Monday 12 September 2005

Interview With The 'Pontianak'

The house in Yan was in such an idyllic setting, with the imposing Gunung Jerai in the background. In the mornings when we accompanied Mak to the mosque, the fragrance from the cempaka flowers drifted in the air, giving that added chill. I shiver just thinking about it. Especially when we hurried past that big tree – according to murmurs, it housed a certain ‘being’. You know – the one that sits high in the trees and flies in the night. Pontianak. I never failed to look up whenever we walked past.

I think that was where we learnt about Pontianak. Well, apart from the black and white movie on telly, and of course stories we heard from older cousins when they spent the nights with us and we’d huddle in a corner and listened eyes wide open.

Of course now, we are wiser and realised that those stories were meant to keep us indoors at night.

A year ago, Shuhaimi Baba revived the Pontianak on screen with her Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam. Thirty years after it was banished by the censorship board! And her Pontianak – the lovely Maya Karin is far from the Pontianak that remained in the deep recesses of my young mind. I first met her when they were doing a reshoot of some scenes and Maya was wiping off her grotesque make-up when she was introduced to me.

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Not two hours before writing this, I met Maya again. Three hectic days at the Estepona Fantasy and Terror Film Festival in Spain and she still looked ravishing.

And she has every reason to look glowing and happy - once again she bagged the Best Performer award, her second for her role as Pontianak in PHSM 2. The first – you will recall – was at the 49th Asia Pacific Film Festival in Japan.

I myself became interested in horror movies last year just as Shuhaimi reinstated our own monstrous feminine back on to the screen. I just wanted to know why in South East Asia there are more female monsters – compared to the west. Take Nang Nak - love it though I cried buckets everytime I watched it. It was an interesting term I had when I just devoted part of module to a study of horror movies and ended up presenting a paper on The Monstrous Feminine in SEA Horror movies in Sorbonne last summer. It was fun.

So when Shuhaimi hinted that she was doing a sequel I was really excited and I toyed with her suggestion that I should try script writing – of course that didn’t materialise. My mum was ill and there were other pressing matters – if not I’d be there as well – getting the awards, no?

But today I was back interviewing the ‘Pontianak’. And what a lovely lass! Once in a while she’d give me that look that sent the shivers up my spine. The same feeling I got walking under that big tree near our house in Yan.
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33 comments:

Anonymous said...

She so sweet!!!

Anonymous said...

Cun nya maya karin!

sultanmuzaffar said...

maya karin dlm PHSM2 menang lagik ??

hebat !!

OOD said...

i swear maya karin sebijik looks like me (when she is hantu lah, not when she is human... huhu..)

kak teh so glam glam..

nadya.s said...

kak teh,
chomel lotenyer kak teh duk sebelah maya karin! hehehehehe..(walaupun wajah kak teh..invisible)

Lollies said...

ood..saya langsung tak percaya cakap awak. :-)

kak teh ni luckylah macam-macam orang kak teh jumpa.

Anonymous said...

Wow...what big eyes you have there maya... hehehehhe...

Thanks for the lovely chat kak Teh! :) Hope to meet up with you when we get back. ;)

Lydia Teh said...

Maya Karin has come a long way from those days when she hosted that Wave tv show by Wella (if memory serves me right). She's sooo preeetty. Yes! I recognise that scary look.

Kak Teh said...

karina and couchpotato - memang sweet and cun habis! walaupun penat!
sultanmuzaffar - hambar rasa emmang benar kali ini maya dianugerahkan sekali lagi, ampun tuanku!
OOD - i know yang mana paling mirip...dahi tu!!!

Kak Teh said...

lollies - psst - (a whisper in yr ear )today am supposed to see anuar zain! tapi sebabkan malam and jauh - dan beban big D - tak pergi lah - cakap telepon saja!
MM - anytime when u think we can chat ...and yes - do forward to see you.
Lydia - oooh i didnt know abt that one...OOh u shd be beside her when she takes a sideways look at you!

Nazrah Leopolis said...

terperanjat tgk muka antu.nasib cantik jelita.

i ni penakut kakteh.

OOD said...

kak teh
anytime you are too busy to interview the starry starry stars, i can be your wakil ok? Anytime at all ok? Just gimme your press card ok?

SimplyMas said...

She look ever so gorgeous!!!!! Love her acting and she's just superb!!!!

Anonymous said...

tuh amik gmr kat umah saper? u like nice in ur sarong are kak teh .. heheh

Ely said...

she is very gorgeous! how come u blurred ur face kak teh?

Ni said...

kalo jumpa hantu lawa cam tu, jumpa selalu pun takpa (pontianak is suppose to be lawa kan kan kan)

kak teh, betoi ke cikni nampak kak teh pakai kain batik? ke seluar batik? ke jean batik? ke ke ke

BTW, cite pontianak tu dah ada yg ke-2 ke?

rawna said...

hi kak Teh ! .. emm.. err... can you get maya's auto for moi?

Lollies said...

ANUAR ZAIN???!!!! AHHHHHHHH nak nak nak jumpa dia. cakap dengan dia saya beli album dia ori lagi

OOD said...

kak teh tumpang,

lollies,
i AM beautiful, betoiiii, kat tengkuk ada paku! and i am extra fond of pokok beringin!

kaezrin said...

cun nyer maya..

kak teh pun maintain kelasss!!!

Anonymous said...

alaaa Kak Teh, kalau tak blur kan muka pun, orang yang kaki tengok tv and news (macam I) sure ingat lagi how you look like ;)

Confession : I have a good time reading your blog. Thanks so much for your nice cerita2.

-QOTH-

AuntyN said...

Kak Teh tak check kat belakang tengkok ada paku dak ka? :-). :-).
Anak kak teh tak ushar Maya ka masa kak teh interview tu. Nanti bintang2 AF3 pi holiday di London tu boleh interview MAWI kut Kak Teh? Mesti ada yang jeles WORLD tu hehehe

Anonymous said...

Kak Teh she is gorgeous but I agree with you she does give me that shivers esp the last two pic..did you ask her if she had experienced seeing a Cik Pon herself, after 'being one'? Jus curious...

Nadia said...

kakteh, you can link me now :)

nadiaschooldays.blogspot.com

just started out as you very well know. that was a really nice drop in visit :)

Blabarella said...

Those EYES!!! Oh, if gorgeous looks could kill, eh? :)

Ya lah, KT, can I help Sunshine carry your bags, camera, papers, whatever when I'm in London next so that can tag along? Or better yet, when you balik nanti, I tag along masa kat sini lah! Hahaha

I never did get a chance to watch the original Pontianak with Maria Menado though. Too late now, because the original film reel has been destroyed. Orang zaman dulu kata SHE was the real deal!!

Kak Teh said...

nazeah - memang cantik!
OOD - okay, i dont have press pass..sebut saja kak teh. u boleh masuk! hehe
mamijarum, i just saw her in PHSM1 - but v convincing for someone yangdulu tak pandai cakap melayu, kan?
CN - tu kat apartment tumpangan..and the saarung is..ni ada promosi sikit - Sarungby Tom Abang Saufi - my favourites and I have abt ten!!!

Kak Teh said...

cikni - kak teh pakai sarung - takkanlah nak pakai seluar batik nanti pontianak pun lari!! - yes ada PHSM2
rawna - terlambatlah! dia dah terbang!
lollies - cik anuar called - kak teh tak jumpa dia pun tapi mungkin lain kali!
kaezrin, kak teh kena lah control al glamour - sebab nak bergambar dengan celeb.
anon, thanks for reading - di sinlah tempat ku melepaskan tension!blur pun boleh kenal ke?
auntyN - bila pulak depa nak mai?ish tak boleh dok senang sat!
as for paku - pontianak moden pakai stapler!
nadia, i have linked you! welcome. people must read yr writing cos u are an inspiration! honest!!
apples4 me - hmm i didnt ask that qn pun..shd have.
blabs - betul ke? ni kena research ni!

Ni said...

sori lah kak teh org kat mesia pun tak perasan ada PHSM-2 (nampak sangat ketinggalan kapai -sebenarnya tak mengikuti perkembangan filem)

Kak Teh said...

Cik NI, mungkin cik ni tak tau sebab tak release lagi di malaysia. Kak Teh tau sebab depa masuk pesta filem seram di Spain, lepaih tu singgah di sini.

Ruby M. said...

wahh she looked much better here than in the movies!! i dapat tengok early this year.. alone plak tu.. eeyewwwwww

Vernon said...

Maya is just gorgeous. Perfecto! Sigh. Beauty makes me weak in the knees literally.

Justiffa said...

maya karin memang sweet tapi sweet lagi KT.. both rupa & keperibadian sekali :)

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