South African Indian's film beats 'King Kong'

Johannesburg, Jan 6 (IANS) A South African Indian filmmaker's slapstick comedy in which a white man goes in disguise as an African woman has beaten worldwide blockbusters including "King Kong" to rake in the biggest numbers at the box office.

Produced by Anant Singh of Videovision, "Mama Jack", the latest smash hit from South Africa's leading funny man Leon Schuster, has emerged as the top film during the holiday season in South Africa.

"We are delighted with the phenomenal performance of 'Mama Jack'," said Singh.

"'Mama Jack' is definitely Leon Schuster's funniest film ever and audiences of all ages and races have unanimously embraced it. It is truly wonderful to have a home-grown film out-gross the big studio films.

"This is certainly a boost for the South African film industry as 'Mama Jack' was made entirely in the country with local talent and crew," he said.

The film has turned out to be the top grosser breaking all records and has earned over 23 million rands ($3.7 million) at the South African box office since its release Nov 24, 2005.

It has beaten major releases for 2005 including blockbusters like "Madagascar", "Mr and Mrs Smith", "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire", "The Chronicles Of Narnia" and "King Kong". It is currently playing in over 100 cinemas in South Africa.

Based on the current box office earnings, it is estimated that by Feb 14, 2006,

"Mama Jack" will surpass the 32 million rands ($5.1 million) box-office record set by the film "Mr Bones" as the highest grossing South African film of all time.

Speaking at the premiere of the movie in November, Singh said the film had also received warm acclaim in the US.

"Mr Bones" was also produced by Singh and starred Schuster in the title role as a white African witchdoctor.

"Mama Jack" is expected to do good business abroad as well. "Mr Bones" is still playing in many countries.

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