A Million Colours is a true story about what became of the two child stars of the 1976 movie "eLollipop", Muntu Ndebele who is black, and Norman Knox who is Afrikaaner (white), set against the backdrop of Apartheid in South Africa. Muntu and Norman become close friends despite this being frowned upon in segregated South Africa. The film takes us through their lives amid the growing violence in the country as their lives intersect and also separate over the years. We see the student uprising in Soweto on June 16, 1976 and the escalating violence that followed.
There is also the story of the romance between Muntu and Sebela (played by Masella Motana, who is uncredited for some reason). Sebela's father forbids her from seeing Muntu and the film shows how their romance plays out during several separations and reunions over the years. Muntu's life becomes a downward spiral of crime and drug addiction and we see how he fights to get his life back in order.
Director/screenwriter Peter Bishai calls the film "a cross between Slumdog Millionaire and Romeo & Juliet". The real Muntu Ndebele was on hand throughout the filming for his feedback on the story. Andre Pieterse who directed eLollipop is the producer of this film which came about when Pieterse was preparing eLollipop for release on DVD and wanted to find out what happened to the stars of that film - when he heard their stories he wanted to commit it to film.
There are no big name stars in the film which works to its advantage as it gives the film a much greater feeling of reality. I happened upon this film last night on the movie channel and cannot recommend it highly enough. It is a gripping and compelling story that takes place during a disturbing and shameful time in the history of South Africa. It does not pull any punches and contains some fairly graphic violence.
