Exclusive Hanny Saputra Beats Stroke By Continuing To Work

Hanny Saputra (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Andry Winarko/VOI)

JAKARTA - Hanny Saputra is back with the horror film Pesugihan: With the Devil that aired last February. Her reunion with Nirina Zubir in the film was called the director to bring back the nuances that existed in the Mirror film she worked on in 2005.

When he got an offer to make a horror film, Hanny, who felt he was strong in terms of drama, tried to combine his strength with the producer's will.

"Seeing my first film, Mirror, for me, the elements of the drama are strong and the psychological game is very strong. Here I want to play again with that concept, horror drama. So there are more dramas, but the cause is indeed something mystical," said Hanny Saputra during a visit to VOI's office in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta some time ago.

Hanny said the drama could not be separated from the films he was working on. He said that the mystical oddities that exist in horror, which are included in the elements of the drama, will become unique in itself.

"Because something mystical is strange, yes, when we enter humans, and with that oddity we introduce elements of drama, it must be something unique, because there is something strange and confusing. But that's what happens in human life," said Hanny.

As for the production of the film so far, Hanny admits that he has his own habits, which can make him survive for decades in the Indonesian film industry. He always thinks about making films according to his own style.

"I made a film just in my style. Incidentally I got the writer, the writer must have approached my style. I also like things like that, I brought the writer also who felt the drama felt strong," he said.

All the works he has worked on are based on the understanding that film as a medium for expression. With all its complexity, Hanny sees films as very trapping to describe human life.

For me, the film media is complex, all elements of art are there. With the film we can tell humanity as a whole, and we convey that the message is really hit because it is in the form of a human with all its behavior," said Hanny.

Hanny's understanding of films has been built since her childhood. He began to like films because he was often invited by his father and mother who were also film lovers to the cinema.

Small Hanny to teenagers likes to express their imaginations into roles in their daily lives with their peers. He also briefly joined the theater group.

Every time I imagined when I was a child, I always played myself with the game. The older I played the theater too. I like to play people who disturb other people," he said.

Hanny while in junior high school also had an interesting story. At that time, he and one of his friends succeeded in making a classmates cry because of the fake story he made.

My friend is sick, we go to the doctor. When I got home I said 'we pretended, yes, I will talk in class about what sick you are'. I told him that he was sick and the next month he would die. All one class cried all over," said Hanny.

At that time, Hanny Saputra felt that she had the ability to influence other people with the stories she made. He also felt that his story was very close to his appearance of the film as an expression medium.

"It was amazing that time. I felt that I could do that. If I ran into the film, it was really close. I can do anything to create a sensation," he said.

Stroke Doesn't Break The Spirit Of Work

With his interest and talent in the film he has, Hanny decided to formally study cinematography at the Jakarta Arts Institute.

In 2004, he debuted as a director in the national film industry through the film Virgin: When Virginity Is Questioned. No less than 17 film titles were directed, until finally he felt a tough challenge during the pandemic in 2020.

Hanny called the pandemic at that time one of the toughest during his career as a director. There was no film project he lived in at that time.

The heaviest one was during the pandemic yesterday. I really don't have a project, there's no money income. It's really hard for me," said Hanny.

Before the pandemic, I felt that it was quite easy to find money in films. During the pandemic, how come it stopped, whether this is for myself or for other people who have experienced it, I don't understand," he continued.

The stroke that he experienced coincided with the pandemic period made it not only his career that felt heavy, but his whole life.

Hanny told how he suddenly had a stroke while at the office where he worked.

"It's really scary, it's really horror for me, suddenly we'll experience it ourselves if we have a stroke. I'm really horrified, that's terrible. After that, I took care and the money we collected ran out. It was a test from God for me, "he said.

With his condition at that time, Hanny tried to reflect on what he had been doing so far. He felt a disease and a pandemic as a reminder of God for his arrogance.

"From there I started again to God it was really tight. I felt I was doing something arrogant in life. At that time I felt easy looking for money. Now I don't dare to say like that anymore," he said.

Hanny is grateful that he still gets an offer to direct the film after a stroke. He felt that God's help had come to him.

"I came to the producer, they definitely doubted me, for sure they didn't actually check I could work. That's for sure, and it took a while to convince them that I could do something, or even more," said Hanny.

"It's just that I'm already something else, I don't want to be arrogant, I'm afraid to be arrogant, arrogant means nothing. Spiritually, I feel a lot of progress," he continued.

Hanny, who previously felt that all the films he directed were successful because of his abilities, now feels that everything he does is possible only by the will of the Creator.

"I fell as I fell. But maybe if I don't fall I might not come back again. Maybe because I'm stubborn, so stubborn people really have to dig up. If you can't be told, you won't be able to move forward," he said.

What he went through during the pandemic made Hanny change, as well as his works. He tries to do something as good for God. Even though he has to work on horror, he tries to include spiritual values.

"The offers come differently, even in horror I try to try to be a little spiritual. That elements of a moral drama can be made anywhere, even in a horror film," said Hanny.

"I have a media film, it's really amazing for me. I can do anything to open people's hearts, to be able to make people aware. And that's what I do. I hope to be stronger and stronger," he continued.

Realizing that the stroke was not as severe as those who could not speak and walk, Hanny had no intention of teaching saying that the belief that a stroke could be cured was very important for a stroke sufferer.

For me, the stroke can heal. I'm sure even though I'm hobbled, there's something I can defend to be upright. And when we are upright and confident, we can recover. I'm sure of that," he said.

"Now the road is still limping, it will definitely be faster later. I feel God is with me and that's how I feel. When we don't fall down and we can survive, God and we are intact. I believe that," concluded Hanny Saputra.