Nollywood actor and filmmaker, Femi Adebayo Salami, recently shared the extraordinary lengths he went to in order to bring his latest movie, Jagun Jagun, to fruition.
During a press interview, the renowned box office King revealed that he made the decision to sell some of his properties to finance the film, as he wanted to avoid seeking assistance from financial institutions or individuals.
Adebayo disclosed that Jagun Jagun is a project worth billions of naira, although he refrained from revealing the exact amount he invested in its production.
“Jagun Jagun is a multi-billion naira project, and I cannot disclose the exact amount I spent on shooting it,” he stated.
He further explained that he utilized the proceeds from his previous film, Agbeshinkole, to fund Jagun Jagun. Adebayo was determined to avoid relying on external funding sources, and when he found himself running out of finances, he made the difficult decision to sell his properties, driven by his unwavering faith in the success of the project.
In another part of the interview, Adebayo revealed that his greatest fear is surpassing the success of Jagun Jagun in his next endeavor.
“When I made King of Thieves, I was confident that my next project would surpass it. However, now I lack that same level of confidence. My worst nightmare is having to compete with Jagun Jagun in my next production,” he admitted.
Adebayo also discussed the challenges he faced in establishing the warrior school featured in the movie.
“We built the warrior school from scratch. We encountered difficulties when it came to acquiring the land; we wanted to own it. Initially, we reached an agreement and made the necessary payments.
However, the children of the landowner had a change of heart and decided against the sale. We had already constructed half of the school when they arrived from Lagos and demanded that we cease construction. They threatened to demolish everything we had built.
They were ready to destroy all that we built and that held us up for almost a week, going to the Police station and Obas appealing to them and we were told to only shoot there and not buy it.
Speaking about his inspiration, he said, “What inspired the story of Jagun Jagun is the youth and environment of Nigeria.
I wanted to pass across a social message to the youths and wanted to do it culturally”.
