By Neo Kolane
Pula Media has renewed its drama ‘Bophelo’ starring Phetoho Seteka for a second season, ahead of the season 1 finale.
When the first season of Bophelo premiered late 2020, no one knew that it would go on to become one of Lesotho’s most talked about soapie. It centres on the Mokuena family who, when Jacob Mokoena, a wealthy widower creates an empire but dies of COVID-19, his family realizes that he has bestowed his estate to his second son Tśepo while his other children prove worthy of his inheritance.
Creator, Paul Banda Luanga Jr says season 2 should start airing around end of April to the beginning of May.
“We are finalizing season one and are working around the clock to audition more people because of more characters that we will be introducing.
The casting in season 1 was solid, and everyone involved, including Tśepo (Khetsi Rapita), Bontle (Michael Dymdeki), Likeleli (Matśeliso Mohale), Benajmin (Lebohang Motsamai), Zuki (Ayesha Khuele) and Aunty Selina (Mantśalla Ramakhula) were pivotal characters in making the show successful.
“As for season 2, well, it will be a continuation of the first season, which means the main characters will likely be back in action.
“Season 2 will be more explosive because the drama is gaining momentum and now people are now getting to know the characters and the story is unfolding.
“It will be an exciting moment for the viewers to see how dynamic the story is, how it is turning out and how it has expanded. Season 2 will show more of the mountainous side of Lesotho so that we can sell the country in that way because it has a beautiful landscape.”
The director stated that they are getting a haphazard response from South Africa and internationally, because it shows on YouTube.
“A lot of people relate to it because the story is relatable; we have a lot of strife. South Africa can tune in every Wednesday on LTV and follow. We are pretty much doing well and the sponsors are pretty much impressed.
“On the other hand, we have learnt a lot in terms of in terms of actors in the country having day jobs because they cannot survive on just acting. And that slowed down our shooting schedule as opposed to having the actors depending entirely on acting.
“We are trying to rearrange the scheduling this time around so that we can save a bit of money.Even then we appreciate the sponsorship in terms of financing the production as well as the paycheck for the actors. Obviously, the production costs are way high; if we shoot according to schedule we save a bit of money to sustain our production but, also if we delay, then we will have shortfalls.
Apart from their main sponsors, Econet Telecom Lesotho, Banda stated that they are anticipating other teams of sponsors, although they have not yet been confirmed.
“We are trying to do it more differently this time around so as to engage more corporates because obviously people want to see what we can do first before they start trusting us. We thank the ministry of communications through the Lesotho National Broadcasting Service (LNBS) for having partnered with us and pushing this forward.
“We have directly and indirectly employed 200 people, so that means we are contributing positively to job creation. We have touched the transport industry as well as hospitality sector through our programme and, obviously the clothing industry. The film touches a lot of sectors, showing the beautiful side of Lesotho,” Banda stated.
