Did Yul Edochie really fall off?
What triggered this question was a comment I came across.
The Facebook user claimed Yul wasn’t relevant anymore as an actor.
And I’ve seen similar comments which suggest that he is no longer considered a leading figure in the film industry.
And I ask, was Yul ever in a top 3 or top 5 category?
Truthfully, at some point he was a growing sensation in the movie world – the mid 2000s.
Then he was this cute, baritone actor that folks looked out for.
He was giving ‘up next’.
But he never made it to the upper echelon of actors even with his father’s name.
He didn’t even come close to the Desmond Elliot, Jim Iyke level.
Mike Ezuruonye, who was also among the batch of actors that came out mid to late 2000s, had more momentum than Yul.
Mike legit bagged Glo and Airtel endorsements in his prime.
There was a time Mike and Nonso Diobi were k!lling it back to back in movies.
They had the Nollywood campus movies era on lock.
Yul, on the other hand, doesn’t have a significant era that one can associate him with.
Yes, his work garnered a sizable following, but he has been somewhere in the middle ground of Nollywood’s hierarchical ladder.
Neither among the ranks of the biggest and most renowned stars nor the smallest.
Just where you have Kalu Ikeagwu.
It wasn’t until in recent years that Yul bagged his most commercial endorsement – NB PLC Life Lager beer. After all these years.
So I don’t think Yul fell off from a great height in his career as some people claim.
You might call him a disappointment because of his controversial split from May.
But he’s always been at a plateau of popularity that was respectable but not quite at the level of the top players in the game.
In fact, I daresay Yul has more clout and pull now than he ever did.
He’s doing big numbers across social media platforms than some 4/5 years ago, including his productions. People can’t get enough of him these days.
BTV reporting
