A little laugh, a little cry as Riaad Moosa returns with 'New Material'

There's lots to take home after watching the sequel: laughs, tears, rediscovering the characters and a bit of SA history

21 November 2021 - 00:00
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Riaad Moosa is looking to charm his way back into audiences' hearts with the sequel to his 2013 'Material'.
Riaad Moosa is looking to charm his way back into audiences' hearts with the sequel to his 2013 'Material'.
Image: Esa Alexander

It’s almost a decade since Riaad Moosa charmed his way into the hearts of audiences as Cassim Caif, the young Fordsburg Muslim man determined to make a career as a standup comedian in spite of the objections of his fabric-shop-owning father Ebrahim (Vincent Ibrahim) in the sleeper hit comedy drama Material.

Though the film travelled to a slew of international festivals, earned five Golden Horn awards at the Saftas in 2013 and was much loved by local audiences, its director Craig Freimond says “there was absolutely no sense that there was going to be a future in it, largely because we felt that sequels were a bit tacky and it just didn’t feel like that kind of movie”.

That changed in 2016 when Moosa wrote the first draft of a script he describes as “based on issues that I was going through ... You have your career goals and then there’s the wellness and comfort of your family and sometimes those butt heads. I read all these 'how to' scriptwriting books and wrote it from the heart over three months ... and then I said, 'Now I need to call in the experts. Who better than Craig and Robbie [Thorpe, producer of  Material] to refine my early thoughts?'”

Freimond remembers that Moosa’s first draft “was rough, and he sent it to me and I thought it was great but it needed structure so we started working on it more collaboratively than we had on the first one. This one is written by both of us. The first one was about, 'Can we do this?' The second one is, 'OK. We’re doing it but now what?'”

That question is the basis of New Material, in which audiences are reunited with Cassim as a career comedian and as he tries to take the next steps towards success with lots of bumbling help from his best friend and manager, Yusuf (Joey Rasdien), reluctant acceptance from his father and increasing worry from his wife, Zulfa (Carishma Basday).

When Yusuf suggests a national tour, Cassim jumps at the idea and so the two friends, together with fellow comedian Hedrick (Schalk Bezuidenhout), embark on a new adventure with a little financial support and a lot of headaches care of shifty Laudium chicken magnate Shabir Sulabie (Rajesh Gopie) before realising that, as the film’s logline reminds us, “all roads lead to home”.

WATCH | 'New Material' trailer.

Alongside this main story is a subplot involving Ebrahim and the tragic history of Fietas, the small Johannesburg area that includes the suburbs of Vrededorp and Pageview, which was destroyed by the apartheid Group Areas Act under which most of its residents were forcibly relocated between 1969 and 1979. 

“There's been stuff about Fietas and it has a place in history but, compared to the other removals, it got less attention,” says Freimond. “Quite a few ideas came up after the first film and we tried to take that story further with the second one. Personally I always find that kind of terrain incredibly moving.”

Moosa says he believes that “this one is a different film. It’s got a different tone, there’s a lot more physical comedy in it but the warmth that we had in the first film also comes out.”

Craig Freimond directed 'New Material'.
Craig Freimond directed 'New Material'.
Image: Alon Skuy

Freimond similarly feels that “the most important thing for me was to try and hold onto the spirit of the first film. This one is a little funnier. Sometimes when I watch the first one I realise that there's quite a minor key feeling about some of it and there's comedy but there’s an arm wrestle. This time I’m hoping that the arm wrestle falls a little more on the side of the comedy ... just because I really love gags.”

Moosa says he’s his own worst critic and hates to watch his films once they’re finished because “waiting for the response to a film is tortuous. As a comedian, I get a response every 11 to 20 seconds and get a grading of what I’m doing. With a movie you have to wait.” He hopes that people enjoy the film. “I hope they laugh and cry... at the right times.”

Freimond also hopes that audiences who make the trip to cinemas to see the long awaited and Covid-delayed release of New Material will have a laugh, and a little cry. “Not a big cry, just a little one. There's lots to take home after watching the movie: you’ve got your laughs, you’ve got your tears, you’ve got your reacquainting with the characters and you’ve got your little bit of South African history. All for the price of a film ticket! What are you waiting for, people?”

• 'New Material' is in cinemas.  


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