Hlubi Mboya on being a bad girl

A first of its kind in South Africa, How To Steal Two Million is a thriller that is made up of two ideas. It is set entirely in Johannesburg and took 28 days to shoot. The director, Charlie Vundla, explained the concept of the movie.

"It is a composition of two ideas. The first one was where a film would take place during a hostage crisis in a home and the entire film would take place in that home. The second idea was to have a modern day neo-noir set in Johannesburg and those two ideas came together to form the film." The cast includes well-known actors like John Kani, Rapulana Seiphemo, Menzi Ngubane, Terry Pheto and Hlubi Mboya.

Vundla said when he started writing the film he knew in his heart that he had never seen such a film in South Africa. "I am very excited about it. I expect people to enjoy watching it and hope it does well in the box office."

Vundla is currently working on his next feature film which will begin shooting in January 2012.

'Gorgeous performance'

One of the cast members, Hlubi Mboya, who is know for her role as Nandipha on Isidingo, plays a character called Kim in the movie. "Kim is the kind of girl who loves the pleasures of the flesh, lives for the moment and is a complete opportunist," Mboya said.

She said she loves playing the character and thinks people are going to enjoy seeing her as someone different. "It wasn’t difficult to play the character because it’s a bad girl that anyone would love to play.  It’s great to play a sexy, non committal and gorgeous performance," she added.

On her succession from Isidingo fame to the big screen Mboya elaborated: "The natural progression of anybody is to be better, do better and to grow.  I think I have paid my dues when it comes to my role as Nandipha. I loved every moment of it. Isidingo has given me the tools to work and compete with the best in the country, but better than that the best in the world. My fans will see a different side to Hlubi in this movie."

SA will 'love' it

Even stars get star struck when they meet other big stars. Mboya was "nervous" to work with her cast members. "I have always wanted to work with these actors and was intimidated because they are big stars in my eyes. Once we got on set I realised why they were so successful in their careers and so inspirational to so many other actors. They love what they do. This was a humbling experience and I am hungry to work with them again."

Mboya is confident that the movie will be a success. She told Channel24: "The South African audience will love the movie. They know, love and respect the entire cast. It is an international story which is great and refreshing, something that you want to relax to and it will do great in the silver screen."