We all love a good vibe, a captivating love story; a good telenovela.

Selina is a fascinating Kenyan Swahili soap opera that airs on DStv’s Maisha Magic East and is a very good shift from the international shows that have been flooding our screens for the past few years.

When Selina debuted on Maisha Magic East, most viewers couldn’t help but love the fact that the show is genuinely Kenyan and its roots sink in the Swahili language (literally, the show is in Swahili).

This made it very interesting to watch. The producer, Reuben Odanga, is creative and all the other characters are all above par, too.

The show tells the story of Selina (played by Celestine Gachuhi), an intelligent young woman of humble beginnings.

At the start of the first episode, we see an elated and cheerful Selina running to meet with her father and give him the good news about her passing of Form Four exams.

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Looking at Celestine Gachuhi’s character, Selina, she plays intelligent, kind, hardworking but a little naïve.

Why naïve? Her uncle in some sort of way makes her believe that she should go meet up with her with her step mother, Kristina, a role played by Victoria Mzenge, before meeting with her father as she originally intended.

At this moment, she is completely clueless that her uncle and step mother do not have her best interests at heart. Her mischievous step mother comes up with a wicked plot to sell her off to work as a maid for the Mackenzie’s, putting on hold her dreams to pursue further studies.

As fate would have it in the show’s plot twist, Selina wins favor with her employees for having a golden touch on whatever she puts her hand and mind on.

Now, as much as the “evil step mother” plot has been quite frankly, overused, we know a good telenovela feel has to have its villains and good people.

In the show, Marembo flower farm, owned by a rich family - the Mackenzie’s - has been going down the drain, piling up debts and not making as much profit.

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Patricia Mackenzie, played by Hellen Keli, sends her son to go check on the business and it’s at this point we meet the ‘prince charming’ Nelson, played by Pascal Tokodi.

The pair meet under really compromising conditions, which involves Selina splashing a bucket of dirty water on him. Typical boy meets girl.

Does the show make you want to check out next episode and the next?

The drama is very informative as far as love and betrayal is concerned.

Given a chance, it still gets you glued. The characters are really strong and there’s obviously a huge contrast between it and Maza or Aziza programmes.

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