Jeihan Angga Ready to Present an Absurd Romance Story Through the Film Seni Memahami Kekasih

Producer, director, and actors of the film Seni Memahami Kekasih (Tari/VOI)

JAKARTA - Director Jeihan Angga presents his latest film entitled Seni Memahami Kekasih. This film is adapted from a book by Agus Mulyadi which tells the story of his personal life.

The story focuses on Agus (Elang El Gibran) and Kalis (Febby Rastanty) who experience moments of meeting, fighting, and falling in love in the middle of their education and entering adulthood. Problems about principles and life choices become debates among those who are in love.

"We see that love can and is permissible for anyone to fight for. Agus Kalis' struggle, our struggle, and we want to share the spirit so we see Seni Memahami Kekasih as important for us to transmit to Indonesian audiences. We think this is a story that Indonesian audiences need," said Susanti Dewi as the film's producer in South Jakarta on Wednesday, August 7.

Jeihan, who is known for his comedic side, was enthusiastic when he received the offer to direct this film. He felt that the story was very interesting and close to Indonesian society which is dominated by the lower middle class. This film also takes the story of Agus Mulyadi and Kalis Mardiasih who are writers in Indonesia.

"Both of them can be an example for everyone and are my age, and relate to my personal life. From there, I, Santi, Fajar (Nugros) can work according to how they both live," said Jeihan Angga.

"I included one thing that is very crucial to talk about so that this film is important not just haha ​​hihi. Kalis is an Indonesian figure who fights for women's rights and produces this film. Agus' research is also good because the environment is quite close," said Jeihan again.

Agus Mulyadi and Kalis Mardiasih expressed the same thing. However, they did not expect their simple and comedic love story to be made into a film.

"My love story was filmed, I feel like Mr. Habibie. I think this is a standard story of low class romance," said Agus Mulyadi.

"At first I felt like this life story was just an ordinary story, but after I thought about the timeline of this film, it was about students in their 20s who were boarding, living away from home. In boarding houses, they are usually confused about what the future will be like and the choice to realize dreams and family burdens, especially about a partner, has its own burden," said Kalis Mardiasih.

"Most young people on TikTok and Instagram say that marriage is scary because there are many stories of infidelity. Falling in love is something that is very complex and requires serious consideration," he said.

The film Seni Memahami Kekasih will be shown in Indonesian cinemas starting September 5.