It is common for Nollywood to make movies with similar plotlines. One of the most commonly reused plots is the one where the poor and unfortunate girl ends up marrying the prince. The only difference in some of these “twin-movies” are in many cases just the actors and locations. Why do they do this? Is Nollywood running out of stories? Or is it a competition between film teams, about who can make the best movie about the same story? We like many of these Nigerian princess movies, but the storyline is becoming too old. Some of the most common plotlines follow these patterns:
The village girl who wins the heart of a Prince
These movies you will remember for their similar plotlines. They are all about a local girl who is naive and full of fear. She doesn’t speak English but is able to get the Prince to fall in love with her. It sometimes feels like the actresses who play these roles are competing to know who is better at playing a hardcore village girl. Nigerian princess Movies like ‘The Royal Maid’ and ‘World Apart’ had these plotlines and were enjoyed in many African countries.
Nigerian Movies where the unfortunate girl ends up a Princess
The second kind of Nigerian Princess movies is the one where the protagonist is a suffering young girl. Her dad or mom typically dies, and she is left to live with a stepmother and her kids. They treat her badly and make her suffer until one day, a Prince finds her. He will go to any length to marry her, no matter what her stepmother or the king says. Nothing can stop him at that point from marrying this poor girl.
This Cinderella story has been played in more ways than one. In some of these movies, the prince disguises himself to look poor and then goes out to find a naive girl who will not love him for his money. These stories are truly African – the whole drama, the black magic, and the ignorant attitudes portrayed. But with so many different remakes, they have become a cliche.
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