How Ehostela won Mzansi viewers’ hearts

Have you ever watched a show and got goosebumps with every scene? We’re trying to remember the last time we saw a local production that gave us chills from beginning to end. While South Africans have been spoiled with a lot of excellent local series in the last year or two (The River, Housekeepers, Isithembiso, to name a few), we’ve never quite seen a storyline such as that of Ehostela.

The drama series, which is pretty much centred around a beautiful love story, also touches on themes such as greed, violence, vengeance and power. This is always a winning combination and we’ll tell you why we think it worked so well.

1. Hostel life exposed

The title probably gives away the fact that the show is about life in the hostels. Although viewers have seen a show that was centred around people living in the hostels on local television over a decade ago, it’s nothing compared to this one.

Ehostela truly exposes what happens in the notorious world of hostels – from black magic and people fighting for power to the inevitable ruthless killings.

The crime that goes on kwi hostels around SA is pretty hectic. #eHostelaMzansi

— AM 🧚‍♂️ (@AndaManeli) March 24, 2019

The way the story is told feels so real that you start wondering how much research went into putting it all together. Are the characters based on real-life people? Well, it sure does feel like it.

2. The greatest love story

We don’t know about you, but we get really excited when we see two people who are madly in love and would do anything to stay together.

If you’ve never experienced this kind of love in your life, then Mndeni and Khethiwe will give you an idea of what it looks and feels like. Also, if you’ve ever wondered if true love really does exist, they’re the right people to look at (on TV, at least).

But the romance between mndeni and khethiwe guys #ehostelamzansi 😍😍😍❤️

— Simphiwe Maepa (@boitu0904) March 17, 2019

Like many love stories, this relationship is filled with a lot of challenges. But do you think they’ll let anything stand in their way?  It’s not that simple, but they somehow manage to find their way back to each other. Also, just note that this love story will make you cry happy tears and at times, will bring you to your knees.

But that’s what you get when you get invested in other people’s love lives, right?

3. Fresh faces

If you follow social media trends, you’ll have noticed that people have been calling for new faces on TV. This conversation gave birth to the #OpenUpTheIndustry hashtag, which has gained a lot of traction in the last couple of years.

We’ve even seen Being Bonang star Bonang Matheba and Comedy Central Roast of AKA Roastmaster Pearl Thusi, sharing their thoughts on the topic.

While some productions aren’t quite open to the idea of introducing new talent, Ehostela took things to another level by casting unknown faces as its core cast.

#EhostelaMzansi is the real epitome of #OpenUpTheIndustry. It's refreshing seeing fresh talent shining, the likes of @Lungelo_Mpangas

— indoda yomXhosa (@Skroef45) January 31, 2019

See, you don’t always need popular people to have a good show. You just need talent (sometimes raw), a good script and great directing. It’s always refreshing to see new actors being given a chance and actually making a great impression. They really knocked it out of the park!

If you want to see what the hype is all about, you have to watch Ehostela. The whole of Season 1 is available now on Showmax.

Start watching now »