KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 14 ― Malaysian director Syafiq Yusof's latest offering, action thriller series, Special Force: Anarchy has given him a chance to have more freedom in directing.
This is due to the fact that it has been released on an Over The Top (OTT) platform, Disney+ Hotstar.
This is due to the fact that they did not have to worry about going through the Film Censorship Board of Malaysia (LPF) as content streaming via OTT is not subjected to licensing and filtering frameworks under existing laws.
“That’s one good thing about OTT, which is very healthy for the Malaysian filming scene. It’s streaming on the internet, as long as we do not go against the law, we can basically do anything.
“I think there’s a lot of advantages when it comes to OTT, there’s a lot of freedom but at the same time, we need to be responsible enough to not offend any parties.
“Which is why I’ve fictionalised the country as well as the police force in this series,” Syafiq said, adding that they had to edit out some local landmarks around KL for the series.
The Abang Long Fadil director also said that he was happy with the multicultural growth in the local film industry and pointed out that it has always been a priority for them to have a multicultural lineup of casts for any of their projects.
“For me, I think multicultural casting has always been a must, even since my father’s (Datuk Yusof Haslam) time, during his Gerak Khas period.
“And nowadays, I think we are at a very healthy stage as we can see non-bumiputera helming bumiputera’s film and vice versa and it’s only right for us to keep this going and keep growing,” he said.
The seven-episode original series is produced in collaboration with Skop Productions.
It follows Iman (Puteri Aishah) a young police officer from the fictional country of Tenggara as she investigates a planned bank heist.
Iman later comes face to face with a dangerous group called Anarchy, led by Umar, the mastermind behind the Bank Tenggara heist who’s played by award winning musician, Datuk M. Nasir.
The series has a slew of prominent actors including Elizabeth Tan, Alvin Wong, Hasnul Rahmat as well as Fify Azmi and Johan As’ari.
The cast also includes industry newcomers, Chacha Maembong and Yusuf Bahrin.
He added that series is actually part of a bigger cinematic world as it is connected with his 2018 film KL: Special Force.
He said the series drew some inspiration from Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, as he was fascinated by the character’s development in the 2008 film.
M. Nasir Returns
One of the most anticipated casting in the series is none other than renowned musician M. Nasir who previously appeared in a few films with his most notable one being the role of Hang Tuah in the 2004 Puteri Gunung Ledang.
When asked what motivated him to join the cast of Special Force: Anarchy, the 65-year-old cheekily said ‘The Ringgit was right’ before adding that it was about time for him to take on the role of an antagonist.
Although there are some similarities between Umar and Nasir’s Hang Tuah character, he assured that both of them are very different.
According to Nasir, he had around four months of preparation time for the role of Umar before they started principal photography for the series.
Nasir who’s a cinephile spent the four-month period going over movies and films as well as studying iconic movie actors.
“I've been an avid movie watcher since before. I’ve watched 80 per cent of the films that have come out in theatres.
“And I would take inspiration from established iconic actors such as Robert De Niro, Al-Pacino, Marlon Brando as well as Liam Neeson,” he said.
Happy To Be Part of the Team
For newcomers Yusuf and Chacha, getting to be part of the cast of Syafiq's works was enough to get them excited as they are fans of Syafiq’s action flicks.
Yusuf who will be playing the cunning troublemaker Jeff, shared that Syafiq’s vision when directing his series or films is what captivates him about the director in the first place.
“For me, Syafiq has this kind of element that nobody else has. His personal touch is different and unique.
“He can visualise things that sometimes even we couldn’t picture and he’s always open when it comes to suggestions which made working with him easier,” Yusuf said.
Chacha will be playing a pyromaniac named Putih in the series.
Both their characters are part of Umar’s notorious crew.
Chacha added that there should be more female-led roles in local series or films in the future.
For her, having a female actress as the lead role in a film or series is both empowering and motivating while at the same time, breaking the mould that women were dependent on men.
“People always say that as women, you can’t be rough. You have to be nice and women are dependable on men. But what about the women out there who don't have a reliable man in their life?
“She still needs to survive either way, she will still need to protect herself and her family and you can look at female led roles as a way of us women empowering another woman,” she said.
Special Force: Anarchy is now available to stream on Disney+ Hotstar.
