Paraffin 

By ZimLegends

 

 A popular saying goes; Dynamite comes in small packages. The saying does not exclude the entertainment industry with its distinct areas of specialisation that derive varying degrees of impact. Rowan Atkinson aka Mr Bean with his life partner Teddy, the toy and his ever reliable Mini Cooper, hardly uttered a word in all his performances and yet just one of his shows recorded close to 20 million viewers on British television.
Over the years, Zimbabwe’s small but blossoming film industry has recorded its own dynamic characters with that lethal punch, characters never to be forgotten by those who used to enjoy watching local television from the 1980’s.

Phillip Gadzikwa Mushangwe the famous comedian of the 1990’s might  be dead, buried and forgotten, but as Paraffin or Baba vaSorobhi, his stage name, he remains alive. The late Paraffin brings back memories of the days Zimbabwe Television (ZTV) was the prime source of entertainment, before the infiltration by foreign channels, a scenario that widened viewer options and diminished attention to Zimbabwe’s own home-grown talent in the film industry.

Paraffin – an inflammable liquid – was the stage name chosen probably to depict the character, one with the potential to ignite trouble by his mere presence anywhere and everywhere. His scruffy appearance, with the trademark tattered purple woollen jersey and funny head gear, were enough to make the viewer start to wonder what the guy was up to each time he appeared on screen.

Wearing his snooping look symbolic of one ready for an offensive,

Baba vaSorobhi would casually scan the vicinity before unleashing a bolt from the blue such as Ndamboti ndakaenda ku University here ini? Inongori scop medula blangata yangu inongori sharp (Did I say I went to university? It’s just my sharp brains.)

Paraffin’s character had so much impact not only on the viewers but the workers at ZBC some of whom were part of the production team for his Monday evening TV series.

The impact is evident even on ZBC ex-staffers WhatsAppgroup where two characters attempt to play the BaSorobhi and Mai Sorobhi act, with the effort to mimickingParaffin failing to initiate much hilarity.

Before venturing into the acting career a young always smartly dressed  Phillip Gadzikwa Mushangwe worked for Cresta Lodge as an accounts clerk before joining a leading departmental store as a salesman.

Juxtaposing a photo of Phillip Gadzikwa as an employee at the hotel and Phillip as Paraffin will show two very different individuals. Veteran TV Producer Agnes Gwatiringa should be applauded for fishing out Paraffin from Mabvuku high density suburb of Harare to expose his hidden talent and make him shine.

The Paraffin character was of an illiterate man with a good appetite and notorious for gossiping and with no purpose or direction in life. So good was his appetite that he even had the audacity to munch food prepared for hospitalised patients He had no compassion and was unapologetic.

His combination with Rhoda Mtembi (Mai Sorobhi) another hilarious character, was a perfect blending that fired up the stage for the TV series. It was such a perfect match that many viewers believed the two were a couple in real life.

Baba vaSorobhi would easily diverge from the prepared script and Mai Soro was always tactful enough to respond accordingly and the scenes would flow, much to the amusement of Gwatiringa and her crew.

Safirio Madzikatire aka Mukadota of the Mukadota family was well known for the art of ditching the script and coming up with more interesting products and Paraffin was not to be outdone. Paraffini would coin street language to suit any mood. Tikukwazisei vaChitiviri ndimimonodayi kuchena nemazitye (Greetings Chitiviri, the one guy famous for looking smart in second hand clothes acquired from the people’s market)

In real life, Phillip “Paraffin” was married to Ebbah Mushangwe. The couple was blessed with five children, Ebbah, Tendai, Rutendo, Sharon and Tarisai. He died on June 29, 1997 after a short illness. Some say his performance can only be compared to Mukadota and Mutirowafanza.

In an interview a few years back, Susan Chenjerai who acted as MaiRwizi in the Mukadota Family TV series said her favourite drama of all time was Paraffin. “I enjoyed watching Paraffin. He was very talented. The new generation of actors should pull their socks. They should make their acting believable like it used to be back” said Mai Rwizi.