Tips For Happy Salma To Bring Nana's Figure To Life In Her Latest Film

JAKARTA - Happy Salma has to fight hard to revive the figure of Nana in the latest film he has starred in. The title is "Before, Now & Then (Nana)" by female director Kamila Andini. What was used to make Nana's figure meet the director's expectations?

According to Happy Salma, the depiction of the human side of the character he plays is one of the attractions of the film "Before, Now & Then (Nana)" by director Kamila Andini.

“I think this period film was able to enter into international festivals, such as the Berlinale, maybe because of its high humanity because it doesn't cult someone. Yes, it's normal," Happy said when met by reporters in Jakarta, Friday, January 21.

In the film, Happy Salma brings the main character as Raden Nana Sunani with the backdrop of the 1960s era. The portrayal of Nana's character as a woman in general makes the actress eager to explore the role even though she finds it difficult.

"She's an ordinary girl. What's nice is that I don't play heroic, heroic, or anything. She is just like our mothers and grandmothers who have their strengths and weaknesses, but we still love them," he said as reported by Antara.

Happy said the agreement among the core production team over the full use of Sundanese in dialogue had given him confidence to be involved in the film “Nana”. Moreover, he continued, Sundanese-language films had not appeared in the Indonesian film scene for a long time after “Lutung Kasarung” (1928) which was made by a Dutch director.

“I am Sundanese, I have to play in my homeland. I haven't seen the film yet. I can't wait, I don't even know that this is a festival," he said.

Even though he was born and grew up in Sundanese land, Happy admitted that he had difficulty understanding the old Sundanese dialogues from the 50's to the 60's. But he felt lucky because there were a number of mentors facilitated by the production team to assist the actors in learning and practicing speaking the old Sundanese language.

“Hard work is not in vain. So if we ask later at the Berlin Film Festival, we can be held accountable that the language used is really good and correct," he said.

According to Happy Salma, regional languages should not be a barrier to communicating with anyone. The news of the entry of the film “Nana” at the Berlin Festival has dispelled concerns that regional language films will only be marketed locally.

Happy said he would also not waste the opportunity when he comes to the Berlinale to learn how world filmmakers talk about their issues and feelings.

“Local languages are not an obstacle for us to convey an ideology or idea. Berlinale gives confidence that it can, really, as long as the issue arrives,” said Happy Salma.