Reunion in 'The Hostage's Hero' Film, Bang Tigor Says 'Spirit' of Him and Asri Welas Have Unites

JAKARTA - Veteran actor Bang Tigor is reunited with Asri Welas in the latest big screen project. The two were tapped to act as husband and wife in the film titled The Hostage's Hero.

Having worked together as a couple in previous projects, the man whose real name is Sumaisy Djaitov Yanda admitted that he no longer had difficulty building chemistry with Asri Welas. Joking, he said that the 'spirit' between the two of them had merged.

"It's normal, it's just fused. We've been paired a lot, so it's not difficult. 'The spirit' has fused, lah," said Bang Tigor when met in the Kuningan area, South Jakarta, Monday, March 30.

The 57-year-old then explained more about the character he played. Although The Hostage's Hero is a military action genre, he is not part of the army unit, but rather a father figure to a character named Intan.

"I got the role not as a soldier, but as a father. Intan's father. My son is dating a TNI member. So, I mostly shoot at home. If you are a soldier, the shooting is heavy, you have to practice first," he explained.

Interestingly, this role presents its own challenges. Bang Tigor, who has been close and used to having dialogues with the Batak dialect, is actually required to become a Madura person.

"His name is the same, Bang Tigor. Only here the character is a Madura person, even though I am Batak. So learning the Madura dialect is a bit difficult, often belibet. I learned directly from the people there," he said.

He also did not deny often being let go because of his use of the Batak dialect in the middle of the shooting process. This made him have to concentrate extra hard to delve into the role.

"Very often. Madura ran to Batak, until the director was confused. He said, 'Wow, what is this Madura Batak?', I had to concentrate first, then I could take it," added Bang Tigor laughing.

For information, The Hostage's Hero is a military action drama film based on the real story of the hostage release operation in the Strait of Malacca in 2004. This film focuses on the tension on board the MT Pematang ship which was controlled by a gang of armed pirates.

The main focus of the story will follow the steps of Lieutenant Colonel Taufiq, an intelligent and brave officer of the Indonesian Navy, in designing a liberation strategy that is considered impossible. With 36 lives of hostages at stake, Lieutenant Colonel Taufiq and his team on the KRI Karel Satsuitubun-356 must race against time and the ferocity of the sea waves to launch a surprise attack.

In addition to Bang Tigor and Asri Welas, this film is also starring a number of top names such as Donny Alamsyah, Rifky Balweel, Aditya Herpavi, Chocky Sitohang, Ritassya Wellgreat, to Brata Santoso.

The plan is, The Hostage's Hero will be aired in all Indonesian cinemas starting April 2, 2026.