The performing artistes of Sinar Lebaran 2016 (from left): Khairudin Samsudin, Huda Ali, Iskandar Ismail (Eiss), Fuad Rahman, Sarah Aqilah, Ziana Zain, Sezairi, Nurul Aini, Sufian Ahmad and Aisyaah Aziz…
We’re in the final day of Tasyriq (three subsequent days after Eiduladha) and I thought it would still be fitting enough for me to share these long-held photographs during the night where Sinar Lebaran 2016 was recorded at the new Theatre @ Mediacorp situated at their new premises at Stars Avenue. Furthermore I was not invited to cover the recent recording of the Rayakustika programme, which was televised this past Hari Raya Haji holiday, so there seems to be a void somehow of Eid-related stuff. Anyway, I seldom post photographs of Sinar Lebaran recordings over the years so all the more I saw the need to share them. Since I had promised more stuff to be shared on my blog a few days ago, this post is dedicated to featuring some of the celebrity guests who had attended the Sinar Lebaran 2016 recording on 28 May 2016. Enjoy!!!
The performing artistes taking a group shot before they left the stage…
Fauzie Laily and his missus, Nurul Huda…
The man behind the conceptualisation of the current 11 Oktober drama series currently being shown on Mediacorp Suria, Dicky Dzulkarnaen and family…
(From left): Joe Lazarie, Azman Shariff, Mahyunis Mahfudz, Fauzah Khalid, Shan Ehan Sofian and Mariana Yati…
Loving couple Jasmani Basri and Poziah Hassan…
Anugerah Skrin 2016 alumnus – Wirda Elliesa and Syafiqah Shahlan…
Another shot of the pretty mother and daughter, Norfasarie and Moza Alyka…
(From left): Junaidi Sali, Anugerah Skrin 2016 winners, Yaya Hamid and Syaiful Ariffin and Anugerah Skrin 2010 winner, Syirah Jusni…
Iskandar Shah and Danish Ashraf were seated together with Syafiqah and Wirda that night…
Sezairi’s lovely parents, Madam Rubi’ah Chayan and Mr. Sezali Suliman…
Madam Maimunah Ali of Mona J with two of her children Janz Abdullah and Janna Jauhar…
Farhana M. Noor and Joe Lazarie…
Hafidz Abdul Rahman and Zuhairi Idris of Bonda Bedah and Mak Temah fame, were seated next to Rauzan Rahman and Endang Rahayu…
Norfasarie seen here with her daughter Moza Alyka and they were seated next to Fauzie and Nurul…
Post show – Wirda, Syafiqah and Iskandar Shah…
Den Sabari and Junaidi Sali…
Former broadcast journalist Riz Sunawan came with his mother Madam Jamaliah Sujak (left) and an unidentified guest…
Mr. Ahmad Nizam Abbas, who sits on the Board of Directors at Mediacorp, will never fail to attend with his other half, Ms. Hazliza Abdul Majid…
A beaming Sezairi with his beloved parents, Mr Sezali Suliman and Madam Rubi’ah Chayan…
A talent who usually gets cast in supporting roles, Haslinna Jaaman’s roles be in Malay or English, are no doubt essential to the drama series she’s involved in…
(From left): Mediacorp Suria’s Wan Mohd Haiz, former Suria staff Shabirin Ariffin, trailer producer Abdul Latiff and Janna Jauhar…
Nurul Aini with hubby Sofian Roslan and son, Shan Ehan…
Farhana M. Noor goofing around with her ardent fans – my daughters…
Syirah Jusni, Nurul Aini and Syaiful Ariffin…
Back then, Hari Raya was actually more than a month away, but little Shan Ehan already received his advanced earnings…
Nurul Aini, Sofian, Fauzie and Nurul Huda…
Danish Ashraf and Yaya Hamid seen here with celebrity stylist Rafil Kamaruddin and make-up artiste Zool Mimi…
Azman Shariff, Fauzah Khalid, Sufian Ahmad, Mariana Yati and Mahyunis Mahfudz all smiles…
The Mediacorp Suria promo team all smiles after a hard day’s work…
Iskandar Ismail and his lovely missus Norazura Mohd Ismail…
Yaya Hamid, Nana Karia seen here with Jasmani Basri and wife Madam Poziah Hassan…
My daughters are also fans of Wirda and Syafiqah…
Group shot of some of the performing artistes as well as staff and interns of Mediacorp Suria…
I return once again with another APM2015 entry, my second instalment of this year’s edition. This time, I’ll be sharing miscellaneous shots I took during the “Red Carpet” event, the “Walk of the Stars” segment as well as a few shots I took post-event. Unfortunately there was no post-event reception this year and the “Walk of the Stars” segment had to be cut short due to time constraints before the event proper began, so there were not many photographs that I took and certainly less of a variety as compared to previous years.
Also since I am basically a one-man team, I had to leave the “Red Carpet” event at the hall’s entrance to take shots of the events transpiring on stage. In years past, I would have broken my entries into several postings, but this year, I’ll just post my miscellaneous snapshots under one entry, with my review coming much later, as I still have five thousand-odd photographs I need to sieve through and pick the best ones to be featured. Hope this filler entry before my review would help to satiate your thirst to view the photographs of the event. I will not put a timeframe to the publication of my review entry but I hope I will not take another month to post it up… 😛
Renowned fashion designer, Raffiey Nasir, being interviewed by the Malay news team…
Raja Razie & Dzar Ismail were the hosts for the Red Carpet event…
H! Live’s Shenthy Feliziana and Berita Harian’s Haryani Ismail all smiles before interviewing the artistes gracing the Red Carpet event…
Nana Karia was the first to arrive on the Red Carpet…
Nurul Aini, fresh from her trip to France, came with her hubby Sofian Roslan…
Award presenter Fir Rahman, and his expecting missus, Jannah Ismaeil…
Dzar Ismail and Raja Razie interviewing Jules Jumari of SoulMstrs fame…
Didicazli sharing a moment of banter with the two Red Carpet hosts…
Didicazli and wife, Nur Eliyana…
Shenthy Feliziana recording her segment for Astro’s H! Live…
Wahyu Rahman and hubby Adi Yadoni taking a wefie with Dzar Ismail and Raja Razie…
Wahyu Rahman & Adi Yadoni…
Ikhsan Ace giving the thumbs-up to the camera…
Local rocker Man Toyak came with his daughter, Nurul Hidayah…
Hydir Idris, chuffed at being nominated at this year’s event…
The group that plays catchy tunes, The Full-Pledged Munkees…
Award presenter Elfaeza Ul-Haq looks even more demure with her new image…
The two Lydias – Lydia Asyiqin and Lydia Izzati came together…
Local band Audionauts…
Award presenter Maya Karin…
Aziz Harun, one of the nominees for Best New Artiste (Male)…
Local hip-hop duo Komrad – Fariq & J-Boy…
Local composer Janz Abdullah came with his sister Janna Jauhar…
An expecting Norfasarie came with her handsome firstborn, Mika Bazil…
Sezairi’s manager Syaheed, all smiles with unidentified friends…
Riz Sunawan came with his beloved mother, Madam Jamaliah Sujak…
Faridzuan Faris (second from left) and Northbound’s Fareez Shah, came with their friends from Wolfpac Productions, the team instrumental for the making of their music video “Selamat Tinggal Sayang”…
Up-and-coming songbird, Sofia Arissa Arman, with her beau, Muhd Saufi…
Household name Farhana M Noor with her squeeze, Shannon Berkett…
Asia’s Got Talent’s Fathin Amira Zubir came with her parents. The one on her right is Ir Radzie, another nominee for Best New Artiste (Male) that night…
Rocker Shafyre came with his good-looking children…
Cikgu Asnida Daud and her promising starlet, Syurga…
Talented composer and artiste, Reyza Hamizan and his working partner James Lye…
New mother, Izyan Mellyna, came alone as hubby Saifulnazri, is away in UK on a work assignment…
Lawyer Mr. Ahmad Nizam Abbas and wife Madam Hasliza Abdul Majid…
New local singer in our midst, Ryz, seen here with Nur Awaliyah Jaafar of Menantu International fame and representatives of Impact Music…
Award-winning lyricist, Shah Shamshiri, came all the way from Kuala Lumpur with his colleague, Willy…
A B Shaik and Hafeez Glamour were the hosts for the Walk of the Stars segment…
Chomel (2nd from left) and Jumali Sanotri (fourth from left) with members of their production label…
Artistes under Yazri Malik Productions, (from left) – Hisyam Azmi, Ilham Ramadan, Erlina Maulood and Yaya Hamid (right)…
New group under Yazri Malik. They call themselves JURY. From left: Kent Adli, ND Khal, Chirul Salleh and Mujaheed…
Ryan Sufiyan showing off the contents of his bag by Grey By Ortenhill…
Aisyaah Aziz with a representative of Pos T.K.I…
Iman’s League telling the audience they were out to enjoy themselves that night and enjoyed they did!!!
Cakra Khan appeared onstage with Ayda Jebat and Hazama…
Lovely and humble couple Alif Abdullah and Azzah Fariha…
Kunto Aji appeared alongside Elfaeza Ul-Haq and Fir Rahman…
Suhaimi Yusof and Shenthy Feliziana…
Najip Ali and Elizabeth Tan rounded off the artistes who managed to walk onstage for the Walk of the Stars segment…
Local actresses Nina Fevriena and Rosita Hussin seen here with their hubbies…
Hosts Caesar Gunawan and Jihan Muse taking time out to pose for my camera before going live with their hosting…
The Aziz sisters – Aisyaah and Ayeen…
Newly married couple Taufik Batisah and Sheena Akbal…
Erwin Shah Dawson and A’Trez who have just released their new single “Bujeng”. They’re known as A-Ok by the way…
Shahree, Erza and Odi from Diorama…
The Full-Pledged Munkees celebrating Iman’s League’s win post-show…
Adi Rahman and Aura Shai seen here with two of their working staff…
Best friends Fizi Azmi, Riz Sunawan, Fiza O and Raffiey Nasir…
One for the album – Aura Shai, Ayda Jebat, Madam Zakiah Halim and Fiza O…
Raffiey Nasir was instrumental in designing this outfit worn by Fiza O…
It has been a fortnight since Pesta Perdana 13 was upon us. A lot of post-event thoughts and comments were made on the winners or what happened during the event itself, some of which have been downright vile and preposterous in my opinion, but that is something I will discuss on another day. I am still in the midst of editing the 3400-odd photographs I snapped that night but just to satiate your wait, I’ll be sharing selected photographs I took during the pre-event cocktail reception, during commercial breaks as well as during the post-event reception in this entry. Hope this will be a good filler before I share my after-thoughts… 🙂
Dyn Norahim and A. B. Shaik…
From left: Alias Kadir, Jasmi Ahmad, J.A. Halim, Abdullah Ahmad, Azman Shariff, Faisal Ishak, Helmindra J.A. Halim and Azhar Nor Lesta…
Nurijah Sahat (second from right) flanked by the daughters of Madam Hajjah Ponisah Bachik, Mars (right) and Mahyonis (centre). On Mahyonis’ left is her sister-in-law Roslina Abdul Talip and an unidentified guest…
Azman Shariff and Ahmad Yusof
Nurijah Sahat and Ahmad Yusof being flanked by the good people from Flipside Stories. On the right is director and executive producer Razi Salam…
The trophy girls of the night, former RATU finalists, Wan Anisah and Shillah Marlysha…
From left: Tukangkata, his son Ilyas, Reyza Hamizan and lyricist Hidayat Nordin…
From left: Ahmad Sirhan, Hariz Nasir, Danish Qayyum, Gee Aziz and Shahrin Azhar…
Shahrin Azhar and his lovely family…
From right: Jeff Catz, Sofia Arissa Arman (singer of Belah Hati theme song), Abdullah Ahmad, A. Mahadi and Nasir from Mediacorp Eaglevision…
Newlyweds Faizal Rahman and Dawn Prima Ria…
Fiza O being flanked by Raffiey Nasir and Fizi Azmi…
Farhana M Noor and beau Shannon Berkett…
Asraf Amin looking spiffy in his suit…
From left: Norman Ishak, Fizah Nizam, Ateeqah Mazlan and her hubby Effen…
Sofyan Daud, nominee for Best Videography, with Hasif Nasir…
Good friends – Md. Najib Soiman and Shahril Wahid…
The cast of upcoming drama series, Rempuh, from Papahan Films – Farhanny Salim, Farhana M. Noor and Atyy A. Malek…
Haryani Othman with hubby Khairul Famy Kassim…
Mastura Ahmad and hubby Arshad Ismail…
Mediacorp Eaglevision’s Wan Firzaleenazrah and hubby Keatar H M…
Here’s Atyy A. Malek and partner Syahmi Kadir…
Veteran actress Mariana Yati and son, Imam Shah…
A solo shot of Imam Shah…
Hashimah Hamidon and A. Mahadi…
From right: Ahmad Yusof, Nurijah Sahat, Imam Shah, Rozita Abu, Julia Tari, Mariana Yati, Zaidi Ibrahim and wife…
Anti-ageing entrepreneur Suhaida Rasmad and violinist Azura Goh…
Mediacorp Suria’s Siti Zalinah Adam being flanked by Shahida Sarhid and Nurmaya Alias…
Here’s Najib Soiman and Shahril Wahid being joined by Den Sabari and Faizal Ramli…
Ariati Tyeb Papar and son Aqeel…
Fadhlur Rahman was seated next to Nick Mikhail and wife Nora…
Siti Aishah Ahmad was seated next to Siti Hajar Gani and hubby Muhd Hashir
Malaysia’s Zul Ariffin was in attendance and seated next to former newscaster Riz Sunawan…
Sharon Ismail and hubby Jumari Osman…
Fir Rahman and wifey Jannah Ismaeil…
Wahyu Rahman and hubby Adi Yadoni…
Habriyah Nasir was seated with Gee Aziz, Den Sabari and Nurul Nabila…
The casts of Interns – Aaron Khaled and Sheiryn Aisiqa…
Fauzie Laily and wifey Nurul Huda…
A. B. Shaik was seated next to Jason Chong…
Nadiah M. Din and her mother Madam Hamidah Jalil…
Before Zul Ariffin got mobbed post-event, I managed to get him for this solo shot…
Izyan Mellyna who is four months pregnant, with hubby Saifulnazri…
They were joined here by Ashmi Roslan…
And subsequently Adlina Adil and Roland Tong…
Another pair of newlyweds – Syarif SleeQ and Malaque Mahdaly…
Syirah Jusni and Ashmi Roslan…
Stylist Intan and hubby Salim…
Norfasarie brought her son Mika Bazil to the awards show…
Winners in their own rights – Fadila Abdul Wahid and Rilla Melati…
Seri Wahyuni Jaes, with Mr. Mohideen Abdul Khader from ThinkPlate and his wife…
Isadhora Mohamed was joined by hubby Mohammad Sawifi, Johan Jaafar, former radio producer-presenter Madam Asmah Sulaiman and her hubby Mr. Said…
Shahril Wahid and Shenthy Feliziana…
Here’s Shenthy having a goofy time with her good friend and fellow Cinta Ixora alumnus Nadiah M. Din…
Nadiah and her customary solo shot whenever we meet…
Madam Zakiah Halim seen here with the Mat Yoyo / Bengkel Kanak-Kanak TV SBC alumnus Shahrin Azhar, Rilla Melati, Faisal Ishak, Mohammad & Ibrahim Sawifi, Wan Haiz and Hartini Ismail…
Newscaster Hazlina Halim and her dashing husband Amran Mat Dali…
Another one who loves a customary solo shot from my camera – Huda Ali…
Iqram Dinzly seen here with Shahril Wahid and Mediacorp Eaglevision’s Samri Badi…
New and good-looking faces on TV – Aaron Khaled, Sheiryn Aisiqa and Ikhwan Risydah…
The Sayang Mona ladies – Siti Aishah Ahmad, Seriwahyuni Jaes, Siti Hajar Gani and Ariati Tyeb Papar…
Flipside Stories’ Razi Salam with Nurul Aini and hubby Sofian Roslan…
The beautiful Sheiryn Aisiqa looking splendour in Lulu Alhadad’s creation…
From left: Ibrahim Sawifi, Sharon Ismail, Jumari Osman, Adi Yadoni, Wahyu Rahman and Faisal Ishak…
Brainy beauties – Sharon Ismail and Rilla Melati…
Here they are with Sharon’s hubby, Jumari Osman, and Best Host winner Khairudin Saharom…
From left: Ashmi Roslan, Faizal Ramli, Fadhlur Rahman, Junaidi Sali and Ikhwan Risydah…
Solo shot of Azura Goh…
The owners of Studio Cafe – Fadhlur Rahman, Nurul Aini and Ashmi Roslan and their partners, Syirah Jusni and Sofian Roslan…
This photo was fun to snap cos everyone just rushed in to be in the shot…
Found out whilst snapping this photograph that Najib Soiman used to teach Azura Goh when she was just in primary school…
Huda Ali and Wahyu Rahman goofing around…
Another customary photograph whenever this lovely couple attend an event…
Mediacorp Suria’s Budi Iskandar all smiles next to Ratu winner, Fatin Amira and Nurul Nabila…
Nurul Aini and Sofian Roslan…
Pesta Perdana 13 was a success thanks to Raffiey Nasir and Fizi Azmi. Here they are with their good friends Rafil Kamaruddin and Riz Sunawan…
Here’s Riz in his outfit styled by Rafil Kamaruddin…
Syirah Jusni and her beloved mum, Madam Hamidah Kassim, with Jason Chong…
Celebrity make-up artist, Madam Norehan Fong-Harun and Najib Soiman…
Here’s Najib Soiman with Syirah Jusni, Madam Hamidah Kassim, Mastura Ahmad, Ashmi Roslan and Arshad Ismail…
Rosita Hussin was busy chatting with Azhar Nor Lesta. Couldn’t resist interrupting them for a photograph…
The lovely staff and interns from Mediacorp Suria…
The cool cats from Mat Yoyo back in the 80s all grown up, Hartini Ismail and Wan Mohd Haiz…
Last shot of the Mediacorp Suria staff before calling it a night…
Back with the third and final instalment of #theSyarifs‘ wedding. This entry will feature photographs of the wedding dinner event, which I felt resembled a mini Pesta Perdana event, with the local Malay entertainment scene’s personalities making their presence by gracing the occasion. It was a long day for the newly-weds as well as those who had worked hard to make the whole event tick, yet everyone was smiling throughout till the very end, happiness etched on their faces and sharing the joy of the newlyweds. The wedding dinner event was held at the same venue (Alkaff Mansion) as the earlier morning’s solemnisation ceremony and lunch reception.
Like the solemnisation ceremony, those who had tuned in to the couple’s official Youtube channel, would have gotten a glimpse of what went on live via the webstream. Unfortunately I heard that the full clip has been taken down by Youtube due to copyright infringements of some of the songs featured. Though you will not be able to view the clip, I hope this entry would satiate your thirst to view some of the event’s happenings as well as see who’s who in the local Malay entertainment scene who had turned up. This was afterall THE “Wedding of the Year” for 2014, for me. It would be criminal not to feature this entry in my blog, especially when the groom took great pains to invite me and the wife to attend. For that I say “Thank You!!!” to Syarif and Malaque for having us, me in particular, for almost the whole day.
The wedding dinner event was hosted by Ben Muthusalam, Syarif‘s intern-mate when he did his internship with Mediacorp back in 2009. Please don’t ask me why the host’s name has an Indian surname. Maybe his good friends reading this can help to enlighten me cos I’m in the dark myself. Guests were treated to lovely performances by local groups TheTrisno Trio and Northbound, as well as a guest performance by Malaysia‘s Dina Nadzir, whose rendition of Katy Perry‘s “Unconditionally“, had my hairs standing. She is such an under-rated vocal powerhouse. We also witnessed Syarif singing a song titled “Malaque“, which he had composed with Trisno Ishak just two weeks leading up to the wedding event.
The eleven-tier wedding cake was specially baked by Malaque herself, whom some of us know specialises in pastries, desserts and cakes. Also, the cheesecake recipe during the dinner event itself, was specially concocted by her, assisted and executed by Chef Siti Mastura and team. Female guests were fortunate to have received a make-up kit by Benefit Cosmetics, to go along with the main door gifts consisting of a Grey by Ortenhill bag, a lovely jar series, Sugee cake by Chef Siti Mastura and Calvin Klein parfum vials. The gifts oozed class in every sense, a reflection of the newlyweds. All in all, it was a wonderful and memorable wedding event and here’s wishing the newlyweds once again a blissful married life with filial kids in tow… 🙂
Guests from radio and Berita Harian (from left): Ms. Isadhora Mohamed, Mr. Mohammad Sawifi, Mr. Azrin Rahim, Madam Hanim Mohd Saleh, RZ, TG and wife Haslinda Hamid…
Shahril Wahid and wife Suherdlya Sabar…
Imran Ajmain was seated along with his good friends, Ainon Talib (fourth from left) and hubby, Erwan Gunawan. To his left is his friend Suhaidah. The others on the same table (Suhaila – third from right, Rizman Kassim and Sulastri Yusof) were instrumental in making the event tick as they are part of Fatimah Mohsin’s team…
The Jauhar siblings, Janz, Janna and Jihan, who was SleeQ’s former manager…
The good people from Mediacorp Suria and yours truly’s spouse on the right…
Anugerah Skrin 2010 alumnus Nissa Bahruddin with Mediacorp Suria’s Siti Zuraidah Taib…
The creative minds behind Mediacorp Eaglevision…
Former national football team captain, Aide Iskandar and wife Ezreen Taib Zohri…
Didicazli and wife Nur Eliyana…
Hisyam Hamid, Mastura Ahmad, Shahrin Azhar and Haryani Othman along with their respective spouses. Jeff Catz (third from right) was alone…
Norfasarie came with her two beautiful children, Mika Bazil and Moza Alyka…
Den Sabari, Huda Ali and daughter Leia Qaseh…
Nurul Aini and hubby Sofian Roslan…
Marina Yusoff with her daughter Noshin Putri
Fauzie Laily and Nurul Huda, the ever loving couple…
Cast of Belah Hati (standing from left): Asraf Amin, Ateeqah Mazlan, Effendie (Ateeqah’s hubby), Mariana Yatie, Ayura Kefle, Junaidah Eksan and Imam Shah. Seated are Nurfarhana M Noor and partner Shannon Berkett…
Here they are joined by Mr. J.A. Halim, his son, Helmindra, daughter-in-law Fizah Nizam, and son-in-law Laurent Thevenet…
Rozzalina Ramli and her daughter Hannah Adyna, Ainon Talib and Norfasarie and her lovely children…
Mediacorp Suria interns Farhanny Salim, Deedee Durrani and the hardest working man of #theSyarifs’ wedding, Budi Iskandar Sa’ad…
Clockwise from top: Mediacorp Suria’s Yusnita Yaacob, Hazlina Halim, Riz Sunawan, Wan Haiz Salleh, Diana Halil, Farlina and hubby
Mr. Hassan Salleh and wife Madam Kamsiah Rahman…
Mediacorp Suria’s trailer producer Radhiah Zulkifli and hubby Sufian Faisal…
Nity Baizura and husband Mohd Hafiz…
DJ KC and Fiza O…
Aura Shai…
Syirah Jusni and Ashmi Roslan…
Mastura Ahmad and hubby Arshad Ismail…
Hisyam Hamid and wife, Mel (Rosmawati Hussin)…
Haryani Othman and hubby Fahmy…
Shahrin Azhar, with wifey Gee Aziz, daughter Iman Qistina and Jeff Catz…
Rozzalina Ramli, hubby Jai Wahab and daughter Hannah Adyna…
Wedding dinner event host, Ben Muthusalam…
Performance by the trio from Northbound…
Ahmad Khalis…
Fareez Shah…
Fauzaan Sahrudin…
Dina Nadzir…
The newlyweds with Mr. Darren Choy, Managing Director and CEO of Warner Music Malaysia…
The Trisno Trio…
Syarif performing his newly composed song for his beloved wife, aptly called “Malaque”…
The newlyweds with deejays from RIA 89.7FM and Warna 94.2FM and their partners…
Amongst the guests here include Mr. Indra Shahrir, Madam Amanah Mustafi who are flanking the newlyweds and Mr. Hamed Ismail (standing top right)…
The newlyweds with Shenthy Feliziana and partner…
The newlyweds with Trisno Trio and Ms. Renee Quek from Grey by Ortenhill…
The newlyweds with Bloco SG’s founder Syed Ahmad and wife Hanie Nadia…
The newlyweds with Nura Abdul Manaf, who was instrumental in directing the live webstream segments…
Amongst the guests here include Madam Zakiah Halim, Mr Suhaimi Jais and family, Dr. Edmund Lam (CEO of COMPASS) and Mr. Darren Choy…
The newlyweds and the ever creative Mediacorp Eaglevision team…
Azzah Fariha and Malaque are officially cousins by virtue of marrying the SleeQ boys…
Mediacorp Suria’s promo team and the newlyweds…
With the bride’s family…
The newlyweds with Fatimah Mohsin and Diyana Halik who are seated. Standing from left to right: Ezreen Taib Zohri, Aide Iskandar, Azlan M Shafie, Eriyana Amin, Suzairhe Sumari and Suhaillah Salam…
With the groom’s mother and elders…
With Northbound and their sessionists…
With the groom’s mother and siblings…
The newlyweds with Fauzie Laily, Nurul Huda and Dean Reziq, another hardworking personnel during the wedding event…
With Berita Harian’s Nurmaya Alias and hubby Muhd Mahfuz…
The newlyweds with Mr. J.A. Halim and his ever sporting family members…
With Nick Mikhail and wife Nora…
Without these amazing peeps from Fatimah Mohsin’s team, the wedding would not have been a success…
Ok I know I promised you in the last entry that my next one would be my review on Anugerah Planet Muzik 2014. However, after attending the film premiere of Banting (or Slam! in English) this past Friday 24th October 2014 at the The Grand Cathay Cineplex, I have decided to prolong your wait for quite a bit as this movie takes precedence. Editing photographs I took the other night, which were less than a hundred, is much easier than going through 3500-odd photographs to be included in my entry. Hence you can regard this as sort of a filler entry before I speak about APM2014 again. Anyway I would first and foremost like to thank Papahan Films, especially Ms. Nurazleena Ramli, the person in-charge of the film’s publicity, for the kind invitation. In my ten years of entertainment blogging, this was indeed my first film premiere invite and I was honoured to attend with the missus.
So what is Banting all about??? Well, I will be paraphrasing this paragraph and the next, since I’m taking them out from what has been typed in its official website (Credits to Papahan Films). The film tells a story of a twenty-four year old Yasmin Muhammad (played by the likeable Izyan Mellyna) who barely has the most exciting life, with a strict mother and religious upbringing. Yasmin is also sick when she’s being judged all the time for wearing a Hijab or sees discrimination upon women who don it. She wonders if a Hijab girl will ever be able to do what most normal girls can do. Things change when Yasmin chances upon a professional wrestling gym and does the unthinkable: she secretly signs up as a wrestler!!! Soon, Yasmin is trading her Hijab for a mask and her awkwardness with unbridled high-flying moves as she becomes her alter-ego, the fearsome Zarith Blade!!! (The name Zarith is I believe, a tribute to director M. Raihan Halim‘s wife, Zarith Sofia)
The film cast and director seen here being photographed with guest-of-honour, Minister for Communications & Information, Mr. Yaacob Ibrahim…
But “laying the smackdown” on people is not what Yasmin is meant to do in life. At least not according to her conservative and very strict mother, Halimah (played by the respected Mastura Ahmad). Yasmin hides her new passion from Halimah and for good reason. Halimah’s idea of having her good Muslim daughter clashes with the life of a professional wrestler clothes-lining and slamming people before a cheering crowd. Things take a precarious turn when Yasmin’s secret double life is threatened to be exposed. And Yasmin finds herself in her most important match ever: wrestling (a.k.a. convincing) her mother to give her the chance to keep her dream alive!!! Will she succeed??? Well, I will not divulge or give you any spoilers as the only way to find out is to watch the movie.
Honest-to-goodness, I am not good at reviewing movies. I’m also the kind who will pay scant respect to movie reviews unless I’m really sceptical of its storyline and need to read first before investing my money to watch it. So my views here might differ from those who watch movies looking at technical aspects and nitty-gritty details. As a watching audience, I want to be entertained, to have a feel-good factor even after the rolling credits are done and to smile just reminiscing about the movie. Banting ticked all three boxes in my list. I am also sure the rest who attended the film premiere, which was by the way, resembled a mini Pesta Perdana event with so many personalities in the local Malay entertainment scene in attendance, walked away with smiles on their faces and encouraging words being heard exchanged between them outside the theatre.
It’s a wrestling movie, so a bit of fierceness being shown here by the film cast, producer and director along with Minister Yaacob Ibrahim…
Banting in all honesty after watching it, is so close to my heart. I grew up watching wrestling, had great wrestling matches at the high jump mattress at Serangoon JC with my friends when we were in secondary school. I also used to wrestle my cousins on our respective beds and till now I still do practise some of the safer moves with my daughters and nephews. Up till this day, I religiously read the weekly World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) RAW reports just to keep up with what is happening in the WWE. We all know the storylines and moves in wrestling are fake, even Banting revealed a bit of that, but it keeps us entertained, like a soap opera, willing the good guys on and wishing the bad guys would just shut up and lose. Banting tried to create that and the wrestling fanboy in me was suitably impressed to an extent.
I take my hat off to the wrestling girls played by Gloria Tan, Abigail Chay, Syaza Qistina Tan, Ashley Erianah and Joanne-Marie Sim, besides Izyan Mellynaof course. Wrestling is not easy for ladies and I sometimes detect how difficult it is, even for the professional ones in WWE to execute some of their moves. They did try to create a convincing outlook in their matches and some of the moves did look great and believable. The person or persons who trained them can take heart that these girls did their utmost best and done well. Not easy to look pretty and having to suffer bumps, cuts and bruises in the process. I’m sure during the course of filming, the girls have taken slight knocks and injuries from botching their moves, but this is all part and parcel of filming, especially action scenes.
Another “garang” pose, this time with the film poster backdrop in the background…
Other than the wrestling aspect of the movie, the film resonates with me because of the life being led by the lead character herself and her sister Nissa (played by Adlina Adil). Like the movie, I have two young daughters myself and it has probably given me an advanced glimpse of what the future might be in for me when they eventually grow up and be young women with their own dreams and aspirations. They will have their own interests and likes which will differ to or contrast with what we want or expect from them. We are also living in a generation where everything needs to be explained with logic and rationale, without being too strict and hard-handed, lest the kids will turn rebellious and lie at the first available opportunity. During our parents’ time, a raised eyebrow, a wave of the cane, a slight raise in tone of voice, a wag of the finger and a simple “No!!!” usually would do the trick. Now no more. And what’s more, I see some of the character traits of Yasmin (the younger daughter in the movie) similar to that of my younger one – Steely, determined, fiesty, independent and strong-willed.
A good movie needs to have a good balance in how the actors bounce off each other. I see a lot of that in this movie, from the leads right down to the supporting cast. I just find the Atok character played by legendary actor Osman Zailani, very endearing. It even made me miss my own late grandfather who defended me at the slightest opportunity when my father would flare up with me when I was younger. As for Fauzie Laily who plays Yasmin‘s BFF, Zaidy, words cannot describe how proud I am for my old friend at his achievement on becoming a film star. He brought his A-game in this movie and he has improved so much since his first stab at acting in “Teman Anugerahku” back in 2005. Watching him in the movie is just like knowing him in real life. The characters in reel and real life are just too similar, the jokes and teasings, as well as the sound advices, are what I have been accustomed to from knowing Fauziesince he was still the scrawny teen from Temasek Polytechnic. Oh by the way, I like that Fauzie looked a bit chubby in this movie. Hahaha…
The lead actors in Banting: Fauzie Laily, Adlina Adil, Izyan Mellyna and Mastura Ahmad…
While I do not need to wax lyrical on the likes of Mastura Ahmad and Adlina Adil, because we know what accomplished actresses they are both on television and theatre, I feel that as a relatively newbie in the scene, Izyan Mellyna has all the attributes to be Singapore‘s very own Sharifah Amani. I cannot describe in words why I feel this way, but if there is a reference point I can compare her to, then Sharifah Amani is the one. Ok I used the word “newbie”, but really Izyan is already an experienced hand in the scene having been a child star during the days of “Ya Alif” and also has theatre background. It’s just that television viewers have been warming up to her since the start of 2014 when Walimah, followed by TeRaSeh! 2.0, Di Luar Garisan 2 and Walimah 2 came along. Along with Nurfarhana M. Noor, Izyan Mellyna is the name and talent to watch in our local Malay entertainment scene. See them soar and progress over the years, they will only get better.
Banting, is not just your typical light-hearted comedy. It brings with it moments of anxiety, also tugs a bit on our emotions (yes some people I know cried at some of the scenes :P). Above all, it feels very Singaporean and relates so much to the average Malay family here, the challenges we face as a society, as individuals, having to chase our dreams and having to appease our older folks in matters sometimes beyond our comprehension or will. Then there are the conflicts of interests. Somehow, somewhere, for those of us who have watched this movie, we can relate to them and agree that at some point of time in our lives, we have been through those kind of situations before, whether to listen to our instincts and passion or stick to the tried-and-tested success formulas. Director M. Raihan Halim and his team at Papahan Films have done well to potray all that I have mentioned either directly or subtly in the movie.
Executive producer Edmund D. Lim addressing the audience along with fellow executive co-producer and director, M. Raihan Halim, before the film commenced…
The film, which is brought to you by the same people who produced award-winning television shows like “Yazid Pakai Lampin“, “Mr. Perfect“, “Papa Rock” and “Step Puteri” amongst others, will hopefully usher in a new era of film-making and revive the local Malay film industry which has long been decimated since the demise of the Jalan Ampas studio. I will not go as far as to put undue pressure on M. Raihan Halim and declare that he is now the messiah of the revolution, but in a way, he has taken steps to break down the walls of barrier and shown fellow local Malay film-makers that it is possible to take the plunge and tread where others do not dare. He stands tall with his team from Papahan Films that such a move can be done. I share their pride at seeing their dream materialise and realised and I was honoured to have witnessed the momentous and ground-breaking occasion. Please do support and watch Banting when it is out officially at the theatres this Friday 31st October 2014 onwards and you will understand the same pride that most, if not all of us who came for the film premiere feel and share till now…
Beautiful ladies (from left): Amal (Ainon Talib’s cousin), Malaque Mahdaly, Ateeqah Mazlan, Syaza Qistina Tan and Ainon Talib…
Syaza Qistina Tan and Sezairi
Malaque Mahdaly and Syarif SleeQ
Nurul Aini and hubby Sofian Roslan
The wacky couple: Alyph SleeQ and Azzah Fariha
The mean students in “Step Puteri”: Maressa Zahirah and Syaza Qistina Tan…
Haizad Imran, Ashmi Roslan and Firdaus Rahman giving us their best wrestler impersonations…
Syirah Jusni and Ashmi Roslan
Firdaus Rahman and wife Jannah Ismaeil
Izyan Mellyna seen here with the film mascot…
Izyan Mellyna and husband Saifulnazri
Always game for a goofy photo: Nurfarhana M. Noor and Izyan Mellyna…
They are joined by SOS’s Imam Shah…
From left: Jeffrey Zauhari, Malay language ambassador, Cikgu Asnida Daud, Berita Harian’s entertainment correspondent, Madam Hanim Mohd Saleh, her husband, Mr. Azrin Rahim and Abdul Rashid Mustajab who had a cameo role in the movie…
Talented peeps in one photograph (from left): Seriwahyuni Jaes, Siti Aishah Ahmad, Faisal Ishak and wife Umie Isa, Rilla Melati, Khairudin Saharom and Mastura Ahmad…
Haizad Imran, theatre activist Hazriq Idrus, Giovanni Homme’s Rafil Kamaruddin and Firdaus Rahman…
Fauzie Laily looking so sharp in his suit together with his wife, Nurul Huda…
The film cast and crew with guest-of-honour, Minister for Communications & Information, Mr. Yaacob Ibrahim…
Suzairhe Sumari, Ariati Tyeb Papar, Syirah Jusni, Ashmi Roslan, Nizlan Sani (soundman), upcoming drama Demi Adriana’s lead, Fizah Nizam and hubby Helmindra J.A. Halim…
Syaza Qistina Tan seen here with Joanne-Marie Sim…
The lead cast of Banting…
Cikgu Asnida Daud with award-winning director Sanif Olek, Sani Hussin, Ashmi Roslan, Syirah Jusni, make-up artist Zool Mimi and Suzairhe Sumari…
Cikgu Asnida Daud, Suzairhe Sumari, Syirah Jusni, Sani Hussin and veteran comedian Osman Kong…
Nurijah Sahat, Ahmad Yusof, Azman Shariff and Osman Zailani…
Norman Ishak, CNA’s Nurul Atiqah and Wan Haddad Salleh…
Fauzie Laily, Izyan Mellyna, Faisal Ishak and Ibrahim Sawifi…
Ms. Isadhora Mohamed (centre) seen here with Ms. Noor Azmah (left) and Latiff, a staff of Mediacorp Suria…
Celebrity blogger Diah Mastura Roslan was also in attendance with hubby Hidayat Wahab…
Edmund D. Lim addressing the audience…
The main cast being introduced to the audience…
A representative of MM2 Entertainment also took time to give a short speech…
M. Raihan Halim, Executive co-producer and director of Banting…
Izzat Yusoff and wife Esliza Razar enjoyed the movie given the thumbs up and smiles…
It’s been awhile since I did a review on an event that I attended at the Mediacorp TV Theatre. Simply because when I accepted the invites from Mediacorp Suriato attend these shows or events, more often than not, I did not see the need to review as they are either a light-hearted affair or for charity. I was there to just snap photos of the event and during the reception afterwards without seeing the need to comment much. Sometimes I don’t need to voice my thoughts as others have done it for me on social media. Anyway there are so many keyboard warriors out there too quick to jump on the bandwagon of criticising without giving substantial suggestions. I guess it’s a favourite pastime now to use one’s handphone keypads to comment every single thing they see on the google box, be it good or bad. I’m guilty of it sometimes when I watch football and passions are running high.
I note from several people I’ve met of late that this blog has somewhat stagnated and that the writer (or should I say, typist???) behind the words on this domain has lost his zest and panache to hit where it hurts, or to put it kindly, give a wake up call when it mattered. Over the years as I mellow down and become less confrontational and got to know more people, I find that it is a challenge to be as hard-hitting as before. I had to tweak and fine-tune my style so as not to be too cynical or cause frictions with others in the long run. Maybe fatherhood has made me more forgiving, understanding and giving others the benefit of doubt but I like to think I type better when I’m having that red mist and I don’t quite experience that as often as before. Wish I could post more entries but like I said from time to time, I am not paid to blog and this is something I do as a community service as and when I am free from my work, family and personal commitments.
The front row audience consisting of bigwigs in the local media industry as well as guest of honour Dr. Mohd Faishal Ibrahim…
Anyway, I was honoured to be invited again to attend the recent Viva Elektraevent at Mediacorp TV Theatre. The two-hour variety special was the fourth instalment by Suria and was previously known as Suria Elektra (2010), Rock Elektra (2011) and Bandstand Elektra (2012). The show belatedly celebrated the formation of MediaCorp’s Malay Broadcast Division, the merger between television channel Suria and radio stations Warna 94.2FM and RIA 89.7FM, hence there was an eclectic mix of performers from radio presenters to television personalities and established recording artistes that night. Viva Elektra in a way, symbolised the division’s hopes to establish a commitment to continually bring high quality programmes to their audience, be it on radio and television. Expect to see more of such shows in the near future involving the radio and television personalities. We are already anticipating cross-platform programmes like TeRaSeh 2.0, R&D and the sixth season of infotainment show JUS! this month. Viva Elektra was just the start!!!
The men who made the night ticked – Dyn Norahim and Khairudin Samsudin…
Looking at how the radio and television personalities collaborated on stage, I had a feel-good feeling that we can expect more entertaining shows on television and radio as well. Yes, I will not deny that I’ve heard rumours going round that certain gigs and jobs are affected due to the merger, but I would like to call upon all the artistes who might feel a little slighted that their places and roles in television programmes might be taken up by their radio counterparts, to treat this as a healthy competition. Granted we might not be like our next door neighbour where there are so many channels one can tune to and for radio and television personalities to still do well when they cross platforms, but there are possible avenues that can be explored. Radio could possibly have seasonal guest hosts like what Fauzie Laily did co-hosting Skoolz with Nity Baizura a few years ago. Or if they were to have a shake-up of personnel, who knows, they might just rope in some of these television personalities into their stables??? Let’s not see it as a form of hindrance to one’s rice bowl, but to work as a unit to lift the standards of our local Malay entertainment scene.
The cast of Tak2ut (from left): Ashmi Roslan, DJ KC, Fadhlur Rahman and Wan Haddad…
Maybe a little criticism I would have of Viva Elektra was that feeling of imbalance in some of their segments. While the skit involving the Tak2ut cast (Ashmi Roslan, Wan Haddad and Fadhlur Rahman) and DJ KC seemed a bit short, the Bangsawan and Pentas Radio segments felt a wee bit too long for my liking. I just feel that the song performed by Eiss, “Arjuna (Mencari Cinta)“, was redundant and only served to prolong the segment, even though the audience and myself were tickled by the humour presented by all the performers involved. It is nice to see new faces on television like Wan Haddad and Nurfarhana M Noor given their big break on a big scale event as this. Also Junaidi Sali who often plays a supporting cast to be given the limelight he deserves after all these years.
Fauzie Laily (left) seldom gets comedic roles but when he gets them, he excels…
Nurfarhana it has to be said, is a name and face to watch this year. Her stock is rising and it is not easy to score a lead role in one’s debut drama series (Rima Hatiku) and subsequent ones like Follow Fasha, unless one has the potential and package to succeed. She is currently seen in the new season of Di Luar Garisan and will be one of the participants for TeRaSeh 2.0. I won’t be surprised if she scores a hosting gig in the near future cos she has that bubbly personality to do it. You heard it first on this domain. Another one to impress me was RIA 89.7FM‘s Dzar Ismail. I’m a big fan of his daily Singa Maksima programme and from one karaoke session we had some months ago, I could see his hidden talent and passion in rapping, which was displayed that night when he performed “Cerita Kedai Kopi” with Tukangkata and Sezairi Sezali. I know some people do not quite like his sometimes excessive energy levels, but I think he is a breath of fresh air on radio. And yes I still claim credit unashamedly for saying he belongs in radio when I assessed his performances when he entered Anugerah Skrin back in 2010.
The one to watch this year – Nurfarhana M Noor. A flower blossoming at a continued pace…
Another criticism I would add on will be the choice of performing artistes and some of the songs they performed. Before the show, I saw on social media how people lamented that it’s basically the same faces over and over again. To some extent, I would agree with them as I too felt the same way when I saw the list of performing artistes slated to perform. No I am not attacking or blaming the singers who performed cos they are all excellent in their own respect. My complaint would be a lack of more variety than what we’re used to. Take for instance we have so many bands producing good quality music in Singapore. The likes of Diorama, Tujuh, Klutz are some of the bands that are under-rated here. And if you speak of individual acts, there’s Reyza Hamizan, Sufie Rashid, Chomel, Aidil Akmal, Nurdiana Saad, upcoming acts who deserved to be given their dues and be introduced to the masses.
The hosts replicating Ellen Degeneres at the recent Oscars and taking a selfie photograph with the audience…
I appreciate that we would want to entice people to watch as their favourites would be performing but it does not send a message that the artistes feel appreciated, even though radio plays their music on a daily basis. There is no point having your songs known on radio when people still dunno who you are. Just ask Audionauts when they won at APM2013. There were still people asking on social media and on newspaper reports wondering who they were. “Rentak Laguku“, the song performed by Aliff Aziz, Eiss and Sezairi Sezali, was another one that I felt was a bit redundant as it was only as recent as last October that we witnessed Amy Search and Bunkface performed the song at APM2013. And even though I love Taufik Batisah‘s “Sesuatu Janji” amongst all his songs to date, I think that was the fourth or fifth time he performed the song at a Suria event, in addition to APM2008.
Group photo with all the performers that night once the cameras stopped rolling…
Overall, Viva Elektra was an enjoyable show, even if it did overrun by about eleven minutes. The choice of having Khairudin Samsudin and Warna 94.2FM‘s Dyn Norahim was a good one, with both trading barbs at one another and the latter being the brunt of many of the former’s jokes. At certain points, Dyn looked jittery but it should be forgiven as this was afterall his first live television hosting gig. Speaking to him afterwards, he said that it was nerve-wrecking and a very different experience compared to his daily live show on radio. Like many others before him, I am sure he will grow into the role and be better. Am certainly looking forward to seeing him host the new season of JUS! alongside the gorgeous Ainon Talib and Nurul Akhmar come the end of April. For now I can’t wait for TeRaSeh 2.0. It’s gonna be an absolute riot!!!
Pre-show…
The guests calmly waiting for the show to start…
Eiss and Sezairi Sezali performing Hazama’s “Penglipur Lara”…