ACTOR Takura “Tunga” Kachambwa, popular for his role in the drama series Tunga as Tunga, says it is always best for one to never venture into the local acting industry with the hope of making money.
Tunga became a household name around 2019 when he appeared on the ZBC TV small screen as part of the Tunga cast. The drama series later pulled off air due to lack of funding.
Speaking to NewsDay Life & Style, Tunga encouraged fellow actors to have other sources of income and not rely on acting as a sole career.
"Relying on acting alone is tough in Zimbabwe, you suffer. Acting alone is not yet paying and television stations are buying these series for very little money," he said
"For being featured on Tunga, I do not even have an Air Force (shoe brand) or a T-shirt I bought from the drama.
“Sometimes if you get into the industry with high hopes that acting is a paying career, you will be disappointed.
"As for me, I have another job. So, for my short schedule, I communicate and set aside time to make sure that all my scenes are shot then I return to work.”
Despite failing to make a living out of the Tunga drama series, Kachambwa is, however, grateful that the production created his brand and opened doors to other productions and earned him respect in society and the film industry.
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He said producers started to recognise his talent after he featured in the Tunga series.
“Tunga, honestly, created a brand for me; it created a name for me to be treated with respect and given chances to do other things in the industry,” he said.
“You know what happens when people can easily identify you from the television, the drama opened doors for me to be featured in other better productions. So, ... Tunga opened doors as I can now host weddings and events as an emcee.”
Apart from Tunga, he has featured on other productions such as Broken Lives as Chamu, starred as MM on Tangled, played the role of Officer Bande in PaBasa and featured as a truck driver on Crossroads series by Nigel “Slick Pastor” Maritinyu.
He is also a television presenter on the new local television station — NRTV — for Squad Games.
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