Dichi relishes his Muvhango role

Known as Seretse for his character in the South African Soapie, Muvhango, Maxwell Dichi happens to be one of the celebrated people that Botswana has. The calm and composed gentleman tells BG Style that his love for acting dates back to college days, and therefore he is not quite new in the acting industry.

He describes acting as an art that needs devotion and dedication to suite the given role of a character. The actor in him meets this trait because the gentleman hails from Ramotswa, but being an international actor, he has been able to take the Seretse role and own it. In Botswana, people across the Southern part of the country, speak different accent from those in the Northern side. Dichi therefore looked into this aspect and made sure that he blends well with the name given to his character, while teaching other people something out of it about the reality of his country, Botswana. 

“Since the name Seretse originates from the Central part of the country where people don’t include the ‘letter ‘L’ in their Setswana, I also had to switch my originality and use my acting muscle to share this, just to appreciate my country’s origins,” said Dichi. Therefore, the accent that he uses at Muvhango seems to impress most of the people as it has been the talk of the moment both in South Africa and Botswana, as most of his fans here always take an interest in his home village. 

He shares that his stay at Muvhango has been lovely because they get some love from the fans all the time, “I am very close with Sharon Seno, who plays Marang at the show and having compatriots in the same work place in a foreign country makes those home missing tantrums better,” Dichi says.

He describes himself as a shy person in reality, who doesn’t like fame, and explains that while he is a single man at Muvhango, in real life he is a father and a husband. He shares that he likes his character in the play because it carries some of the attributes that portrays him as Dichi. “I am one person who knows what I want, I am a gentleman and also sensitive. This is me, both on tv and in person,” he says, explaining that he is not a lawyer in real life but confident that he did justice to the role of playing a lawyer and being stuck in between two women.

The graduate of Degree in Multimedia, says that he is by far proud of his acting story and being nominated from about 2000 people who went for the Muvhango auditions last year, really humbled him. In 2006, he acted as an extra for yet another soapie in South Africa, Generations, in addition to a few TV commercials when he was still at college. “I am convinced that I have always had the love for appearances while at college because this is where I started featuring in quiet a number of tv commercials and later on started being an extra for some shows,” he explains.

He however says during his studies in South Africa he would come to Botswana and had to stop acting for a while until he started again in 2016, when a friend approached him to do an advert for Orange. He has also appeared on the local drama dubbed ‘Colors’ for one episode, auditioned for Sun International Season two and done magazine shoots for a variety of magazines and has been on DSTV adverts, Room 50two adverts and In -Business magazine to mention a few.

He has been around Botswana for a three months stay and will go back to South Africa next month. Dichi says that he has been overwhelmed by the love that local people shower him with ever since he got home. He believes that there is so much talent in Botswana and the local people support each other and only need places to show their talents, especially l in the world of arts. He is therefore currently working on the launch of his talk show, dubbed ’The Maxwell Dichi Talkshow, which will be launched soon in September. He says his love for arts and the growth that he sees in the local people has pushed him to create a platform for people to share their stories to inspire others, through the talk show. Dichi is of the view that talent must be nurtured and anyone who does well should be supported to ensure that the country is elevated.