During his dubbing days, the movies that late video jockey Yanga interpreted were arguably among the best-selling on the local market and most-screened movies in cinema halls across the country, and beyond given the words he used to entertain viewers while dubbing movies.

The famous dubbing artist, born Thomas Nkusi, died on August 17, at the age of 42, after battling liver complications in South Africa, where he was living with his family.

Yanga will be remembered by many for popularizing translated movies, mostly referred to as ‘Agasobanuye’, in the early 2000s and the movies he interpreted during his prime days attracted huge admiration from millions of Rwandans in the country and overseas until he quit video jockeying and turned to serving God.

In no particular order, The New Times looks at the movies he interpreted that dominated cinema halls in Rwanda.

Rambo

People loved and watched every single minute of it, not because of the film itself, but because of how Yanga interpreted it.

Rambo is an American media franchise centered on a series of action movies featuring the character of the same name. There have been five films released so far in the series: First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988), Rambo (2008) and Rambo: Last Blood (2019).

The films follow John Rambo, a United States Army Special Forces veteran played by famous action actor Sylvester Stallone, whose experience fighting in the Vietnam War traumatized him but also gave him superior military skills, which he has used to fight corrupt police officers, enemy troops and drug cartels.

While the film series has grossed $819 million in total worldwide, with the most successful film, Rambo: First Blood Part II, grossing $300 million, Yanga’s entertaining dubbing in Kinyarwanda saw it ranked among the movies that were screened the most in Kigali’s cinema halls.

The Gods Must Be Crazy

Nǃxau ǂToma, a former Namibian bush farmer and actor starred in the movie, and remains the biggest reason the movies featured among the best-selling worldwide due to its charming, wacky and slapstick action. It is great for older teens and up but Yanga’s interpretation of the movie remains the reason Rwandans flocked cinema halls to watch it.

Thanks to his dubbing skills and Yanga’s comic Kinyarwanda interpretation, it is one of the people's favourites even though it was released over four decades ago.

Yanga creatively came up with local words to relate with a scene or character in the movie and ‘Sagatwa’ for Nǃxau ǂToma left people describing his creativity as extraordinary.

In the movie, a Coca-Cola bottle dropped from an airplane causes havoc in a normally peaceful tribe of African bushmen who believe it to be a utensil of the gods.

It starts out like a documentary about the indigenous tribes in Central Africa, but it turns to real comedy when they find a glass Coca-Cola bottle in the grasslands.

Wheels on Meals

Wheels on Meals is a 1984 Hong Kong martial arts action-comedy film written and directed by Chinese star actor Sammo Hung, with action choreographed by Jackie Chan.

The duo featuring in the same movie makes it a must-watch given their comic and acrobatic acting skillsand Wheels on Meals was no exception. Even the movie's original language was no issue for Yanga whose interpretations made it easy for Rwandans to watch.

Yanga played a big part in popularising Chinese movies through his dubbing skills and Wheels on Meals waa one of the most-screened in local cinema halls.

Krrish

Krrish is a 2006 Indian Hindi-language superhero film starring indian superstars Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra.

The movie was conceived to be a film of global significance and a trendsetter in Indian cinema, with visual effects on par with those from Hollywood.

Interpreting Hindi-language movies into Kinyarwanda is one of so many to thank Yanga for and interpreting the entire movie for Rwandans to understand won him admiration.

Air Force One

Air Force One is a 1997 American political action thriller film directed and co-produced by Wolfgang Petersen and starring American actor Harrison Ford. The movie is about a group of terrorists who hijack Air Force One and the president’s attempt to rescue everyone on board by retaking his plane.

It became the fifth highest-grossing film of 1997 but an original version was not enough for Rwanda action movie lovers to be entertained as they had to queue to cinema halls to watch an interpreted version of Yanga who would help them capture the moments of the movie thanks to his Kinyarwanda comic vibes.

Who am I?

If there is a film that caught attention from many movie enthusiasts thanks to Yanga, it is Jackie Chan's Who Am I?

The movie itself is comedy but Yanga couldn’t help interpreting it without creation of new but comic words to make the movie more entertaining for his audience.

The 1998 Hong Kong action comedy film was directed by Benny Chan and Jackie Chan who also starred in the lead role.

It is also Chan's second film to be scripted and shot in English, the first one being Mr Nice Guy.

In the movie, a top secret militant soldier lands in the South African jungle after his mission. He has no memory of who he is and is willing to go to any extent to get answers.

It made rounds of sales of copies worldwide but Yanga’s interpreted version dominated local cinema halls’ daily movie screening.