Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Tekan Minyak

TEKAN MINYAK is a 1-hour, 13-episode drama series about 5 women in the midst of middle age and post-menopause. The drama-series stars Ariati Tyeb Papar (Aini), Junaidah Eksan (Suriati), Mariana Yati (Zuraidah), Nadiah Ali (Nadia) and Rosita Hussin (Rahimah). The debut episode began telecast on Mediacorp's SURIA channel on 4 July 2018 at 9.30pm.

It would be a challenge for me to tackle this drama series that looks into the lives of 5 adult women. Certainly it would not be easy to track into the woman's psyche and treat the respective issues respectfully.

Imaging & Styling


It turned out to be a breeze because the 5 lead actresses and I had many discussions on the issues at hand. We discussed like adults and spoke openly about the script, especially on the difficult themes. On hindsight, I don't think I would be able to handle the series if this was handed to me 10-15 years ago. Tekan Minyak is an adult drama series and I don't think I would have the maturity to navigate its themes. What I like about the series is that it handled much of the issues faced daily by many contemporary Malay families head-on, ie adultery, autism, the cougar, internet bully, stalking, breadwinner, infertility, etc.

Further, many of the cast members and I go a long way. I have worked with many of them in the past. I directed and watched them develop as an actor. Many of them have also watched my style in various drama genres. Thus, it's a very comfortable working relationship from Day 1. 

Yet the cast still needed my guidance on set and I need their hindsights so that I would not go overboard with realism. It may be easy to assume that I may have an easy job on-set because of the A-list casting, thus I can lepak one corner. They may not need much guidance when it comes to performance and technicalities, but I still need to point out should they have gone off-character (yes I see the whole series character and narrative arc) or off-blocking. Worst, some actors may tend go too much acting unconsciously. I am one for the actor who wants to explore and go off-tangent and make the character their own but they still need to be guided. This applies to all-level actors, ie experienced or newbies.

Behind-the-scene

I think the biggest challenge for me directing this series was having to work through the fasting month of Ramadan. Many of the challenging scenes were filmed during the fasting month. In fact sometime during the 3-months plus principal filming, I realised I have forgotten how it feels like to be on-set and directing all 13-episodes. Somehow my health condition (from 2017) took a toll. I wasn't feeling too well physically towards the end of the filming. The joints were feeling rather tight (more of that on another blog).

It was the first time I worked with many technical crew, one of them is Mr Gopal, the director of photography. He was from India and had worked on many film sets there. I was channeling my inner Bollywood/Kollywood through much of the series and I think Mr Gopal ensured we achieved that together 😉

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4


Episode 5


Episode 6


Episode 7


Episode 8


Episode 9


Episode 10


Episode 11


Episode 12


Episode 13






Would there be a second season?

Dadah Itu Haram

I was approached by the Dadah Itu Haram committee on collaborating for their yearly anti-narcotics outreach campaign. Dadah Itu Haram is an anti-drug campaign launched in April 2017, by Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs and Health Amrin Amin. The campaign unites various grassroots organisations to promote anti-drug message in their respective communities.

I've had a handful of acquaintances who have been charged with the consumption and possession of narcotics. I've listened to many of their stories and these stories have common threads. The rate that an ex-offender falls back into relapse is very high. Stigma towards an ex-offender is more hurtful than the penalty itself, thus there need to have consistent education how society can help the ex-offender. the road to recovery is never easy. Being brave to face the public may be difficult but it is a positive road to recovery. Life may not return to normal for the ex-offender.


During conceptualisation, I have wanted to avoid the cliche dramatic narrative, ie, offender gets caught, stays in prison and repents, returns home to family and becomes a changed man. I wanted it to be a rather visceral approach to reproach, repentance and public opinion.

Thus I enlisted Muhammad Salihin Sulaiman Jeem, a renown Singapore-based poet, to pen the script.
MONOLOG PENYESALAN
Penyesalan ini telah lama ku telan.
Tembok batu yang telah menjeratku sekian lama,
membuat aku bertambah benci.
Benci dengan benda haram tu.
Aku pernah tersilap langkah
Kini aku mahu kembali....ke pangkuan masyarakat.
Tapi.. terasa begitu sukar sekali…. 
Teman-teman semakin menjauh,
Keluarga tidak mesra lagi.
Pekerjaan tidak lagi ku miliki.
Isteri...hmmm tak taulah…
Anak-anak, dilarang untuk aku bertemu.
Dan aku sangat merindui mereka.
“Maafkan ayah sayang….” 
Kadangkala, aku dianggap seperti najis!!. 
Seperti hampas
ku disamakan dengan benda haram tu lagi…!!
Setiap detik ketika terkandang di sangkar besi
membuat aku ingin berubah
Ia tidak semudah diucapkan.
Aku terpaksa terima padahnya
Aku bertekad. 
Aku masih punya perasaan,
Hidup ini semakin terhambat.
Aku masih lagi terikat
Kedamaian sudah hilang,
keceriaan punah terhempas.
Aku kini dalam dunia keperitan..
Bantulah aku teman, jangan biarkan aku tenggelam
Dalam kecelakaan. 
Seringkali air matu mengalir
Mengenang kisah-kisah hitam
Yang terlalu pahit untuk ku kenang
Dan entah ke brapa kali aku
Terjerat lagi ke dalam..
Dan terpaksa aku nilai
kisah-kisah yang lampau

Berikan aku semangat baru
Supaya masyarakat menerimaku.
Supaya anak ku masih mengenali diri ini
Lepaskan aku dari belenggu
Bawalah diri ini terbang jauh ……
Jauh dari pemasalahan yang ku alami…
Bebas seperti dulu lagi…
(watch the video below for English subtitles)
Event launch was covered by the Malay-language national paper Berita Harian.

Here is the video - MONOLOG PENYESALAN


My thoughts during the launch (in Malay)