When Dian Sastrowardoyo, Ario Bayu, Putri Marino, And Arya Saloka Connected In Kretek Girls

The team and cast of the series Girls Kretek (Tari/VOI)

JAKARTA - Netflix Indonesia will present the series Girl Kretek, the first original series in Indonesia. Directed by Ifa Isfansyah and Kamila Andini, this series captures the world of kretek in the era of the 60s' which is related to the modern era.

The Kretek girls starred several Indonesian stars, namely Dian Sastrowardoyo, Ario Bayu, Arya Saloka, and Putri Marino. They reveal a few stories about their latest characters for this series.

I play Arum whose character has just appeared in the last part of the novel but I got the opportunity to explore. She's a female doctor, independent and only thinks about 2 things: mother and occupation. She meets Lebas and changes both of our lives," said Putri Marino at a press conference today, Wednesday, November 1.

I play the role of Lebas. This lembas child who is free to be born from an extraordinary family is very capable of being a bit contradictory. He can see the world from a different perspective because he met Arum," continued Arya Saloka.

"I play Soeraja where Suraya is someone who has a dark past. He is an orphan who has no spirit of life. The first time in his life can find love," said Ario Bayu.

The figure of my mother is a woman who wants to have a chance with men in the kretek industry. said Dian Sastrowardoyo.

Shanty Harmayn as the producer revealed that his introduction to the Kretek Girl began when Ifa Isfansyah advised him to read the novel. Then, they had planned to adapt this story in a big screen format.

The story is very rich. But if the film doesn't feel enough 90 minutes to summarize the wealth in Ratih Kumala's novel," said Shanty Harmayn.

"I read the novel in 2012 and when I read the story, I was very captive, amazed by Jeng Yah's character. I read it very quickly, so it feels like when adapted into a series, one thing I want to see is the spirit of a woman who is ahead of time but also a lot of things that happen to her," continued Kamila Andini.

With the romance genre in the past, it made the Kretek Girl a special series. This was also agreed by Netflix, which first adapted the story of the period romance in Indonesia.

"Cretek girls are a very Indonesian story and want to be appointed because apart from a classic love story but wrapped in Indonesian history even though the backdrop is the kretek industry. Opportunities are rarely there for period romance and feel this is a locally authentic story," said Rusli Eddy from Netflix.

The production process, which has been running for 2 years, has finally paid off and can be watched. The Kretek Girl series tells of Lebas who gets a mandate from her father to look for a woman named Mitdahyah. Lebas, assisted by Arum, conducts a search that reveals secrets between them.

The Kretek Girl series has 5 episodes and is available from Thursday, November 2 on Netflix.