MALAYSIA has finally entered the Kaiju realm with director Ramdan Che Hassan’s new movie ‘Abu Si Raksasa’.
And while Ramdan admits that he aims to tell a simple, yet heartwarming story for family audiences, Abu is his “call” for future filmmakers to come up with bigger and better monster movies that reach Hollywood standards.
At the movie’s recent preview in GSC Mid Valley Megamall, Kuala Lumpur, Ramdan said Abu, a production of M Toons Media, is a sci-fi adventure of a giant salamander.
He said: “Our producer Zamin Fakry came up with the idea of this movie, and it is all based on a meeting he had with a university professor, Dr Hezri Adnan, a few years ago.”
Zamin said Hezri specialised in ecology and the environment, and enlightened him about how pollutants can make mutants out of creatures exposed to contaminated water.
“This gave me the idea of making a movie about a giant water monster, albeit a harmless one.
“I’m a fan of Hollywood monster movies such as King Kong and Godzilla, as well as alien movies like E.T. The Extra Terrestrial. They tell viewers about seemingly menacing creatures that are actually gentle giants with lots of heart,” he said.
Ramdan said in ‘Abu’, the title character is the pet salamander of Zaara, a beautiful university student played by Sofia Albarakbah, and this amphibian becomes a giant as a result of exposure to a detergent that is used in the toilet bowl.
“Abu is a little pet, but one day he falls into the toilet bowl which Zaara’s mother has just cleaned with detergent.
“He is accidentally flushed down the drain pipe and ends up in a dam, which is a popular fishing spot. And this is where he emerges as a harmless Malaysian Loch Ness Monster!”
With the support of her parents (Maria Farida and Azhar Sulaiman) and her science-loving childhood friends Sofiyan (Jaa Suzuran) and Zidan (Zalif Sidek), Zaara tries to track down her missing pet, and soon learns that he is the monster in the dam.
“Unfortunately, Abu is targeted for extermination by the army, specifically by Kolonel Zamrose and Zaara’s soon-to-be ex-boyfriend Kapten Fayyad,” he said.
Zamin revealed that real salamanders can grow pretty large, though not gigantic like Abu.
“No matter how big they are, they are harmless,” he said, adding that he made Abu a salamander as this pet was popular in the West, and a less-known but interesting amphibian.
“We’ve had movies about various pets such as tortoises, lizards and frogs, but none about salamanders, and these beautiful creatures are out of the ordinary.”
The ensemble cast also comprises Afieq Shazwan (Fayyad), Adam Shahz, Samarinna Tolhip, Farid Amirul Hisham, Azri Iskandar, Along Eyzendy Aziz, Datuk Rizal Mansor, Datuk Abdul Rani Kulup, Mustaqim Bahadon and Kamarool Yusof.
It was filmed in September 2023 at Tasik Tadom in Banting and Sungai Buaya in Serendah, Selangor.
Ramdan said: “About 40 per cent of the movie is CGI, and while we admit that it isn’t too realistic, we did our best, and invite future filmmakers to do better.”
Sofia said it was her first movie as the heroine and she is happy that it highlights the dangers of environmental pollution.
“I’m happy that Zaara is not a damsel in distress like King Kong’s girlfriend Ann Darrow. Zaara is a concerned owner who loves her first pet dearly and wants to save him from extermination.
“However, she has a hard time convincing both her mother and her ex-boyfriend, who both think Abu has become a deadly monster that threatens the safety of everyone,” she said.
Afieq, who is playing an air force pilot for the first time, said his character was a dedicated soldier but a “jerk” boyfriend.
“Fayyad wants to marry his longtime sweetheart Zaara, but he does not like her ‘icky’ pet and neither does he like her childhood best friends, especially science nerd Sofiyan who is her secret admirer,” he said.
“He may not be her Mr Right but this doesn’t make him a villain, for he is a patriot who wants to do his best for the air force and the country.”
Maria said she was the one actress who interacted with the CGI salamander most.
“Abu is entirely CGI, so we had to imagine how he looked like, big or small. I had to look frightened, and recoil with horror upon seeing him,” she said.
Sofia said: “And interacting with the giant Abu was pretty much a challenge. I had to imagine talking to a big creature and petting him to calm him down.”
Ramdan, who is working with the ensemble (sans Adam and Zalif) for the first time, said that creating Abu was the biggest challenge.
“We had to make him a giant, though not as big as godzilla, and he had to look totally harmless. That in itself was tricky!”
He added that they spent RM2 million on the movie, and utilised 200 CGI shots.
Samarinna, who last appeared in ‘War On Terror’, said she was finally portraying a police officer, having played a terrorist in her previous movie.
“This is a refreshing change for me, as my character Inspector Liza is a cop who goes by the book.”
‘Abu Si Raksasa’ opens in cinemas nationwide today.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
