Nigerian actor and filmmaker, Lateef Adedimeji, has disclosed that he didn’t have to watch legendary Apala musician, Ayinla Omowura perform before he could exemplify him.

According to the Lateef, he acted based on the scripts he was given, and what he read and heard about the legendary musician.

Lateef Adedimeji played the lead role in Ayinla, an eponymous non-biological musical film based on the life and times of the late Àpàlà musician, Ayinla Yusuf, popularly known as Ayinla Omowura.

The Àpàlà music superstar was stabbed to death on the head with a beer glass cup by his estranged manager, Bayewu, during a beer parlour brawl on May 6, 1980, at Itoko, Abeokuta. He died from the incident.

Speaking about his role in the movie in a recent interview, Lateef revealed his transformative process for the role.

Lateef’s journey into playing the role of the legendary musician in his biopic took him to Abeokuta, where he took off his own identity and immersed himself in everything Ayinla. He spent time retracing the legendary Apala musician’s steps, visiting his childhood haunts and familiar hangouts.

Playing the great role as ‘Ayinla Omowura’ in the biopic had not only opened doors for the acting career of Lateef but had also led to an unexpected diplomatic invitation for him, as he stated how the Nigerian ambassador in Hungary was captivated by his performance of Ayinla’s songs at a cultural event in Vienna and extended a courtesy visit to him.

Beyond the Ayinla’s biopic, Lateef also talked about his new-found passion for biopics, the journey of his acting career so far, and his aspirations as an actor.

The production for the Ayinla’s biopic began December 2020 with actor Adedimeji Lateef casting in the lead role.

‘Ayinla’ also stars Omawumi Dada, Bimbo Manuel, Kunle Afolayan, Debo Macaroni and Ade Laoye. The biopic is co-produced by Jade Osiberu’s Greoh Studios.

Meanwhile, it was previously reported that the works of the late Ayinla Omowura are the best seller among Nigeria’s evergreen music artistes, both dead and alive.

The Abeokuta, Ogun State-born musician’s career took root in the early 1950s, when he started with a brand of music called Olalomi which was popular and became the anthem of the young people both in Nigeria and the West coast.

His musical career took a new dimension when he joined EMI Nigeria, now Ivory Music, in 1970, and recorded a single titled ‘Aja t of oju d ejo’ in June 1970.

The tremendous success attained by the single was quickly followed by three other extended play records titled ‘E ma fowo soya si wa mo’, ‘Danfo o si ere’ and ‘E ma tori’ owo pa niyan’ in September 1970 – and Anjonu Elere in July 1971.

All tracks recorded huge success as they were reported to have sold over 50,000 copies each on the day of release.

The legendary Ayinla was overwhelmingly successful such that he became an idol to the masses back then.