Faizul A Rashid returns to directing once again with his latest movie, "Anak Jantan". Featuring the acting talents of Farid Kamil, Nora Danish, Bront Palarae and more, the movie tells the story of a father's sacrifice as he gives his all to save his child. Recently, a premiere screening of the Grand Brilliance-produced movie has been held. Cinema Online gets a chance to attend it and have a little chat with Faizul. The director-editor dishes on experiences during the movie's filming and reveals his hopes for this second movie of his.
Assalamualaikum and how are you, Faizul? Faizul: Waalaikumussalam, Alhamdulillah I am fine. Do you mind sharing with us how you came up with the idea for this film? I have been playing with the idea for "Anak Jantan" for a while. It was something that I thought up of with the producers, Latiff Mohaideen dan Tengku Iesta. It all started when I was telling them of the terrifying moment I went through when my 2-year-old toddler went missing for five minutes at a Giant supermarket. A moment of panic makes one's mind conjure several scenarios of what might happen, opening a gate of 'what if's'. Within those five minutes, I was able to feel what a father would be pushed to do, doing whatever it takes, in order to bring his child back to him. Starting from there, we discussed the idea until in the end it comes to this, an "Anak Jantan" script penned by Opie Haris. How long did it take to film the movie? And where did the filming take place? Filming was done in 30 days. We mostly did the filming around Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, as well as Thailand. What is your favourite scene in the movie? Of course, it would have to be the scene which involved shooting and explosions. This kind of filming is hard to experience in Malaysia as we do not have the expertise in special effects as they do in Thailand. Which scene was the hardest to film? The hardest to film was the fight scene in the factory. This was because Farid Kamil was injured while doing his fight scene with Pablo. We had no choice but to continue filming and tried to solve any discrepancy with creative alternatives. For this movie, not only did we film it scene by scene, there were also some scenes where we utilised real stunts. In the movie you managed to weave in the involvement of militants in the plotline. What message were you trying to convey with the movie? This film is merely fiction. To me, it's all up to the individual's perspective. As a director, I take every view into consideration. The main plot of this film is not of unorthodox organisations or militants. What I am trying to convey is the sacrifice of a father. Lately, there has been an influx of wayward teachings. I do not want our society to become wayward, so I weave in negative elements in the movie. To me, every wrong doing has its punishment. Therefore with this movie, I aim to convey the message whereby if one has committed a wrong, one shall repent and return to the good side. Why were there quite a number of censored scenes in the movie? They do somewhat get in the way of the audience's enjoyment of the movie. Yes, there are quite a number of scenes that we had to blur out as the Film Censorship Board (LPF) claims that certain posters and symbols in the background might be overbearing on our society's sensitivity. The audience might feel disturbed by the censors and want to know what the offending materials are. Even I was surprised that the scenes did not pass LPF standards. Other than censoring some scenes, we also had to cut out 15 percent of the original scenes as they were deemed too violent and not suitable for general viewing. Watch "Anak Jantan" trailer below and catch the movie in the cinemas this coming 30 October 2014.