"Aashishi Bo" ? You?re Being Cheated

A New Ghanaian comic film Aashishi Bo, released on video cassettes last week, has a title which interprets ?you are being cheated? in Ga language. It tells the story of a village boy who travels to the city in the quest to experience the ?good life?, but falls prey to the exploitation of his host.

The film is presented as a typical ?Tom and Jerry? tale in which Jerry (Felix Ansah), who has just arrived from the village, has to work as a porter (Kayayee), a blind beggar, a construction worker and a house boy, only to hand over his income to unemployed Tom (Mustapha Manholder), his host.

Being a comedy, the film presents some very hilarious moments and yet, short-changes the viewer by presenting some equally lousy scenes. For a change, the film offers a host of new faces who join versatile actor Katawere to make up the cast, but being first-timers, majority of them put up quite amateurish performances.

Produced and directed by Captain Enoch Arnan, Aashishi Bo was filmed in Accra and presents scenery appropriate to the story, but picture quality is poor, and sound quality leaves much to be desired. In its entirety, the film has more negatives than positives.

Some of its scenes can best be described as inappropriate, as they attempt to highlight disability in quite a negative way. One such scene shows a cripple and a midget in a boxing ring.

The film however has a few lessons. First, it portrays the kind of illusion many rural folk have for life in the city, and also indicates the level of exploitation that such people may face when they eventually arrive in the city. Finally, it shows how such people can easily be influenced by the negative lifestyles of their hosts.

Mustapha Manholder plays Tom, the notorious playboy who bullies and exploits his friend, and as a new arrival to the city, Felix Ansah relates the reactions of a rural boy quite well.

He creates a scene when he refuses to eat salad because they are akin to weeds, and refuses to enter air-conditioned rooms because they may be mortuaries! Katawere makes a cameo appearance as the Manager of a construction company.Aashishi Bo is a Solartech Film which includes in the cast Betty Young, Peggy Laryea and Enoch Arnan.