Jennifer Ochieng

From playing the sweet Lulu Mali in the 2011 soap opera Mali to her recent role as Nick Mutuma’s love interest Celine in Tosh Gitonga’s 2018 romantic comedy Disconnect, Brenda Wairimu has always been a sweetheart on screen, taking on roles that elevate her delightful persona and making her one of the most sought-after actresses in Kenya.

In the drama series Monica, the good girl mask comes off as Brenda plays the titular role of Monica, an ambitious social climber from the ghetto who will do anything to become part of the elite of South City – the fictitious town that Monica is set in.

Monica which is directed by Neil Schell (who has previously directed other Kenyan hits like Rush and Saints) and produced by Scolly Cheruto follows Monica’s journey to success, and everyone caught in the middle of it all, either knowingly or unknowingly.

Stunning as ever and no longer a damsel in distress, Brenda Wairimu, as Monica, reveals a tough side of her we’ve never seen before. On one hand, she’s the ghetto-smart no-nonsense badass who can hold her own in a fight when challenged like beating a bat-wielding thug who’s been sent to rough her up. On the other, she’s the business-savvy opportunist who knows how to play her cards to get to the top, even if it means telling a few lies and living a double life.

When we first meet her, Monica is having a hard time holding a job and making money but her luck soon changes when she meets the affluent Jiwe family whose patriarch is the new governor of South City. It’s a world she desperately wants to be part of, and one which she’ll even disown her parents to get.

But don’t get it wrong, tough and fierce as she may be as Monica, Brenda Wairimu still has that lovable charm that has made her a fan-favourite in all her roles she’s played in the past. While she has the makings of a villain, Monica doesn’t necessarily cross that line – maybe she will in future – she’s smart and even thrives in a job she’s not qualified for and had to fake papers to get in the first place.

Of course, it’s not all rosy climbing to the top for Monica – she risks losing the love of her life in pursuit for wealth, or worse, everything, as her two worlds constantly collide.

But Monica isn’t just a story about greed, love and deception; it’s also a story about the ruthless politics of South City and the political corruption that comes with it.

And while Brenda Wairimu shines in her role, Monica also features an array of Kenyan A-listers led by the ever sharp-witted veteran Raymond Ofula (Makutano Junction) as the Governor of South City Robert Jiwe, Joyce Maina (Aisha, Selina) as his troubled daughter, Fidel Maithya (Selina) as the high-achieving son of the Governor, Torome Sision (Kona), Ephy Saint (Tahidi High) among other popular faces.

Peeling back the mask.

Brenda Wairimu’s good girl mask comes off in ‘Monica’ TV show

Love is a complicated affair – I’m loving you, you are loving her, she’s loving him…you get the point.﻿

It’s that time of the year again when those in a relationship bombard our timelines with huge romantic gestures that make single people roll their eyes and get even more cynical about love and the overall idea of Valentines.

Haters gonna hate, so Happy Valentines to you all and to these onscreen couples who have given us relationship goals because there’s nothing a little TV romance can’t fix.

1.   McDreamy and Meredith Grey, Grey’s Anatomy

McDreamy and Meredith Grey (NY Daily News)

You meet a guy in a bar, you take him home…you go to work on your first day, and he’s there. No, let’s do that again. You go to work on your first day, and he’s your boss. That pretty much explains how Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd aka McDreamy’s relationship on Grey’s Anatomy started. Their relationship was dramatic and messy (in season one, he hid a whole wife from her!) in a way that only Shonda Rhimes can get away with, but they pulled through it all until Rhimes finally killed their romance in the most painful way possible. But what’s that they say about love – it is better to have loved and lost than not to have loved at all.

2.   Sheldon and Amy, The Big Bang Theory

Sheldon and Amy, The Big Bang Theory (Glamour)

It started with an online dating site for these two lovebirds or Shamy as Howard likes to call them. From there, we watched as this odd and hilarious love story developed from the friend zone (Amy really did try everything in the nerd book to win Sheldon’s clueless nerd heart) to the awkward exchange of emails and unconventional hangouts to an even more awkward cohabitation experiment to finally, a wedding. As someone said, Shamy is a match made in nerd heaven. I mean, for someone to put up with Sheldon Cooper’s condescending attitude, that’s true love right there.

3.   Jake and Amy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Jake and Amy, Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Vulture)

Where do we even begin with these two adorable weirdos? They make fun of each other and are very competitive, even engaging in bets that comprise of the famous 99 Halloween Heist. And Jake Peralta is practically a man child who can be so annoying, were it not for that heart-warming Andy Samberg smile. We watched from season 1 of Brooklyn Nine-Nine as their competitive friendship developed into a romantic relationship, complete with their personal third wheel Charles Boyle.

Read Also: <a id="e34adc89-572f-46ae-903f-5f57ae5a2f7b" href="https://www.pulselive.co.ke/entertainment/lowladee-dishes-on-her-new-valentines-rom-com-plan-b/3r6ff3m">All the tea on Valentine’s Day rom-com Plan B</a>

4.   Liza and Charles, Younger

Or Liza and Josh…when they were still innocent and cute, and Younger hadn’t confused us all by showing us what a #TeamCharles romance looked like. From season to season, we waited as they teased us with a “will they, won’t they” romance between Charles and Liza. It finally happened even amid Charles finding out that Liza isn’t actually 26 years old but a 40-year-old divorced mum. When we last saw them, they were holding hands for the first time in public. But in the world of Younger, perfect things tend to get complicated too fast. So how about that messy love triangle where Liza is unsure who to choose from between Charles and Josh? I’m #TeamCharles alright, but you have to admit that such kind of drama would be golden in season 6.

5.   Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen, Game of Thrones

Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen (Washingtton Post)

I know, I know, but hear me out for a second. We may have discovered their blood connection in the last season of Game of Thrones (cough, maybe a little earlier than that) but in their defence, they are still clueless unlike you know who. And let’s be honest, amid all “winter is finally here” talk, the suicide mission beyond the wall, the ravens being overworked and Cersei Lannister being Cersei Lannister, we needed to catch a break with some romance. Sure, it’s a relationship that started rather awkwardly at Dragonstone with Daenerys’ mouthpiece (read Missandei) spewing out titles to welcome the delegation from Winterfell before bullying Jon Snow to bend a knee. But look how their hatred for White Walkers and Cersei brought them closer…and now we can’t seem to forget how toned Jon Snow’s butt…err body is. I shall escort myself out now.

It’s that time of the year again.

5 TV relationships to celebrate this Valentine’s Day

In 2018, Nigerian filmmaker Omolola Adeleke (LowlaDee) took a leap of faith and moved to Kenya to collaborate on a social change film project with Sarah Hassan’s Alfajiri Productions. However, she had no idea that she would end up making a Valentine's romantic comedy about the consequences of a one night stand instead.

Already racking up good reviews just from the trailer alone, Plan B follows Lisa (Hassan) who finds out she’s pregnant after a post-break-up one night stand with a mysterious man who turns out to be a successful Nigerian CEO. Enter Joyce (Catherine Kamau, Sue na Jonnie), her unfiltered best friend who helps her come up with the perfect plan to get the father of the baby to pay his dues.

LowlaDee and Sarah Hassan’s collaboration is a match made in heaven and Catherine Kamau’s addition gives Plan B the trifecta of success it needs.

“These two (Hassan and Kate) are genuinely two of the best actresses in Kenya and they are so professional; they gave this movie their all,” LowlaDee says. “They had great chemistry on screen. It’s very refreshing to see central actresses not competing with each other but working together towards a common goal. I felt like that was one of the most beautiful things in the film.”

Even as Plan B explores the extent of female friendship and how far friends are willing to go to help each other out, LowlaDee reveals that the movie is ultimately a love story that is meant to make people feel good “This movie isn’t that deep; it’s a simple love story and more of a feeling – something for people to escape to, to like an hour or so.”

LowlaDee is no stranger to the Kenyan audience; her award-winning series This Is It (another romantic tale to binge-watch this Valentines available on Youtube and Showmax) that featured Nick Mutuma and Nigerian Chy Nwakanma has been enjoying some positive reviews from Kenya. It is this familiar fan base that she is now counting on with Plan B, a project she says was a spur-of-the-moment idea inspired by her culture shock when she first came to Kenya.

Plan B is essentially a movie revolving around a “baby mama” - a reality for many women in Kenya, but one that is still stigmatized in LowlaDee’s home country Nigeria. “I couldn’t believe just how normal the idea of being a baby mama is here. People talk about it openly, and I have friends who are baby mamas. Nigeria is a bit more conservative when it comes to this issue. It was a trend that was very new to me, I decided to explore it.”

Are you excited about this movie? Watch it below:

Also premiers on Showmax in March 2019. On why she decided to take her movie to Showmax, LowlaDee says, “The future is digital, and I feel like Showmax gets it when it comes to content in Africa.”

The movie stars Sarah Hassan and Catherine Kamau.

All the tea on Valentine’s Day rom-com Plan B

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Jennifer Ochieng

Articles written by the author

Brenda Wairimu’s good girl mask comes off in ‘Monica’ TV show

5 TV relationships to celebrate this Valentine’s Day

All the tea on Valentine’s Day rom-com Plan B