Selina is the new Kenyan Novela dominating the airwaves. Now in its fourth week, the show is about a young lady whose dream is to go to university and help her family. Unfortunately, her evil step mother makes the dream impossible for Selina by spinning a web of lies, forcing Selina to leave and work as a house help for a wealthy family in the city.Looking at it from this general view, this story sounds like many other shows that we've watched or heard of before. However, as a Novela fan who has heard the phrase that 'all Telenovelas are the same' all too often; I hope people understand that the focus is not on what the story is about but rather HOW the story is told.A typical story line should not dissuade people from giving a show a chance. If you follow Indian shows or movies, you will realize that almost 95% of them are about marriage and yet Indians have been able to make Bollywood one of the biggest entertainment industries in the world.  This proves that it doesn't really matter what the story is about. What I feel determines a good story is a good cast, a good script and a good production team and the people behind Selena have ticked all this boxes to give us a good production.They went out of their way to scout cast members who actually fit the roles that they were intended to play. The actors/actresses deliver their lines flawlessly backed with their respective characters and not just reciting a script.The use of a Swahili script gives us the feeling that this is our story; a Kenyan story. It is also witty which one appreciates because one gets to enjoy a show more when one can laugh through it. The plot of the story is also flowing smoothly, there are no needless complications and one is able to follow through without looking out mistakes.The locations for the show also give it an authentic feel. The production team took the time to look for actual locations instead of building a set. The flower farm, the Mackenzie residence, Kristina's house all gives a sense of realism to the story.With Selena, Kenyans might finally catch a break and be able to enjoy a local production as much as they do international ones. You can catch Selena on Maisha Magic East from Monday to Friday at 7:30 pm and tell us what you think of the show…                                                                           Mary Njehia is an ardent watcher of soap operas and telenovelas.

She runs Kenya Meets The Philippines, a blog for Kenyans who love Filipino entertainment.