From stardom to boredom
Being in one of Indonesia’s hottest TV series has drastically changed their lives. So how do the stars of Cintra Fitri deal with their fame? We talk to two of them.
By Juliana June Rasul
November 07, 2009
IT’S considered one of Indonesia’s hottest soap operas ever.
STAYING THE COURSE: Wisnu says that he will stay with Cinta Fitri for as long as it airs.
PICTURES: D’SHOOTZ STUDIO
But for lead actor Teuku Wisnu, the years he’s spent on Cinta Fitri have made him a little, well, bored.
In town last month for a Hari Raya charity show in aid of the Tabung Amal Aidilfitri Trust Fund, the 24-year-old was candid about how the TV series has become a little tiring for him.
‘It’s natural that when you act in a show for such a long time, it gets a bit dull,’ he said. ‘But I’ve learnt how to deal with it.’
The show, now into its fourth season in Indonesia, propelled him to stardom.
Its third season was the highest-rated drama of 2009.
In 2007, he won an SCTV Award for Best Actor.
Wisnu stars as Farrel, one-half of the star-crossed couple ever-present in such Indonesian soaps.
BOYS IN THE BAND: Indonesian band The Adlys. (From left) Firman, Arief WB, Adly, Thuse and Egy.
In four seasons of the show, he and co-star Shireen Sungkar, who plays his wife Fitri, have had to endure family objections, miscarriages and multiple accidents.
It’s a well-worn formula for Indonesian dramas, but Wisnu says ‘it’s what the fans want’.
‘We don’t mess with what is familiar to them. As actors, it’s also good to be able to work with such storylines and connect with people,’ he said.
Connecting with people happens off-screen as well, when Wisnu bumps into fans when he’s not on set.
His fans are, for the most part, quite respectful, and most just ask for photographs.
One, however, stalked the star all the way to the Cinta Fitri set, a few kilometres outside the city centre of Jakarta.
The location, described Wisnu, was not easily accessible by public transport.
‘We were surrounded by big highways, so we wondered how this girl had made her way there,’ he said.
‘When we asked, she told us she had walked.’
Fan broke down
When the fan finally met the cast, she started crying.
‘I didn’t know what to do,’ said Wisnu. ‘We were all alarmed.’
After the cast and crew calmed her down, they chatted for a while, shook hands, and then got someone to drive her back to the city – about 20 minutes away.
‘I guess I’ll never understand why fans do these things,’ he said.
He certainly never expected to get so famous.
His move to acting was purely for practical reasons – he went for auditions because he needed money to fix his car.
In 2005, he landed a part in the drama Culunya Pacarku (My Funny Boyfriend), and went on to do several other dramas before Cinta Fitri.
While he admits to suffering from soap opera fatigue, he says he will stay with Cinta Fitri however long the show lasts.
‘I honestly don’t know what else they have in store for us,’ he said, laughing. ‘I’m sure the storyline will just get more complicated.’
His band takes him places
HE HAS been juggling both acting and music for the past two years, and Adly Fairuz says he is equally passionate about both careers.
‘I wouldn’t be able to choose one over the other,’ he told The New Paper while in town recently with his Cinta Fitri castmates.
He has been acting in the drama for the past four years, and formed the band The Adlys two years ago.
The band’s latest single Terbang (Fly) hit No 1 on Singapore charts.
When the band performed at Tabung Amal Aidilfitri Trust Fund charity show, the band members were surprised that some of the audience members knew the words to their songs.
‘We saw them singing and we just stood there with our mouths hanging open,’ said Adly, 22.
But success has not come easy.
‘We don’t take things for granted. We work very hard,’ said guitarist Firman.
When Adly is done shooting episodes for Cinta Fitri, he’s either recording in the studio with The Adlys or touring with them.
In a market saturated with pop-rock bands, the quintet is working steadily at getting their name out, performing on early morning Indonesian variety shows and touring the country.
They travel with four crewmembers.
Girlfriends, they say, are a no-no.
‘Complicated,’ said Firman, as his band members laughed.
And the guys do have their fair share of horror stories while on tour.
Earthquake scare
In one club, the stage was so rickety that it shook when they played.
‘We stood up and were wondering whether there was an earthquake,’ said bassist Thuse.
In Bandung, the electricity went off in the middle of their performance, leaving them in darkness.
But far from being discouraged, the boys take such incidents in their stride.
‘It’s one of those things that make good stories to tell other people,’ said Adly.
After The Adlys released its second album Perjalanan Hidup (Life Travels) earlier this year, two songs from the album, Victory and Let It Flow, were used on the soundtrack for Indonesian film Coblos Cinta (Pierced Love).
‘That was very exciting for us,’ said Adly. ‘We’re hopeful that we get to be as big as some of the popular Indonesian bands, and maybe bring our music to a lot more places.’
The NewPaper