The Temple of Fine Arts

The Temple of Fine Arts Malaysia has a done a special photo shoot with theSun for this Deepavali. 

The dancers from this dance school has taken trouble to put their beautiful costumes and makes stunning poses for theSun.  We even uses one of the photo in the front page of theSun.

Thank you, The Temple of Fine Arts Malaysia  and thank you to theSun pixmen Adib Rawi for snapping these lovely shots.

Here is the full story

FRONT PAGE :

VICTORY OVER DARKNESS ... theSun joins dancers from The Temple of Fine Arts Malaysia to wish readers a Happy Deepavali. The festival, which falls tomorrow, signifi es the victory of light over darkness. There is no publication of theSun tomorrow. We will be back on Wednesday. For news updates, go to www. thesundaily.my MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 20

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ON THE PAGE 20 :

Headline: Lights Of Happiness 

By Bissme S

SUNPIX BY ADIB RAWI

ONE of the origins of Deepavali or Diwali celebrated by Malaysians of the Hindu faith tomorrow, stems from the Ramayana, one of the great epics of Indian literature. According to the tale, Lord Rama, who is the rightful ruler of the kingdom of Ayodhya, is living in exile with his wife Sita and brother Lord Lakshmana. The demon Ravana then kidnaps Sita, and Rama goes to rescue her. With the help of the Monkey god Hanuman, Rama manages to defeat Ravana, and eventually returns to reclaim the throne of Ayodhya. Lamps are lit around the kingdom to mark his return, and even today, Hindus light lamps to symbolise the triumph of good over evil. That is why Diwali is also known as the Festival of Lights. Here, dancers from the Temple of Fine Arts Malaysia reenacted the last few scenes of this epic story exclusively for theSun.
Portraying Lord Rama is Divya S., 17, with Keisewar G., 16, as Lord Lakshmana and Malaika N., 20, as Sita. Meanwhile, Nageshwaran R., 16, plays Hanuman and the demon Ravana is portrayed by Prashant K., 20.

Scene 1: The War ... (From Left) Ravana is battle with Lord Rama, Lord Lakshmana amd Hanuman 

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Scene 2 : The victory of good over evil.... Ravana is defeated. 

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Scene 3: The War is over....From Left : Hanuman, Lord Lakshamana . Lord Rama and his wife Sita

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Scnne 4: The time of exile is over and they prepare to leave the forest 

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Scene 5: People of Ayodhya welcome their return with lamps in their hands 

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Scene 6: Lord Rama is crowned as the King of Ayodhya 

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OlaBola

Film director Chiu Keng Guan became a famous face when his movie The Journey raked in more than RM17 million at the box office last year. Today theSun carries an interview I have done with him where he talks about his latest film OlaBola. Here is the full story  

Headline:Eye On The Goal

By Bissme S

Director Chiu Keng Guan’s The Journey created history last year when it became the highest grossing Malaysian film at the box office with some RM17 million. (But its record has since been broken by Polis Evo this year.)

That film depicts the touching relationship between a conservative Chinese man and his Caucasian son-in-law. But for his latest film, OlaBola, which he has just completed shooting, Chiu has gone a different direction by lensing a story about football. And he is fully aware of the pressure to produce another hit with his take on this sport.

“Honestly speaking, I feel some pressure trying to live up to this expectation,” says the 43-year-old filmmaker, but he managed to calm his nerves by focusing on what drove him to be a filmmaker in the first place.

“I became a filmmaker because I wanted to tell stories. So, I began to forget about everything else and just focus on the story I want to tell.”

Chiu adds with a touch of humour that he left the money factor to his

producers (Astro Shaw), saying: “My job as a director is to put my energy on the creative side of the film.”

Set in the 1970s, the film is about a Malaysian football team which overcomes the hardships and hurdles to qualify for the Olympics.

The story is loosely based on real events. Malaysia national football team did  qualify for the Olympics – the first time, by beating Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines, for a spot in the 1972 Munich Games, where it  defeated the United States but lost to West Germany and Morocco.

The team again qualified for the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, but never got to compete as Malaysia joined 64 other countries which boycotted the Games because of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

To do research for the movie, Chia and his team interviewed several key figures from that national football team such as the legendary ‘Towkay’ Soh  Chin Aun and Santokh Singh.

But OlaBola is not a depiction of that national team and the characters are fiction, says Chiu, adding that this allowed him more creative freedom to be dramatic in his storytelling because he did not have to stick to the facts.

OlaBola stars Bront Palarae, Muhd Lugman Hafidz, Saran Kumar Manokaran, Eric  Teng Shin Wang and Chee Jun Cherng. In choosing his cast, the director has also taken the risk of placing a priority on the cast’s ability to play football rather than having any acting experience. Most of the cast members are newcomers and they were given three months of intensive acting classes before facing the camera.

It was easier for me to teach them how to act than to play football,” Chiu explains, adding that he also wanted the matches in the film to look authentic.

Shooting for the film started in April for about two months. His crew comprised not only locals but also an expert team from Argentina that has worked in Hollywood to help in the visual effects, an Australian specialist for aerial cinematography as well as an award-winning sound effects team from Taiwan.

“I always make sure our local talents constantly follow these foreigners while shooting,” says Chiu.

“Indirectly, they will learn from these experts and that will help them

sharpened their skills. We must never stop learning.”

The film not only has some adrenaline charged football action at the iconic Stadium Merdeka but also a scenic train journey between Beaufort and Tenom in Sabah as well as scenes of the exciting night life at fun-fairs in the 70s.

When asked why he wanted to make a film about football, Chiu explains: “I played football in my school and college days.”

He also reveals that he had wanted to be a national football player but the dream did not materialise. So he decided the next best thing is to make a football movie. Chiu has always been proud of the national team back in the 70s and loved  watching them in action. 
“It is not easy to qualify for the Olympic Games but  they did.”

As for his favourite Malaysian footballer, he says: “I was a striker in my

school and college days. Naturally, my choice is Mokhtar Dahari. He was a striker too, and was a great one. He even beat Arsenal 2-0.”

He hopes his film will reintroduce these football heroes to the younger

generation.

“Some of these youngsters do not even know who they are and I hope this film will change that.”

The director is ready to kick some balls.

Sasterawan Negara Zurinah Hassan

It was last friday that I interviewed  Dr Zurinah Hassan who has won the title of National Laureate. This friday theSun published my story. Here is the full story..... 

Headline: Making Literary History 
By Bissme S

Writer and poet Datuk Dr Zurinah Hassan was recently named Malaysia’s 13th Sasterawan Negara (National Laureate). With that, the 66-year-old born in Bakar Bata in Alor Star, Kedah, created literary history by becoming the first female author to be conferred this prestigious award.
The award came with a cash prize of RM60,000 as well as a RM500,000 advance to publish 50,000 copies of her books which will then be distributed to schools, libraries and government departments and agencies.
This honour is a culmination of a lifetime of writings that have earned her numerous awards including the 1984 Putera Poetry Award, the 2004 SEA Write Award, the 2013 Asean Poetry Award (Sunthorn Phu Poet Laureate) and the Perdana Literary Award from 1971 to 2003. Zurinah, who goes by the pen name Haniruz, talks to theSun about her life and works.

*Tell us about your childhood.

Girls are to be seen and not heard – this was often drummed into me when I was a young girl. Naively, I thought it was given to me with good intentions, [to] teach me good manners and etiquette. But as I grew older, I understood the real meaning behind it – it simply means that if you are a female, please shut up because
nobody is interested in your opinion!
I went to a village school [at a time when my family was debating if it was] worthwhile to send daughters to school.When I finished primary school, my relatives had another intense debate whether I should continue my studies in a secondary school.
This was partially because secondary schools were only located in big towns. Luckily, after much discussion, I was allowed to further my studies. I commuted daily to a school which was 12km away. It was not easy for a 12-year-old girl to get up early to catch the 6am bus, and later walk under the hot afternoon sun, looking for a 
bus home.

*What other challenges have you faced as a woman?

I remembered one incident where a relative advised my grandmother: You are getting old and sick. It’s better if you stop Zurinah from schooling. She should stay home and look after you.’
Luckily, my grandmother did not listen to her. Years later, I wrote a short story based on this experience entitled Nenek, and the story won the National Literary Prize. 
There was another incident which involved my grandmother. I loved writing poetry. I liked to sit alone under the trees and compose poems.
One day, I overheard my grandmother telling some family members that I had been acting strange and, maybe, I was possessed by some spirits calling me to the trees in the late evenings.
My grandmother’s worry over my roaming outside the house only highlighted the fact that she thought girls should not be left alone.
She gave clear instructions that I should be accompanied at all times, and thereafter, I lost my privacy. My habit of spending too much time with books did not make my relatives happy either. They said I should be cooking and sewing like the other girls my age.

*What started your interest in writing?

There was a radio in my house that offered me a respite from boredom.I loved to listen to songs. In those days, songs had beautiful and meaningful lyrics. I learned to appreciate the beauty of words and the poetic value in my language.
I began writing poetry and sending them to newspapers and magazines. They published my works.My late uncle, Ahmad Aris Eckhardt who was himself a writer, bought me a typewriter so that I could type my work and send them to newspapers and magazines.
When I was in Form Four, the Sultan of Kedah came to our school on our speech day. The school held an exhibition to highlight works by the students, from poetry to painting.The next day, my teacher told me that the Sultan had praised my poetry, and his praise gave me the encouragement to continue writing.

*What is the biggest change you would like to see taking place in our literary scene?

I would like to see our society giving more value and respect to serious literature. But sad to say, our society is more interested in entertainment.A writer spent half of his lifetime churning out good works and towards the end of his career, he might receive the title of Sasterawan Negara and his prize money is RM60,000.
But some entertainment reality shows like Maharaja Lawak and Penyanyi Kilauan Emas offer far more attractive prizes. This shows literature is given low priority. I believe serious literature should be encouraged and supported, because serious literature helps us to be a thinking society.

*The world is reading the works of Japanese writers like Haruki Murakami and Yoko Agawa. Why do you think it is
not reading the works of Malay authors?

I hope one day the world will come to know about our literature. Translation plays an important role if we want to achieve this aim. I’m pinning my hopes on Institut Terjemahan & Buku Malaysia (which translates most  national literature). So far, I find they are doing a good job in translating our works into other languages. 

Sri Rahayu Mohd Yusop

Today theSun published my interview with Sri Rahayu Mohd Yusop who writes science fiction in Bahasa Malaysia.   

Headline: An Eye & Pen on the Future 
By Bissme S

Sri Rahayu Mohd Yusop has always been interested in the future of human civilisation.
The 39-year-old secondary school teacher firmly believes that science and technological advancement plays a significant role in shaping our future.
Sri Rahayu also loves books and speculating on how future technology will impact the human race.
“All that thinking and reading would have gone to waste if I
did not share my thoughts with others,” she says, when asked
what prompted her to go into writing science fiction novels in Bahasa Malaysia, during a recent interview.
Sri Rahayu’s efforts have not gone unnoticed. Her novel Impuls/Roh, which deals with neuroscience and virtual reality, won first place in the 2010 Hadiah Sastera Kumpulan Utusan’s Young Adult Literature (Novel) category.
The following year, her Equilibria novel, which is about a group of people isolated on an island in an experiment to build a civilisation without petroleum energy, took the first runner-up spot in the Sayembara Fiksyen Sains & Teknologi competition. That same novel also won the Anugerah Buku Malaysia 2011 award for the Science & Technology fiction category.
Early this year, she bagged first place in the third season
of the Sayembara Fiksyen Sains & Teknologi for her Transgenik Sifar, which is about a boy’s experience as the first transgenic creation.
“I love writing about bleak futures because dark stories are compelling,” says Sri Rahayu.
“Whenever you read a sad story, you get more emotionally
attached to the story and the characters. I want to have that same impact on my readers.”
Some people are surprised when she mentions writing science fiction in Bahasa  Malaysia.
“They feel I should be writing something easier, and in a genre that more people would read,” she says.
But Sri Rahayu doesn’t take such criticism too seriously.
“I love being complicated,” she says, with a touch of
humour.
“When people see the science fiction tag on my novels, they
immediately assume that what I have written is complicated.
“What is worse is when my novels win awards, they jump to the conclusion that my novels are difficult to read, with serious subject matters.”
She reassures that even non science fiction fans can easily
understand her novels.
Sri Rahayu believes this is an exciting phase for Malay science fiction writers as more publishers are keen to publish Malay-language works in this genre.
Also Malaysian science fiction writers are getting more
adventurous in telling more diverse stories.
Her word of advice to Malay science fiction writers is not to worry about the size of their readership because, as long as they keep putting stuff out there, the readership will eventually grow.
Sri Rahayu cites Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton and Isaac Asimov as her favourite authors.
“Some unknown writers have also written some good stories,”
she says.  
“I remember the stories more than the authors.”
Science fiction films are also an important influence on her  writing, says this author who admits to being a film buff.
In fact, her all-time favourite science fiction film is Dark City written and directed by Alex Proyas.
“That film really changed my life,"she adds. 
“The story is based on how aliens have used the human race
as experiment subjects. The director has cleverly blended science and romance in a movie.”
She says that writing novels is one way for her to fulfil her childhood dream of becoming a film director.
“Writing a novel is me imagining myself directing and writing a film. My crew only comprises my pen, the paper I write on and me.
“My novels are my films, in my mind." 

Jwanita & Dangerous Women

Today theSun published this story of mine. Check it out. 

Headline: Dangerous Women
By Bissme S

A scene from Jwanita

There are some women you do not want to mess with. They cansend chills down your spine, which is what actress Maya Karin manages to accomplish in her latest provocative role as a disturbed woman haunted by past abuse in Jwanita. 
Jwanita (Maya) is an orphan who has been separated from her sister, Julaika (Christina Suzanne), in their childhood. When she could not stand the abuse from her adoptive parents, she killed them, and is now getting help from the kind Dr Farhan (Bront Palarae) to recover her sanity.
Jwanita soon falls madly for Farhan but is crushed to learn that the doctor will be marrying Julaika, her biological sister, instead. The disturbed Jwanita is determined to get Farhan at any cost, including killing her sister and anyone who stands in her way.Currently showing in cinemas, Jwanita has been getting rave reviews. Here’s a look at 10 other deadly female characters in movie history.

1)Rosamud Pike as Amy Dunne in Gone Girl

When her husband Nick (Ben Stiller) cheats on her and then wants a divorce, Amy fakes her own death and frames him for her murder.Later, she wants to return to her husband, so she kills her ex-lover Desi (Neil Patrick Harris) and then claims that he has kidnapped her. To save some marriages, you must have blood on your hands.
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2) Glenn Close as Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction

Alex has an affair with married man Dan (Michael Douglas) but when he ends the affair, she begins to stalk him. She intends to have him at any price. One of the best scenes in the film is when she puts his family pet, a rabbit, into boiling water.
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3) Rebecca De Mornay as Peyton Flanders in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle

Claire (Annabella Sciorra) accuses her doctor Victor (John de Lancie) of sexually molesting her during a medical checkup. The humiliated doctor kills himself and his wife, Peyton, suffers a miscarriage. Peyton then embarks on a mission to destroy Claire’s happiness.You are likely to be wary of your nanny after watching this movie.
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4) Kathy Bates as Annie Wilkes in Misery 

Well-known novelist Paul (James Caan) gets into an accident and is found by obssessed fan Annie who brings him to her house and nurses him back to health. All hell breaks loose when Annie learns that he has killed off her favourite character Misery in his latest novel. A journey into madness begins when she forces him to write
another novel, where he has to resurrect Misery from her grave.
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5) Jennifer Jason Leigh as Hedra Carlson in Single White Female

Allison (Bridget Fonda) searches for a new roommate and ends up with Hedra, who becomes so obsessed with her that she begins to makeover herself into Allison. Sane roommates are difficult to find.
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6) Yeong-hie Seo as Kim Boknam in Bedeviled

This Korean movie takes place on a small undeveloped island where Bok-nam is bullied and raped. Her abuse soon drives her over the edge and she goes on a killing spree. The movie is not all about blood and gore but also gives a depiction of how a sane person can slowly go crazy when tortured.
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7) Lee Eun-ju as Choi Ga-hee in The Scarlet Letter

This Korean movie centres on best friends Soo-hyun (Uhm Ji-won) and Ga-hee whose relationship turns sour when Ga-hee has an affair with her best friend’s husband Ki-hoon (Han Suk-kyu). The lovers run away together. But when Ki-hoon decides he wants to return to his wife, they argue and are accidentally locked in the trunk of their car. Realising they are unable to call for help, Ga-hee suffers a miscarriage and forces Ki-hoon to kill her. He is finally rescued after spending two more days imprisoned with her corpse.
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8) Sangetta as Arundathi in Uyir

This Tamil film centres on Sundar (Sri Kanth) who is close to his brother and his family – sister-in-law. Arundathi and niece Aishwarya. When Arundathi becomes obsessed with Sundar, this drives her husband to take his own life. get her brother-in-law to marry her, including chasing away the woman he loves. Sometimes, love makes you do crazy things.
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9) Ramya Krishnan as Neelambari in Padayappa

Neelambari is madly in love with Padayappa (Rajinikanth). But he falls for her maid, Vasundhara (Soundaraya), instead and marries her. Enraged, Neelambari locks herself in a room for 18 years before reappearing with the perfect revenge plan. Now that Padayappa’s oldest daughter is 18, Neelambari intends to break her heart just like what Padayappa did to her. The greatest pain you can inflict on a man is by torturing his daughter.
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10) Sofia Jane as Zaleha in Perempuan, Isteri Dan …?

Zaleha is supposed to marry Amir (Nasir Bilal Khan) but she elopes to southern Thailand to marry the love of her life, Jalil (Jamaluddin Abd Kadir), instead.An enraged Amir tracks the couple down, kills the groom and sells Zaleha to a pimp. Six months later, he brings her back. Zaleha then tricks him into marrying her, and then enacts her revenge, using her body and her tears to achieve her aim. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorne

JAGAT

Shanjhey Kumar Perumal has just directed a Malaysian Tamil film called Jagat which is about is a coming of-age story which explores the boy’s relationship with his father and uncles. I have interviewed this director and here is the full story that was published in theSun today.  

Headline: Following A Dream 
By Bissme S

Shanjhey Kumar Perumal certainly proved that dreams can come true if we have the courage and faith to pursue them. When he entered the film industry 10 years ago, his dream was to direct a feature film. He never once lost faith in that.
Recently, his dream came true when he completed his first feature film, Jagat, which is based on a screenplay he wrote. If everything goes on track, this Malaysian-made Tamil film will open in cinemas here in mid December.
 “It is hard to get backers interested in financing a movie,” says the 35-year-old Shanjhey, who has directed television shows and documentaries
mostly in Tamil but also in bahasa.
But with digital know-how, production costs nowadays can be kept low, and that has tempted him to turn his longtime dream into reality.
Shot with a budget of RM600,000, Jagat (bottom, right) takes place in the 90s and focuses on a 12-year-old Indian boy called Shankar whose family has moved from a rubber estate to a big town and ended up living in a squatter area.
Shanjhey explains that Jagat is a coming of-age story which explores the boy’s relationship with his father and uncles. His father is a general worker while one of his uncles is a gangster and another is a drug addict.
The boy Shankar is played by newcomer Harvin Raj. Others in the cast include Jibrail Rajhula, Tinesh Sathi Krishnan, Kuben Mahadevan, Senthil Kumaran
Muniandy, G. Crak Asuranz and Aahmuu Thirunyanam.
The idea for the story first came to Shanjhey 10 years ago. Initially, it was supposed to be a comedy but with time, the story turned into a drama.
“When you are young, you are more playful and attracted to fun stuff,” says Shanjhey.
“But as you get older, you are less playful and more serious.”
When asked what he intends to impart in his film, Shanjhey says: “Many Malaysian Indians have forgotten their history and their roots. I am hoping this film will remind them to cherish their past.
“In the 80s and 90s, many Indian families migrated from the rubber estates to the town areas, and my film captures this aspect of history. It follows
the challenges of the members of one particular family as they try to adapt to their new environment.”
Shanjhey is hoping that other races who watch the film will, indirectly, come to understand the Malaysian Indian community better.
“We live in a multiracial society and, sad to say, we do not really understand each other well,” he says.
He recalls doing a documentary about 1Malaysia a few years ago where he asked
people in the streets what they think about 1Malaysia.
“Everyone was commenting on food. They think 1Malaysia is about eating nasi lemak, char kway teow and thosai.
“I really believe our racial unity should be more than just eating each other’s food. We should also try to understand each other’s history and culture. One of the simplest ways to do that is through the arts. When you understand each other’s history and culture, there will be less hatred among us.”
He also reveals that the film’s story has similarities to his own life story. When he was five, his family had to stay in a squatter  area, just like Jagat’s Shankar.
“I stayed in the squatter area for three years before moving into a double-storey house,”says Shanjhey.
He included some of his early experiences living in the squatter area in the film, and used some of the people he met as inspiration for the characters
in the story.
“When I was young, I wanted to be a scientist,” he remembers.
“When I became a teenager,I wanted to be a gangster instead,
because I found that society seemed to have more respect for such people compared to educated people.”
Luckily, as he grew older, Shanjhey became wiser and realised that becoming a gangster would not benefit him in the long run. One wonders how his
parents feel about his career as a filmmaker.
Laughing, he says: “My father seems to be all right with my career choice. But it is a different story with my mother. She wanted me to have a career
that provides a stable income, like a teacher. Even now, my mother keeps telling me to get a proper job.”
Yet, Shanjhey has no regrets.
“I know I am walking a difficult path but I am happy with my choice. I have the privilege to do what my heart desires.”

Shanjhey.... telling a story that is close to his heart

Faizal Hussein & Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad

Today thesun published my interview with the award winning actor Faizal Hussein where he talks about his role in the movie Kapsul where he shares screen time with our former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as well as playing a woman in telemovie called Chepa Penari Hadrah Terakhir. Here is the  full article  

Headline: History in the Making

By Bissme S

It is not every day that an actor gets to co-star with a former prime minister. Thus, award-winning actor Faizal Hussein, 48, considered it an honour indeed to share screentime in his latest film with Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“He is my favourite prime minister,” says Faizal.

“He has done so much good for the country. He’s made Malaysia famous in the eyes of the world. I never imagined that one day, I would be acting opposite my idol. I will cherish this moment in my life forever.”

Mahathir makes a cameo appearance as himself in Kapsul – what Faizal calls “a patriotic science-fiction film”. Opening in cinemas this Thursday, the story centres on an IT expert named Zohri (played by Faizal) who opens a time capsule. He is then zapped back in time to four different eras of Malaysian history.

Initially, the production team thought the elder statesman would not agree to appear in the film. They had even shot the scene between Faizal with a stand-in for Mahathir.

“Imagine our surprise when Tun agreed to appear,” says Faizal.

“We were glad to reshoot the scene.”

After shooting the scene, the elder statesman and his wife, Tun Dr Siti Hasmah, were gracious enough to stay back for lunch with the cast and crew.

“Their humbleness really touched my heart,” says Faizal. Faizal even had the chance to present his autobiography Limelight to Mahathir. Published in 2012, the book depicts Faizal’s four decades-long experience as a Malaysian actor.

Laughing, he recalls: “I almost fell off my chair when Tun wanted my signature on the book. Everyone wants Tun’s signature, but he wanted my

signature!”

Besides the attraction of Mahathir’s cameo in Kapsul, Faizal says there are other reasons to catch this film.

“The story for Kapsul is really out of the box,” he explains, adding that the character he plays ‘jumps’ into the body of a total stranger in each era and sees the events happening from the person’s eyes.

“If you remember the TV series Quantum Leap (starring Scott Bakula) in the 90s, then this movie shares similar concept,” he adds.

The first era that Zohri gets zapped into is during the Japanese Occupation in the 1940s. Here, he is a nationalist fighting against the Japanese. Then, he ‘moves’ into the 1950s where he is the driver of Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj who is fighting for independence from the British as well as battling against the communists. He ‘sees’ the Tunku becoming the first prime minister of the Federation of Malaya and later of Malaysia. Then Zohri finds himself in the 1970s where he is a settler in one of the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) schemes. Set up by the second prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Felda changed the social and economic condition of the poverty-stricken rural Malay community by offering them land and help to cultivate and market their crops.

Faizal says viewers will get to see the struggles that a Felda settler underwent to develop his land. In the final era, Zohri finds himself in 2002, in the body of an old man who feels extremely sad to hear that the leader of his nation, Mahathir, is resigning.

“The movie will remind us, especially the younger generation, how Malaysians and our leaders have struggled to build this country,” says Faizal. “We must never forget our history. This is a perfect movie to be screened on the day after we celebrate Malaysia Day (Sept 16).

“The movie also has lots of CGI (computer-generated imagery) that will appeal to the youngsters.”

Faizal adds Kapsul is also a testament to its director and scriptwriter, Martias Mohd Ali, who died of cancer last year. Martias was only 46 and Kapsul is his first feature film.

“The movie is his vision,” Faizal says.

“It is very sad that he did not live to see the film opening in cinemas.”

Faizal will next be seen in the role of a feminine man who has to wear women’s attire and become a dancer in the telefilm, Chepa Penari Hadrah Terakhir.

“You will get to see me shaking my hips,” he says with a laugh but quickly adds that the film is not a comedy. Instead, it tells the sad tale of a father whose college-going daughter is ashamed of her father’s femininity and disowns him. Faizal has since gone on a diet to look thinner and kept his hair long for the role.

As for his reason to taking up the role, he says: “I am always looking out for stories that are out of box and roles that challenged me as an actor. “I am glad this script has fallen onto my lap. I have never played a woman before.”

Shooting for this telefilm will begin sometime in October.

A scene from Kapsul ... Faisal ( left) shares screen time with Mahathir Mohamad