First class veteran actor and seasoned movie director, Antar Laniyan has been around long enough to know what works and doesn’t in the Nigerian movie industry.

He has seen both the worlds of English-speaking and Yoruba-speaking sectors to qualify as a good judge and analyst on the state of our movie industry.

In this chat with Weekend Groove, Antar talks about himself, the industry and reveals some secrets never spoken about before. Excerpts:

How did you come about the name Antar Laniyan ?
I know the name Laniyan is not a special one but Antar is peculiar. Some years back, a pregnant woman had a rival who wanted to marry her husband at all cost.

This rival went diabolical to make sure the pregnant woman, my mother, did not give birth to me. And after staying 18months in my mother’s womb, they made some findings and it was revealed that my mother had to beg this rival for me to come to life.

Getting to my mother’s rival, she said they had to look for a goanna. Goanna is an animal called Aworinwo in Yoruba language but typical Yorubas call Goanna ‘Antar’. So, they used the Antar or goanna to make concoction for my mother. After some hours, I came to life and my mother decided to name me ‘Antar’ after the animal.

What was your father’s reaction to you being named after an animal ?
My father loved the name. After all, my mother didn’t know he was loved by another woman and the woman could come out to say she was the cause of my mother’s trouble.

Would you say acting has made you a fulfilled person?
Yes, but not in terms of money. I enjoy and derive pleasure in what I am doing and God has been good to me in my choice of career.

Money wise, I am not close to the target. Many people see me on screen and believe this man is making it big but when I consider what I have in my pocket , I know Antar is poor (laughs).

Source; Vanguard