By AZHARIAH KAMIN

Love triangle: Siti Elizad and Zul Huzaimy star in the RM1.6mil period movie Lembing Awang Pulang Ke Dayang, about a warrior whose fiancée is betrothed to another man in his absence.

FOUR years is a long wait to see your movie reach the big screen, especially if it is your feature debut. But that’s exactly how long the production team of period film Lembing Awang Pulang Ke Dayang took to make the movie.“Yes, I’m happy that Lembing Awang Pulang Ke Dayang is finally going to be screened,” said film producer Noorazman Yusof in an interview recently.While fleshing out the RM1.6mil film, the production team faced a series of obstacles – from the changing of leading ladies to directors, it was one headache after another for the filmmakers.

For the uninitiated, Lembing Awang Pulang Ke Dayang (Awang’s Spear Returns To Dayang) is a tragic love story that is believed to have taken place more than 250 years ago in Parit Raja in Muar, Johor.Set in 1776, this film which has been adapted from a novel tells the story of a warrior Awang and his childhood sweetheart Dayang, who are to be married on the condition that he completes a three-year voyage around the Johor empire, covering parts of Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia to prove his worth.He returns safely only to learn that Dayang’s family had presumed he wouldn’t survive the perilous voyage and betrothed her to a mutual friend, Bachok.

In his anger, Awang stabs Bachok with a magic spear (from Sulawesi) during his wedding to Dayang, setting off a chain of events, whereby the spear, when removed from the victim, claims the life of the next person. The process is repeated 98 times and the 99th man to fall is Dayang’s kin.Inspired by novelist Shaharum Husain’s book of the same title, the movie was produced by Dayang Digital Sdn Bhd and is distributed by Primeworks Studios.With many contemporary-themed movies flooding the cinemas, Dayang Digital decided to head in a different direction. “Making a film from the novel (based on local legends) helps to expose young viewers to our very own legends and their many lessons,” reasoned Noorazman.

Farid Kamil plays the lead role of Awang, the dejected warrior.

“Our culture is rich with its own legends. The film is also to create awareness among the younger generation and to foster appreciation for these legends.”Noorazman, practically, grew up on these mythical stories and legends.“As my family hails from Muar, I was exposed to the legend of Awang, Dayang and Bachok by my parents while I was growing up in the 1970s.“It is a tragic story, but then again, if you look beyond it, the story also provides insight into the lives and minds of Malay warriors of the past. It shows how firmly they held on to the values of cou­rage, honour, loyalty and above all, integrity,” said Noorazman, before pointing out that China has built its movie industry successfully with films based on its epics and legends. Therefore, he reasons that local movie makers should do the same thing.

Work on the movie started in 2004 and it was initially directed by first-time movie director Imri Nasution. However, he later opted out and was replaced by the more experienced Majed Salleh, whose directorial credits including the yet to-be-screened Eee ..Hantu!. Filming took two years while the post-production process was finally wrapped up last year. While the legend is set in Muar, the cast and crew mostly filmed on location in Pulau Indah, Klang, and Bukit Cerakah in Shah Alam.According to Noorazaman, he selected actor-director Farid Kamil to play Awang as the movie needed a Malay hero with big screen appeal.“We did the casting and Farid seemed to be the most suitable to play Awang. Watching him on screen, I knew we had made the right choice.

“On the other hand, for the role of Bachok, we needed someone to play the hateful role convincingly. Zul Huzaimy was the right person to carry the role as it was a tough one to play.”For the character of Dayang, the team started off with Fasha Sandha, then Datin Natasha Hudson but at the end, they decided to use Siti Elizad to play the role of the pretty Malay maiden. Elizad has acted in various Malay movies like Cinta Yang Satu, Ejen 016, Berlari Ke Langit, Gangster, Main-Main Cinta, Rock and Bilut.The supporting cast of the movie includes Miss Malaysia 2002 Lynette Mei-Ling Ludi, rocker Hattan, Khir Rahman, Datuk Mustapha Maarof, Datin Rosnani Jamil, Kuswadinata, Aziz M. Osman and Uji Rashid.

The film is Farid’s first collaboration with Zul (and due to the movie’s delayed release, their second collaboration, Remp-It, was screened in 2006).“For me, Awang is the anti-hero I’ve always wanted to play. He’s a man of honour who holds others to their words.“And we did a lot of research. I even met with Awang’s descendants in Johor and it helped me to flesh out Awang,” said Farid, who is the opinion that the versatile Zul was an excellent choice for the role of Bachok.For Zul, playing Bachok was a great experience.“Unlike Farid, I didn’t get to see Bachok’s family. Though I did pass through the Bachok district in Kelantan,” Zul joked.

“But yes, we conducted a lot of research and many times (during the filming), I was thinking that it was very tough to act in a period drama. Nevertheless, I’m happy with the results and I’m happy with my portrayal of Bachok.”As for director Majed Saleh, he said he will leave it to the audience to judge his work.“We have done our best. Hopefully, it will be well received. Our biggest challenge was to tell a story which took place nearly 300 years ago and make it into a movie. We tried to tell as much as we could (from the book) and to make it believable,” he added.

Profil Berkaitan

 Dayang Digital Sdn. Bhd.    Majed Salleh    N Azman    Lembing Awang Pulang Ke Dayang    Farid Kamil    Zul Huzaimy     Ejad    Fasha Sandha    Datin Natasha Hudson    Lynette Ludi    Hattan    Khir Rahman    Kuswadinata    Dato' Mustapha Maarof    Datin Hajah Rosnani Jamil    Uji Rashid    Aziz M.Osman    Aziz M.Osman    Berlari Ke Langit    Gangster    Main-Main Cinta    Rock    Bilut