The three main cast of "OlaBola", (L-R) Muhd Luqman Hafidz, Chee Jung Cherng and Saran Kumar.

28 Oct – Chiu Keng Guan is set to release his latest film "OlaBola", a sports drama which will present a lineup of new actors playing as a team of Malaysian footballers.

During the launch of the film at Stadium Merdeka recently, Chiu revealed to Cinema Online that he decided to use new actors in the film because he needed someone who can play real football, and to him, teaching someone acting is easier than teaching them how to play football.

Luqman, Chee and Saran play Ali, Tauke and Muthu respectively.

As the film is set to take place during the 1970s and 1980s, he also noted that having new actors would make the film look more realistic as the audience would not know who the actors are, thus would believe that they are real players from that era.

"We have a lot of famous actors who know how to act, but not all of them know how to play football. Also, if you see them acting in the film, you would know right away that they are not football players," said the director who previously directed "The Journey", the highest grossing local film in Malaysia.

Chiu Keng Guan revealed that he used to be a striker for his school's football team.

Even though the film is based on real events, the characters are completely fictional as the director does not want to have any limitations to them.

Aside from that, Chiu also mentioned that he had to also look for 40 foreigners that know how to play football as he wants real foreigners to play the opposing team that fights against the national team.

Malaysian actor Bront Palarae plays the football commentator in the film, and according to Chiu, he knew that Bront is the right actor to play this role after watching his performance in "Terbaik Dari Langit".

Bront plays a commentator named Rahman.

"Beside the players, the commentator is an equally important role because he delivers the intensity and pressure of the match and is the one that hold the players together," said the director. "I need someone who can deliver that kind of character."

"After watching "Terbaik Dari Langit", I immediately know that Bront is the right person for the role, it is like the script was meant for him."

Set to be released in early 2016, "OlaBola" follows a team of multicultural Malaysian football players who fight to gain a place at the Asian Games.