KUALA LUMPUR: Having scored big in box office sales and film awards with action and horror, top actor-director Syamsul Yusof is very much his father’s son.
By this, Syamsul means he plans to direct love stories, following in the footsteps of Datuk Yusof Haslam who created 1990s blockbusters “Sembilu” and “Maria Mariana”.
“It is no doubt that action movies are my favourite genre, but romance is not something I avoid. Love is universal and love stories are beautiful if they’re backed up with a good storyline,” said Syamsul at the launch of his latest biopic Mat Kilau in the National Film Development Corporation (Finas), Uulu Klang recently.
He said that he had promised his father that he would one day make romantic films but insisted that they would not be formulaic.
“I am my father’s son, but when it comes to making films, I have my own ideas that need not follow his.
“There can only be one Sembilu or Maria Mariana, because these films are my father’s handiwork and nobody can ‘clone’ them,” said Syamsul.
The 33-year-old multi-talented artiste who generally picks up ideas from Hollywood, Chinese and Indian movies plans to have his love stories “colourfully decorated” with periodic themes.
“Forrest Gump and The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button were beautifully done, as love stories that also highlighted American pop culture from the 1950s right up to the 1990s.
“Closer to home, KRU came up with 29 Februari which did the same, likewise Jimi Asmara where Erma Fatima focused on 1950s Malaya and Singapore,” he explained.
Syamsul does not have an ideal love story in mind, but hopes to incorporate lots of authentically Malaysian elements from various decades into it.
“I’d love to make stories that highlight all things retro which Malaysians remember today, be it fashion, food, music, games, hairstyles, sports, TV programmes, gadgets and movies.
“I may not have experienced the 1970s, and I was still a baby in the 1980s, but my father built his film career in these decades and he has told me lots of fantastic stories about them.”
When asked about Mat Kilau, Syamsul said it was his first non-fiction film and highlighted the struggle of a famous Malay warrior from Pahang who fought British colonial rule in the 1890s.
“I first read about Mat Kilau during my primary schooldays, particularly the fact that he lived till 123. The British presumed that he died in combat, but he recuperated and went into hiding for 75 years under various aliases.”
Filming of Mat Kilau began last weekend and is expected to wrap up in three months. “It’ll be filmed in Gombak, Ipoh, Seri Iskandar, Temerloh and Jerantut, the warrior’s hometown,” he said, expressing his gratitude to the Pahang State Government and the Museums Department of Malaysia for their advice on the characters’ costumes, traditional houses, silat styles and the Pahang Malay dialect.
Some 500 actors are involved in the biopic and Datuk Adi Putra plays the titular role.
Besides Adi, Mat Kilau which is produced by Studio Kembara Sdn Bhd also stars Fattah Amin, Beto Kusyairy, Johan As’ari, Nadiya Nisaa and Wan Hanafi Su.