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Tafadzwa Zimoyo Senior Arts Reporter

Actor Blessing Chimhowa, popularly known as Mbudziyadhura from the drama “Gringo Ndiani?”  has of late been keeping a low profile to focus on family and other business.

Chimhowa, who last appeared on screen last year in social media sitcom “Special Class”, said he will return to the  small screen soon.

In an interview with The Herald Arts and Culture, Chimhowa said people should expect to see more of him in the next few months.

“I am still around, I will not really say that I was away,” he said.

“I am enjoying my craft as always. I am at home with my beautiful wife Agnes and our children. Last year I worked on two main projects ‘Special Class’ season two and some skits.

“I have been doing special appearances at some functions. I have been working with Simuka Comedy team and this project has rekindled my love with the younger fan base. The project made me grow as a performing artist and definitely you will be seeing more of me in the next season to come.”

Chimhowa, who also doubles as a master of ceremonies at weddings and parties, said he missed the good old days of local drama cultures compared to the current crop of productions.

“What I miss on local dramas is the feeling we used to have during the days of ‘Mukadota Family,’ ‘Hlengiwe’, ‘Nzungu Muriva’, ‘Paraffin’, ‘Amakorokoza’ and ‘Waiters’ among others,” he said.

“Households used to come to a standstill as everyone would be glued to the smaller screen not wanting to miss any episode of their favourite drama. This is somehow lacking because a lot is happening.

“Yesteryear dramas used to play a pivotal role in shaping the society, giving solutions while acting as a mirror to the society.

“We used to focus on social ills compared to nowadays when it is all about some portraying other cultures. We need to correct ourselves first before trying to imitate Western cultures.”

Chimhowa said actors should first appreciate and respect each other before the community does.

“Acting is not about competition, but is about your talent, how you create your brand,” he said.

“I am recognised as Mbudziyadhura because of the character that I portrayed in Gringo. We have similar people like that in the community. We should respect ourselves, appreciate one another, that way we can help make the sector grow.”

Chimhowa said he was working on skits for advertorial purposes for various companies and musical videos as a male vixen.

“We did 12-minute clips for certain organisation for their YouTube channel, I can’t reveal the name,” he said. “On this project, I worked with the legendary Lazarus Boora (Gringo) together with his son Taurai whom I can say that he is improving after following his father’s steps. I have also worked with Diana Samkange on her music video and co-presented on Simba Gee’s video.”

Chimhowa said he was working on a poem centred on Covid-19 with the help of his manager-cum-publicist Makosa.

“It was his idea as he is the one who wrote the poem. It will be released soon,” he said.