Malaysia's highest-grossing movie of all time, "Polis Evo", has no doubt set the bar high especially for future action movies. However, newcomer Zulkarnain Azhar doesn't mind if his directorial debut, "J Revolusi", gets likened to the police-themed movie. "J Revolusi" is an upcoming movie based on Malaysia's UTK (Unit Tindakan Khas / Special Actions Unit), starring Zul Ariffin, Izara Aishah and Nur Fazura as the protagonists, and Farid Kamil as the antagonist. Also playing the antagonists in the movie are ONE FC MMA fighters Peter Davis, Saiful Merica, Jenathan and Davro. With a budget of RM3 million, the movie is a co-production between Grand Brilliance and Infinitus Productions, singer-actor Andy Lau's Hong Kong-based production company. "J Revolusi" follows Jay Zulkarnain, who has to rescue his sister, Dian, an undercover agent who has been kidnapped by a mysterious man that is framing Jay for murder. Read on to see what Cinema Online managed to find out from the main cast and director during the launch of the action-packed movie!
Cinema Online: Zul, how does it feel like getting to play the lead role in this UTK-themed movie? Zul Ariffin: I think I'm lucky to be given the trust to play this role. I feel nervous, to play this role and to wear the UTK uniform. I thank UTK for allowing me to don the uniform. Fazura, your role in this movie is different than the ones you usually play, how do you adapt yourself to this new character? Nur Fazura: True, previously I tend to play characters that are sweet. So I wanted to do action next. Then came the offer for this role, and I agreed to do it. I wanted to change my image, get rid of my stereotype. Farid, what made you agree to take on the bad guy role? Farid Kamil: When I was offered the antagonist role, I felt it's a different antagonist compared to the ones we have in the market at the moment.
As a first-time director, Zulkarnain, do you feel pressured helming an action-packed movie? Zulkarnain Azhar: I think every filmmaker will feel pressure, no matter what kind of movies they are directing. You are not afraid of the movie being likened to "Polis Evo"? Zulkarnain: I can feel that audiences will say "J Revolusi" is a follow-up to "Polis Evo". However, this may be an action movie, but it's in a different league. We ourselves set a high expectation because if we were to make something that has already been done, there is no point to that. So we want to show the audiences an action movie that meets or surpasses expectations. What inspired you to make this movie? Zulkarnain: I was inspired by this spy character and I wanted to remake it, but we [production team] didn't get to do so due to copyrights reasons. So we decided to make a new iconic action movie instead. "J Revolusi" is slated for nationwide release in 2017.