Kabir Bhatia fuses romance with Malaysian history in his latest endeavour which stars Remy Ishak and Puteri Aishah, writes Bibi Nurshuhada Ramli
THE long stretch of pristine white sands, aquamarine waters and towering coconut trees along Pantai Penarik offers a breathtaking vista.
Despite the heat, there is a cool and refreshing wind blowing and the tranquil ambience it brings only adds to the appeal. Located in Setiu, Terengganu, the beach is a gem hidden from the main crowds, which makes it a perfect filming location for Indian director Kabir Bhatia for his latest film project, Pulang.
“The beach is very interestingly positioned,” the filmmaker comments in an interview in Terengganu. “You have the ocean on one side and the river mouth about 100 metres away from the beach on the other. The whole area is simply stunning.”
Pulang’s setting features three timelines, namely in the 1940s, 1960s and 2010, and spans three family generations.
The filming at Pantai Penarik was for scenes set in the 1940s. The production crew had built two small wooden houses, a jetty for the river and a small hut — all from scratch.
The crew members had a rough start when on the fourth day of filming, a storm had hit the beach and torn apart one of the houses.But they persevered and rebuilt the ruined construction, which served to effect a lovely scene representing the romantic and historical elements of the film.
GRAND LOVE STORY
For the lead stars of Pulang, actor Remy Ishak and actress Puteri Aishah Sulaiman, it has been a whirlwind experience being part of this production.
Filming by the sea under the hot sun was daunting. “I’ve become more dark-skinned! Once I return to Kuala Lumpur, people won’t recognise me anymore, I think,” jokes Remy, adding that it was satisfying nonetheless.
Remy and Puteri play married couple Othman and Thom in the 1940s. He is a single-minded, ambitious and adventurous fisherman while she is the exact opposite. Still, an emotional and romantic connection exists between them that leads to their marriage and the birth of their son Omar.
The fictional plot is then fused with actual events where many Malay men were recruited as sailors on cargo ships by the British back then. Othman wants to take part but Thom refuses to let him go.
“The film explore the reasons Othman is desperate to go on this journey. Male audiences will consider Othman as the epitome of men,” Remy explains. “For Thom, on the other hand, letting go of someone dear to her, who has been her pillar of strength, is unthinkable,” Puteri says.
Othman leaves in the end, but through a series of events, he never finds his way back. Thom keeps waiting though, asking Omar in the 1960s to find his father. In 2010, Thom’s grandson Ahmad promises his dying grandmother he will find thegrave of his seafaring grandfather. On the seemingly impossible mission, he uncovers family secrets and learns that the truth has many versions.
An idea by Primeworks Studios chief executive officer Ahmad Izham Omar, Pulang is a production by Grand Brilliance and will be distributed by Primeworks Distribution. “Pulang has a relatable formula and story, so it’s close to audiences’ hearts. Kabir also has talent in making strong films with impact,” Remy comments.
Kabir stresses that the characters’ stories are fictionalised but Othman’s journey is factual. “The incidents are based on what truly happened.” Coincidentally, Remy’s granduncle was a real sailor mentioned in the film. He now resides in Liverpool.
Some scenes will be shot in the English maritime city, where a lot of the sailors ended up starting new lives.
SOMETHING TO PROVE
Remy, 36, who has worked with Kabir on Nur Kasih The Movie and Sembunyi: Amukan Azazil, and several TV productions, is just so thankful that his name still lingers in Kabir’s mind.
“Everyone knows of Kabir’s filmmaking capabilities. Plus, Othman is a meaty role and the film is large in scale — I just couldn’t say no.”
His challenge was to provide a fresh take to a dramatic character that he has frequently played before. “I don’t want to showcase the same type of acting that I’ve done before. I want to give something different to show my growth in this industry.
“I may have more years of experience than some of my cast mates, but when tackling a character, it’s still a new process every time. In fact, the more experience you have, the tougher it is.”
Puteri, 22, only began acting about a year ago, so her lack of experience may be seen as a handicap. Still, she enjoys the challenge and aims to find out how far she can go in this industry. Pulang is Puteri’s first film. She has starred in six dramas and telemovies, including Akulah Balqis and Cik Cinderella Dan Encik Tengku.
Filming Pulang was much tougher, she says, compared to filming a TV production because films are more detailed, the stakes are bigger, and the shooting schedule is different.
“Besides, I’ve never portrayed a role as heavy as this, where I have to really emote. I have to play Thom in the 1940s and 1960s, so the past setting was a challenge.”
Luckily they worked with esteemed acting coach Fatimah Abu Bakar before filming began. For Puteri, her costume and make-up had helped in a way.
“If I’m stuck in certain scenes, Kabir himself will tell me what he wants from Thom. I’d heard that he is very detailed yet its so easy to work with him.”
Puteri had difficulties in performing on water because she doesn’t know how to swim. So the fear etched on her face in those scenes might just be real! “There is a scene where I was in a boat in the river. The water was calm, but you never know what’s underneath the surface!”
Remy also had a tough time when Othman was floating at sea in a scene. “The natural elements are never predictable so working was difficult. I even accidentally sucked in some seawater up my nose one time!”
Both agree that it’s all part of the job and are humble in their outlook. Remy, who’s been acting for 10 years, says: “I only give my best, and do my job with honest intentions.”
Despite any criticism that may come her way for being selected to play such an important role, Puteri says she will always do her best. “I consider this opportunity as God’s gift. Why would I be wasting it away?”
By harnessing her acting chops, Puteri hopes that people will forget about her image of a pretty scarf-clad teacher that went viral when it was said that her student’s father had sent her a love letter. “I was doing my internship at the time for my Teaching English as a second language course. The thing is, that letter was completely fake! I didn’t receive anything like it!”
Another bashing she got was when she appeared without the hijab when she wasn’t teaching anymore. “One of the requirements at the school was to wear the hijab but I don’t wear it usually. I was just following the rules.”
WORKING CHEMISTRY
Despite its historical themes, Pulang is essentially a love story between Othman and Thom. Kabir, whose directorial credits include Cinta, Sepi and Setem, and his team looked at a few actors to play the lead roles and had them audition.
Naturally, Remy was one of Kabir’s top choices. Kabir had him audition with Puteri to see if they had chemistry. To the director, they just clicked.
“Puteri has the intelligence, look, and freshness. Instead of going with repetitive actors, I’d rather work with someone who’s really nice and perfect for the role. When Remy and Puteri rehearsed, their chemistry was really great. That’s the most important thing to me.”
Remy and Puteri had both acted in the theatre production Randai Cindua Mato earlier this year, but didn’t really have any scenes together. “In Pulang playing husband and wife, we share many heavily emotional scenes. Hopefully, our chemistry will be visible onscreen,” Remy says.
Thanks to their collaboration before, working with Remy wasn’t awkward for Puteri. “He’s very professional and assisted me by giving a really believable portrayal of Othman which I could spar against as Thom.”
As for the romantic aspect, Kabir says that he let the cast members explore it by themselves. “The script and storyline will guide them. At the end of the day, romance takes a back seat to the strength of the characters. Pulang has got a really nice pay-off at the end when the story comes full circle,” Kabir says.
Pulang also stars Azrel Ismail (Omar), Erwin Dawson (Ahmad), Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan (older Omar), Juliana Evans (Ahmad’s acquaintance in Liverpool, Aaliyah) and Sherry Al-Jeffri (older Thom).
Other cast members include Datuk Rahim Razali, Alvin Wong and Aida Khaleeda.
BEHIND THE SCENES
Pulang marks yet another collaboration between Kabir and his wife Mira Mustafa, who wrote the screenplay for his films Cinta and Nur Kasih: The Movie, and various TV dramas.
“We’ve worked together many times that I don’t need to question the rhythm of how the script works. It’s tried and tested.”
Remy adds: “I was actually waiting for the two to work together again, because their partnership is brilliant.
“Mira’s storytelling combined with Kabir’s vision makes for such a stunning and breathtaking result. I got teary-eyed just reading the script.”
The production team had used three foreign films as reference for visuals, namely The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button, Atonement and A Very Long Engagement. “Because the story is part historical, we did thorough research. There were lots of books on the sailors’ journey that we had looked at.”
One of the main research materials is by Professor Tim Bunnell on Malay sailors.
“It’s important for people to understand what Malay men in those days were doing, which was heroic.
“We tried to replicate the moments and setting that had existed, from the ships to the places the sailors visited. Mira is very meticulous. Plus, we’ve got really great production and costume designers, who have a great eye on what we need for that kind of setting.”
Lots of CGI will be used in the film, because most of Othman’s journey takes place on a ship. “A lot of sets are being built in Kuala Lumpur. We’ll also have a set that looks like Hong Kong, which is part of Othman’s journey.”
The team is also building its own ships. “We need to do many things to them, like flood it or move it in a certain way, so we don’t want it to look fake.”
For Remy, working with CGI was difficult, especially since he had to use his imagination. “Hopefully, it makes sense on screen.”
UNEARTHING UNSUNG HEROES
PULANG producer Tengku Iesta Tengku Alaudin says that the team at Grand Brilliance had been searching for stories about Malaysia’s unsung heroes to turn into feature films. “Then we came across accounts of how the Malay men were wanted as sailors for their hard work.”
Some had made it back to Malaysia, while some others had started new lives, either in Liverpool, Rotterdam and Sri Lanka where their sailing career had ended. “It turned out there were many who didn’t return home. So Pulang was inspired by these stories that we discovered.”
Iesta, who’s also Primeworks Studios general manager, adds that Pulang is the costliest film Grand Brilliance is producing. One third of it goes to the CGI works, which takes up 50 per cent of the movie.
“One of the key scenes that we hope will greatly appeal to viewers is where a ship sinks and breaks apart during a wild storm. Overall, the film is an incredible combination of set construction, camera work and CGI that we hope will attract international audiences as well.”
In the future, Iesta says the production house will continue on this path to procure stories on local heroes. “Currently in development is a story on Mount Kinabalu’s malim gunung (mountain guides).”