The Sunday News
Bruce Ndlovu
THE debut of Studio 263 in 2002 marked an important turning point on the Zim small screen. While Zimbabwean viewers were used to weekly TV dramas, Studio 263 was the country’s first soapie.
The ground breaking production, which depicted an assortment of characters in modern day Zimbabwe, was a national phenomenon which grew to a key national pastime in a short space of time.
If you were not watching Studio 263, it simply meant that you had no television set. If you did have one and it was not tuned in to ZBC when David Chifunyise’s infectious theme song announced a new episode, then either the TV set or your viewing taste needed adjustment.
Occupying a much coveted prime time slot, small screen addicts would congregate in front of their screens for the soapie’s daily dose of drama while their meals were still steaming hot in front of them.
Watching the soapie was a tradition, a ritual only broken by a two-day sabbatical on weekends when the show did not air.
Weekends allowed Zimbabweans to digest what had been dished out over the week as come Monday, their taste buds would be tantalised by the show’s regular diet of drama and suspense.
By mere fact of being the country’s first soapie, the show had strolled into the history books, but that was not the reason why it was so popular. Before the soapie, Zimbabwean dramas had been at pains to tackle topical societal problems like HIV and Aids. While such topics were and are still important, sometimes the moralist tone in the dramas weighed down their entertainment value, particularly for youths, who were getting exposed to morally unfettered content from Hollywood studios.
After watching a titillating episode of Santa Barbara, for example, watching a local drama began to feel like a 30 minute sermon in comparison.
Although it also grappled with these issues, Studio 263 brought a certain air of cool, urban freshness and style that made it appeal to the modern day youth. If most of the programmes on ZBC used TV as a vehicle for positive social awareness and change, Studio 263 was the national broadcaster’s prized Ferrari, getting Zimbabweans to the same destination, but doing so in style.
Central to this air of urban cool and vibrancy was Jabu, a character played by the talented Denzel Burutsa. Baggy jeans, oversized shirts were the young Burutsa’s preferred attire, which were complimented by neat cornrows or an Afro which seemed to demand constant attention from his ever present comb.
There was no TV character that better illustrated and represented the style and mood of the urban groves listening youth in the early years of the new millennium.
Burutsa’s appeal did not end with his appearance, as his boyish good looks made him the apple of many a young woman’s affection and obsession.
One thus wonders how a young Burutsa back then coped with the attention of women who no doubt, would have thrown themselves at his feet.
In an interview with Sunday Life, Burutsa laughed at the suggestion that he might ever have been tempted to cash in on the goodwill and attention that members of the fairer sex threw at him. Studio 263’s demanding schedule killed any hopes of any naughty sexual adventures.
“I ate, slept and lived for TV work, so I never had much time to be swayed,” he said.
While for a few years, Studio 263 had enchanted Zimbabweans, the magic gradually evaporated from the show as like many Zimbabwean programmes, it drowned in a sea of problems. The fortunes of its main characters have not followed a similar script, with the likes of Tongayi Chirisa going on to achieve greater success while others have disappeared altogether from the screen, leaving some to question whether Studio 263 was the pinnacle for most of those that took part in it.
“For lack of better phrasing, I’d say it did (overshadow our subsequent work). I think we just raised the bar for television which is hard to forget for everyone,” Burutsa said.
While he won the hearts of Zimbabweans with his good looks which made him a natural in front of the camera, Burutsa is now bent on proving he is more than mere good looking flesh as he now equally prioritises his work behind the scenes.
“Yes, I’m happy with my role behind the scenes. No matter how good your acting is, it goes to waste if the technical side is lacking.
“Production quality has always been ignored which made our local productions less competitive on the international market. I was concerned and I got involved.
“There’s been some gradual change, now artistes are more involved in the business side of art. Entertainment is a game of numbers, more viewership translate to good business. Now producers appreciate the commercial aspect of art,” he said.
Burutsa has been a part and parcel of popular television series Wenera, which has helped break out of the “Jabu” box that viewers might have inevitably placed him in.
“Every role I play comes with different challenges. Both productions have done well on TV and it’s all because of the synergies we harness on set with co-actors. So I’d say its two different families with the same goal, which is to be ahead of the pack.”
While he has moved on to other things in a career that has taken many detours including a stint in South Africa, Burutsa acknowledges the lasting impact that Studio 263 had on him.
“Every day on set was a new experience. I’m fond of the whole journey from episode one. When you spend 16-hour days with people at work, they naturally become family. So yeah, we’re always in touch.”
As Studio 263’s popularity spread, viewers began to hunger for more information about this talented bunch of people who delivered TV gold day in, day out. Half-an-hour of Jabu was not enough as avid fans were dying to know what Denzel Burutsa did with the rest of the day off set.
A marriage to fellow fan favourite Eve Bizure was just the fodder gossip mongers needed, as the goings on in their marriage became much talked both in the Press and on the streets.
After their much-publicised split, Burutsa contends that he has gone on to make better decisions.
While Studio 263 might be dead, there is no doubt that the obituary on Denzel Burutsa’s career is far from being written.
