Today theSun published my interview with Tan Sri Adam Kadir who is directing his first feature film. Here is the full interview
One man’s passion
By Bissme S
AT THE age of 73,
one-time member of parliament Tan Sri Adam Kadir (below) is taking up a
challenge that many people half his age would not even have considered. Adam, a
former producer and director at Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and a published
author, has just written, directed and produced his first feature film – a
semi-biopic called Raj of the East.
“I have always been interested in
writing, and I love watching films,” Adam says and being a film director
allows him to fulfil this two passions simultaneously.
Produced under the
banner of Adam’s own Palo Arto Pictures, Raj of the East is based on the
life of Sir Hugh Clifford, a British colonial administrator who came to
Malaya in 1883 at the age of 17 and worked his way from a cadet based in
Perak to become the British Resident of Pahang and later Governor of North
Borneo.“He became close to the natives,” says Adam. “Clifford learnt their
language and their culture.
He was always looking
out for their interests. “He wanted the British to treat the natives fairly.
This did not go down well with his British superiors. They found him
irritating.” Adam spent almost five years researching
Clifford.
He read most of the
books written about the man before writing the script. Initially,
Adam intended to turn the script into a three-hour movie. But he lamented:
“These days, not many people are interested in [that]”. So, he trimmed
down the script, and now, the movie is just about an hour and 40 minutes long.
Filming started early last year and post-production works was completed early
this year. Adam hopes to release the film on Aug 31, our country’s independence
day.“This movie will be perfect to be screened on Merdeka day because it
highlights the history of our nation,” says Adam, who cited P. Ramlee, James
Cameron and Francis Ford Coppola as his favourite directors. When asked
if he has confidence that the movie will do well at the box office, Adam
says: “A movie can go far with two factors.
One is having stars in
it, and the other is having a good story. “My movie has a good story. Our film
industry is flooded with horror movies. I’m doing something
different. My movie also has a lot of romantic and passionate
scenes.” Adam has taken creative licence to spice up his story by imagining Clifford’s
love life. In his story, the young Clifford falls in love with an opinionated,
attractive Chinese widow named Nong, after her husband is killed while
accompanying Clifford on a trip to Petani, Thailand.
However, Clifford and
Nong’s love story does not have a happy ending. A local sultan takes an
interest in Nong and she is forced to marry him and become his queen. One of
the biggest challenges Adam faced was getting Caucasian actors for the British
roles. After much effort, he managed to get Englishman Carl Graham to play the
young Clifford. “Tall, dark and handsome, he reminded me of George
Lazenby (the actor who played James Bond in 1969’s On Her Majesty’s
Secret Service),” says Adam. “Like Lazenby, Graham is a professional model-turned-
actor.” Adam has high praise for Graham for getting into the skin of his lead
character. “He was just superb,” he says.
Another Englishman,
former advertising executive Ian Graig, plays the older Clifford.
Former Miss Malaysia Chloe Chan is the younger Nong while another former Miss
Malaysia and well-known radio personality Yasmin Yusuff is the
older Nong. The cast list also includes local film veteran Rahim
Razali, Rashidi Ishak and Ellie Suriati as well as Mark Robinson who
takes on the role of another famous historical figure, Sir Frank Swettenham.
Adam has plans to screen the film outside Malaysia. He also hinted that
he is keen to turn the novel he wrote and published in 1968, Gerhana Di Hati,
into a film. Age seems to be no hindrance to this man.
