In the ring with Siv Ngesi

Actor, stand-up comedian and now Bollywood singer, Siv Ngesi is bubbly by nature. Whether boxing, supporting charities or jetsetting for work, he always maintains his charismatic smile and sunny disposition.

- YOLISA QUNTA

Siv Ngesi is currently the personification of booked and busy. By the time you read this he will be on big and small screens both locally and worldwide. For the Bollywood rom-com, Bhai’s Cafe, shot in the Cape Town, the leading man threw himself fully into the role. This included the dance sequences. Siv emphasises how much he enjoys pushing boundaries: “I want to be challenged as much as possible. There is no growth in the comfort zone; stagnant water is poisonous,” he says.

In this spirit, he learned Hindi for the dialogue and recorded some songs in the language for the soundtrack. Remixes of these can currently be heard on the Durban airwaves.

Knuckle City (a movie about a boxer), was filmed in his home language, isiXhosa and premiered in South Africa at the end of February this year. Siv is a boxer in real life but trained diligently for the role. Before the movie was released locally, it premiered at the Durban International Film Festival last year and then went on to sold-out shows in its international debut at the Toronto International Film Festival, in the Contemporary World Cinema category.

Knuckle City was then submitted as South Africa’s official selection for the 2020 Academy Awards, in the Best International Feature Film category. Siv believes that Parasite winning Best Film this year is a real game-changer for movies made outside of Hollywood. “That moment is going to open up a lot of doors,” he explains.