BY WINSTONE ANTONIO
POPULAR actress-cum-radio-and-television-presenter Tinopona “Tin Tin” Katsande is set to make a return to the small screen next month after a long absence.
Tin Tin, who rose to national stardom when she featured in the now-defunct ZBC TV soapie Studio 263 in the early 2000s playing the role of Joyce Huni, has been off the screen since July last year.
In an interview with NewsDay Life & Style, Tin Tin said she had taken time off the studio lights and cameras to concentrate on her egg business.
“I am returning to Kuchina, having taken time out with the surprise birth of Mazai KwaTino and they had gracefully given me some time off to set up my entrepreneurial enterprise, but come next month, Getty (her character in Kuchina) is back on the screen, just in time for valentines,” she said.
Meanwhile, Tin Tin recently took to Facebook to pay tribute to the late Charmaine Mangwende, who was popularly known as Mai Huni on Studio 263.
Mangwende, who passed on in November 2018, was Tin Tin’s mother in the popular soapie.
In her post, Tin Tin described Mangwende as one of the persons who helped to shape her acting career.
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“As I go through these scripts, I am elated to announce that I am heading back to the silver screen soon. I love acting and I am blessed to be working with some of the greatest in the Zimbabwe film and television industry both in front and behind the camera,” she said.
“With a couple of awards tucked under my belt thus far, I cannot give credit where credit is not due. You knew her as “Mai Huni”, of #Studio263, Zimbabwe’s first television soap that birthed my acting career.”
She added: “I knew her as ShumShum. A colleague, a friend, a confidant, an adviser, a mentor, a protector, and a human being with one of the biggest hearts I have ever met. Charmaine Mangwende angaasinga vhaire (was a down to earth person). From top government officials to the disadvantaged, Charmaine made you feel included.”
Tin Tin said she was devastated when she failed to attend Mai Huni’s funeral.
“She (Mangwende) taught me focus, selflessness and dedication in the film and television business in Zimbabwe,” she said.
“When she passed away several years ago, I was away. I rushed home hoping to catch the funeral, but there was so much confusion or perhaps miscommunication and I did not make it. I was devastated.
“I always wanted to, but procrastinated and never got around to telling ShumShum just how special she was in my life. I am grateful for the opportunities pouring my way because of legends like Charmaine Mangwende who set the pace for actresses and female production crew in the industry in Zimbabwe.”
Tin Tin started her showbiz career in her teens as a model. She became Miss Mutare in 1997 and went on to be Miss Zimbabwe finalist in that same year.
She later went to California in the United States to study and further her modelling career for nine years.
- Follow Winstone on Twitter @widzoanto
