FANS of Zul Ariffin, who has shined in two action films J Revolusi and Tombiruo: Penunggu Rimba this year, know him as a gentleman, that not only is he approachable, he also always has a smile on his face.
It has, therefore, come as a shock that their hero “chased away” veteran actress Zarina Zainuddin’ s autistic son, Muhammad Raizal Azrai Abdul Raihan or Azal, as the 21-year-old recently alleged on social media.
“No, that’s just not me! I don’t remember chasing anybody away,” Zul told the New Straits Times yesterday.
“I admit that at times, people do get on my nerves, but I’m not one to blow my top in public, or humiliate others.”
Zul said he knew Zarina and Azal personally, but insisted that he was “always nice” to Azal, who occasionally followed his mother to the sets of television dramas and telemovies.
“I’ve not met Azal for some time, and I’d like Zarina to clarify where and when this incident supposedly happened. There’s got to be a misunderstanding here.”
Azal recently appeared in an Instagram video uploaded by Ridz Okumura.
In the video, he said an actor “chased” him away from a film location some time ago.
He added that the actor shouted “Keluar! (get out). I don’t want to see your face any more!” Azal named the said actor as Zul, and this resulted in some Netizens criticising Zul for being “mean and nasty” to a young fan.
However, many Netizens felt that Zul ought to give his side of the story, while others thought that Azal might have been fooling around.
Zarina subsequently apologised on behalf of her family in an Instagram post, and said Azal was naive, and at times did not know what he was talking about.
She said her son was a genuine fan of Malaysian actors, and assured her fellow actor friends that Azal did not mean any malice towards them.
“Please forgive me and my family. My son is a special child. He does not mean to hurt others,” said Zarina in her post.
Azal is one of Zarina’s four children, and he has an elder twin, Muhammad Razil Azrai or Azil, who is also on the autistic spectrum.