community, like in Broken Promises 3 where he highlighted teen pregnancy.

"Usually after the third movie it's the end, but I decided to go a different direction and highlight issues. In Broken Promises 5 the focus is on gender based violence. This was after I had spoken to a friend who told me that she had been in an abusive relationship. I changed the script I had originally written and wrote a new one in February. I have highlighted in the movie that gender-based violence is not only experienced by women but also by men. I loved putting the movie together from doing the editing, sound mixing and visual effects," he said.

Naidu said the franchise has evolved over the years and no longer was about mother-in-law and daughter-in-law issues.

"This one has a love story with a Cinderella story ending. While bringing the message of gender based violence in a very entertaining way. Through the film I show the solution and not just the problem," said Naidu.

Theshen Naicker, known for his alter ego as Aunty Shamilla, returns in the role as Mandoza.

He said he knew he had to be part of the special anniversary edition, adding that Naidu believed in him when many other directors didn't.

He said he returned when he understood the meaning of the script which was dealing with gender based violence and the strong message it was sending and wanted to be a part of it.

"Mandoza returns with more character and shows snippets of himself heartbroken and acting up and starts flirting with girls and elements of his parents troubled relationship come through and affect him in this movie. It's a much deeper reflection of his character.

"When I played Mandoza in Broken Promises 4 I felt much younger and did not have much experience in terms of acting. Now I feel more confident as an actor," said Naicker.

Naicker said while Broken Promises 5 has a serious message around GBV, it had plenty of hilarious comedy.

He said while filming the movie he was also preparing for one of his biggest Aunty Sheila shows.

Naicker previously featured in Naidu's film The Curse of Highway Sheila where he played a vicious, psychotic character.