PENANG resembled a mini-Hollywood in the past week when a local production debut its premiere of a horror flick while to lighten the suspense, Singaporean comedian Kumar brought humour to a state recovering from the pandemic.
It was indeed a balancing act, the audience in Penang got a dose of horror, full of suspense till the movie's end and a few days later, the same crowd flocked to laugh their hearts out to a spice of Asian, centrally an Indian perception of comedy.
After the horror flick ‘Eidolan: Bayangan Dendam’ was featured at the Golden Screen Cinema in Gurney Plaza, part of the cast took the trouble to share their thoughts on what is now gripping the entertainment industry in reality.
They pointed out that it is not only journalists who have to grapple with the downside of social media, as now key opinion leaders and social media influencers are grabbing roles away from their fellow actors and actresses.
In a no-holds-barred session with The Vibes, the producers and stars behind the Penang-inspired horror production shared how the movie industry is seeking social media personalities just because they draw “numbers and hits” from the online sphere rather than the desired acting skills.
While they do not hold any grudges against social media celebrities, there is a need, according to them, for producers to offer equal attention to professionalism, quality of performances, as well as on directing and editing skills.
Actor Zack Amunuddin and co-star Tyty Nazmin of Eidolan, are both hoping that producers would continue to give traditional movie stars a degree of preference.
"Firstly, acting is an art and it takes weeks to months to prepare for roles. We need to undergo acting classes and understand emotive or body language."
Zack. for example, is also a trained silat exponent and to prepare for action sequences, it takes time to perfect the scenes and motions.
"I feel that social media personalities with no prior training are been courted just because of the numbers they generate from their online accounts."
The problem is, just like journalists, movie stars are preoccupied with perfecting their craft and ensuring that their work is ethical to have time to be loading a constant stream of videos, photographs and commentary.
They also do not believe in loading up a constant stream of videos, of which some of the content may be unverifiable and, in some instances, outright fake.
On average, the cast shoots up to 17 hours daily just to ensure that the budget is kept to.
Seated together with the stars, was Julian Cheah, one of Penang's few movie proponents, who acts, directs and produces, and Eidolan's co-producer Jean Tan.
Cheah continues to make movies as it is his passion and Eidolan is one of the many he hopes to make in years to come.
On the plus point, Cheah said that since he has been producing movies for the past two decades, the National Censorship Board has been cooperative.
As he spoke, there was much ado over the local movie Pulau, which is also generating excitement but for the wrong reasons of offending scenes.
Incidentally, Pulau features Malaysia's top Instagrammer Siew Pui Yi, who made history by becoming the nation's first female to pose for the Penthouse magazine.
But for the four associates of the movie Eidolan, their appeal to the audience out there is to go and see both their production and Pulau too.
Eidolan will be screened in 33 cinemas nationwide soon.
The local movies industry needs a spark to generate a comeback of sorts. Perhaps more blockbusters to keep it relevant in the face of competition from "Hollywood, Bollywood (India), Cantowood (Hong Kong) and Koreawood (South Korea)."
Tan said that to release movies nowadays, a big budget revolves around aggressive marketing and promotion.
But producers can do with an injection of more funds to help them produce movies of top-notch quality, which can make Malaysians proud. This includes the many tales of human endurance that they endured following the strife of the pandemic.
Later, Kumar's promotion team shared the comedian's show in Penang – a sell-out at the St Giles Wembley Hotel, a reappearance for the Singaporean, who had uplifted many people when they were confined to their homes during the lockdowns.
Kumar showcased a compilation of his funniest content produced over a long span of his career, titled, ‘Kumarsutra Greatest Hits.’
Hailed as an iconic and respected performing artist as well as a brilliant stand-up comedian of her generation, Kumar has proven time and again to be a multi-talented performer, entertaining millions as a comedian, TV host, actor, dancer, director and author over the last three decades.
In his sketches in Penang, Kumar stunned the audience with the ability to know the local residents’ best-kept-secret, when he touted the "Antarabangsa" outlet in George Town as one of the places to patronise for affordable alcoholic beverages.
In all, the past week had a high dose of entertainment for the local residents to be kept thrilled, as the musicians also began returning in encouraging numbers to belt out cover hits at various outlets here. – The Vibes, March 11, 2023
