Omotola, Genevieve, missing from Charles Novia’s best actress list

Controversial movie producer and actor, Charles Novia, is in the news again. This time, the filmmaker, known for his no-holds-barred statements, has penned his list of five Nollywood actresses of 2013.

Fresh faces, Tamara Etiemo and one-time winner of The Next Movie star reality show, Ex-Tinsel star, Damilola Adegbite, made the cut. They were placed at par with established acts, Ghanaian star Yvonne Okoro and Nollwyood stars Mercy Johnson and Rita Dominic.
What however caught the attention of the critics is the fact that the big names, Genevieve Nnaji and Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde, who both made news headlines all year long are conspicuously missing on the list.

Surprisingly Genevieve, who featured in the screen adaptation of Chimanada Adichie’s award winning novel, ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’, and Omotola, who has been named an Icon on Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World list for 2013, are not mentioned in the list.

But it appears that Novia had his reasons. He explains, “This list is wholly based on my perception, criteria and experience. I consulted as much as possible and decided to add my blogazine as part of the award process.

“In essence, this means that these actresses mentioned here would be given special award plaques in the first quarter of 2014 by charlesnoviadaily.com for being part of this list.”

While Dominic’s role in ‘The Meeting’ earned her a spot on the list, Johnson emerged Novia’s best actress of 2013 for her character in the ‘Dumebi’ spawn of movies.

Eteino’s distinct role in ‘Desperate Housegirl’ and Adegbites’ in Michelle Bello’s ‘Flower Girl’ saved the day. Okoro, on the other hand, impressed Novia after staring in the movie, ‘The Contract’ which was released in Nigerian cinemas this year.