Exclusive, Kiki Narendra Refines Acting Traces Through Character Strengthening

Kiki Narendra (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

JAKARTA - Every actor's career journey has its own story. Kiki Narendra is one of the actors who has a unique story that is interesting to watch. Introduced to acting through the theater stage since 2009, the actor who is now 43 years old only decided to focus on pursuing a career in film in 2018.

"A little bit of flashback, 2018 was actually the first time I decided to enter this industry, really working full time in this industry. Because before that I also had a number of jobs, training, and other things," said Kiki Narendra when visiting the VOI office some time ago.

Having played in several films before, such as Tampan Tailor (2013), Bangkit (2016), and Night Bus (2017), starting from 2018 until now, Kiki has been involved in various film and series titles.

Most recently, Kiki played in the film Pesugihan: Bersekutu dengan Iblis which was released on February 23, 2023 yesterday. Similar to many other films, Kiki is again lined up to play a supporting role as the gardener.

Kiki himself considers that his character in Pesugihan: Bersekutu dengan Iblis has a quite important role, even though he is not the main character. “Indeed, this role is challenging, because the gardener's role is quite important. Later he will be a differentiator in this film, so he is a game changer," he said.

"In the beginning, I must play it calm, invisible, but later you can see the ending for yourself," he continued.

Not many actors are as fortunate as Kiki Narendra, even though he plays a supporting role, his performances often leave a special impression on the audience. However, he has his own way to achieve that luck.

"What character do we get, what script do we get, so we try to run it as well as possible," said Kiki.

"At home, we do our homework, if there's a reading, we come, chat with some of the other characters, find connections, talk to the director, if there's a chance we also ask the writer," he continued.

Kiki Narendra (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

Kiki's loyalty in carrying out small roles is also carried out with his own "formula". From his teacher and mentor, Slamet Rahardjo, Kiki always makes the most of every given scene.

"I was given some kind of formula from my teacher, Mr. Slamet Rahardjo, he said 'It's okay Ki, you play a little of the film scene, it's okay, the important thing is helping'. So, there's no need for a lot of scenes, the important thing is to help and the audience knows that your presence is important, the audience will remember you are important," he said.

"If for example, you read the script and then you feel that 'other people can do this too', that's already wrong. If other people can do it, it means you have to be far more capable than them, you have to make the character memorable and stick to the audience. That's all for me actually. So it's not on purpose to steal or anything, just do our homework," he continued.

The figure of Kiki Narendra has recently been linked with horror films. Several horror films have succeeded in attracting attention, such as KKN di Desa Penari (2022) and Pengabdi Setan 2: Communion, played by Kiki so well that he has succeeded in making a special impression on the audience.

Kiki Narendra (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

Even though he claims to be fainthearted, through his appearances in many horror films, Kiki unconsciously makes the horror genre one of his favorite film genres, aside from the science fiction genre.

For him, horror has advantages that other genres don't have. “If you watch a horror movie, you can see whether the script is good or not. How do you start the story, build it, and where the story is brought to, that's what I really enjoy. As in a jump scare, that's what makes us come home from the cinema and feel impressed," said Kiki.

Regarding the view that an actor's job is an easy job, especially supporting actors, Kiki Narendra completely disagrees. He sees that all jobs have their own responsibilities and difficulties.

Working as an actor in a film project, said Kiki, requires having the ability to work as a team. "We do not work individually in the film, we work collectively, starting from lighting to general helper, we feel it is important. If we are sleepy in the location and no one is making coffee, if they don't provide it, it's also difficult, even though we can make it ourselves," he said.

“Actually, it's not a matter of whether it's easy or not, but how can we learn to collaborate with friends there. Because there are a lot of heads, what about the director, the players, and the one in charge of the sound, we should unite our vision first, what do we want to make? Actually, the challenge is right there,“ he continued.

It's not enough to stop there, work as an actor whom Kiki terms a "new human craftsman" requires the ability to create new characters that really fit the needs of the script.

“And it's not easy, it takes a lot of learning, it takes a lot of reading, it needs to memorize the script, it needs an understanding of the script, it needs discussion with everyone present, it takes years of life experience, how can you feel the feeling of being abandoned, the feeling of falling in love, the feeling of anger, the feeling of sadness. It goes through a process that takes years throughout our lives,” said Kiki.

Optimism for the Indonesian Film

Kiki Narendra (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

As an actor, Kiki Narendra has great admiration for the Hollywood actor, Tom Hanks. Through Tom's appearance in the film Forrest Gump (1994), Kiki saw his idol succeed in playing a simple figure who gave perfection to the stories presented.

Although Hollywood films are at different levels, Kiki sees that several domestically produced films are no less good. The two films that he mentioned, Autobiography and Like & Share, were films that impressed him.

"It is a shame not many people watch Like and Share. But it was really mind-blowing to me, how they made it, from the art, the players, the DOP, the directing, everything was packaged really well. Like every scene is really thought out," he said.

Kiki said that currently, the Indonesian film industry has the potential to continue to develop in a much better direction. He is optimistic about the positive trend in Indonesia in recent years, where more domestic films have been produced.

Kiki Narendra (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

With the presence of the Over The Top (OTT) platform, Kiki is increasingly optimistic about the development of the domestic film industry. “Several foreign OTTs have opened offices in Indonesia. This means that they will automatically produce a lot of content from Indonesia, there will be more job opportunities, there will be many opportunities for friends in Indonesia to work more," he said.

“Quality has also improved, because in recent years there have been several Indonesian film festivals that have quite resonated abroad. As the one Laura Basuki won in Berlin, then Nana, Yuni, and Vengeance Is Mine, All Others Pay Cash,” he continued.

Kiki hopes that with the existence of OTT, actors in the Indonesian film industry can change their mindset to make works that not only can be enjoyed by the Indonesian people, but also by the world community.

Kiki Narendra (Photo: Savic Rabos, DI: Raga/VOI)

"The film no longer has a passport, it would be a shame if our mindset is an Indonesian film made only for Indonesia. We can't. Even without OTT, the film can go to Telegram, and YouTube and can be watched all over the world. We can no longer say that this is an Indonesian film that is only watched by those here, the technology is all open," said Kiki Narendra.

"So with such a situation, if we just stop and be complacent in the realm of Indonesia, that would be very unfortunate. We have to race to think as creatively as possible about how to make it a world spectacle. That is indeed another level. But we believe that if we want to keep learning, we will definitely get there. I'm sure we'll get there," he concluded.