JIVA! is a fun and energy-packed drama series that follows the life of the talented street dancer Ntombi, who while juggling the demands of a dead end job, family responsibility and a rocky love life realises that her dance moves could be her ticket out of her working class neighbourhood in Durban. But first, she must overcome her fears, beat her rivals and sort out the chaos that is her family.
A crap script. The team worked bravely to overcome the shortcomings, but one can't have a film or a series without a good story. And this is a mess.
It starts well. The actors are beautiful, the dance is okay, the clothes are wonderful. I love the colors. Only they have crammed too much in here. The series was sold as a woman trying to win a dance contest. That is good. There is some back story with the current winner. That's also good. But there is also about the family holding the woman down while promoting the man. And that is a series onto itself. Sure, some parts can be put in here, but not that much. And the entitlement part in which the main character can disrespect the boss, and the job, that threw in some shade over the hero. Than there is the corruption. And the abusive relationship between older males and younger females. And the scandal. And the miapropriation of funds. And I'm in the 4th episode, out of 5, and I am watching as a secondary character is breaking into a ”crime scene” or whatever blocked by the state. Why not follow the dance competition? I feel cheated as the dance competition is a mere device to get the characters together. And there are too many stories: the mother, the father, the brother, the friend, the ex lover, the future lover, and none gets more than a cameo, or maybe a few cameos.