Nigerian actress, Funke Akindele is a record breaker as her new movie, ‘A tribe called Judah’, becomes the first Nollywood movie to gross One Billion Naira at the box office.
The former politician cum actress is currently receiving several accolades for her great milestone in the Nigerian film industry.
She achieved popularity for her role as ‘Jenifa’, in a 2008 comedy-drama. She prolonged the series as a producer when she started her own version, Jenifa’s diary.
Funke Akindele also had a short stint as a politician when she ran under PDP as Deputy Governor for the 2023 Lagos Gubernatorial elections.
Recently, the talented actress is the first Nigerian to ever beat the record of highest grossing Nollywood movie in the box office.
The first three on the list of highest grossing movies were all produced by her; ‘A tribe called Judah’, ‘Battle on Buka street’ and ‘Omo Ghetto: The Saga’.
Olufunke Ayotunde Akindele-Bello (born 24 August 1977) popularly known as Funke Akindele or Jenifa, is a Nigerian filmmaker, actress, director, producer and politician.
She starred in the sitcom I Need to Know from 1998 to 2002, and in 2009, she won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her role in Jenifa, which brought her into fame.
Akindele reprised the role in a 2015 television series adaption titled Jenifa’s Diary, for which she was named the Best Actress in a Comedy at the 2016 and 2017 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards.
The actress won the same award in 2020 and 2022, making it her fifth win for the Best Actress in a Comedy category.
Funke Akindele is the most nominated actress/filmmaker at the AMVCA and currently owns six wins which makes her the actress with most wins. She is the second director to gross over a billion naira at the Nigeria box office.