If you are not sure of who Atiqah Hasiholan is, you are not alone. In the crowd of celebrities clamoring for our attention on a daily basis, it is easy to mistake her for, say, a particular tall supermodel or a particular former teen model turned activist.

This may be another way of saying that Atiqah is not recognizable enough as a star, but of course, this is subject to further debate.

However, none of the comparisons above have a particular luxury she had: Having Christine Hakim, that iconic acting legend, to go and watch film together in cinema.

Verifying this fact with a sense of disbelief, because we'd like to think that she may be just watching Christine Hakim's film in a cinema like the most of us, and not going to cinema with her instead, Atiqah laughed heartily, and said, "Yes, I went to cinema with her! She is an old friend of my mum, so I've known her all along."

The mum in spotlight is none other than Ratna Sarumpaet, another singular entity in the nation's theatre scene and an outspoken political activist, to whom Atiqah challenges our preconception with, "Sure, she carries this image of being tough, strong, I don't deny that. But I also see her cracking jokes, or sometimes feeling sad, sometimes a little panic over small things. She likes to laugh!"

Obviously a hereditary commodity, for Atiqah does that too a lot in our conversation, and continues, "But those are her qualities that may not be interesting for media."

She winks, obviously knows what she says since she took Media Studies and Psychology at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, despite her claim that, "I didn't know what I should study at that time!"

Nevertheless, her latter course has played crucial parts in bringing Atiqah to our attention. Her understanding to various characters she has played to date results in stealing and at times propelling the films she has been in.

Against the household names of more established thespians such as Winky Wiryawan, Jajang C. Noer and Nungki Kusumastuti, Atiqah made her otherwise one-note character in Berbagi Suami (Love for Share) worth watching.

Playing a leading role in horror film Suster N, she rises above her cast mates. Her brief screen times as a karaoke girl with an agenda in Cinta Setaman (Love Potpourri) and a mysterious receptionist in Pintu Terlarang (The Forbidden Door) leave more lingering impressions.

Yet, none bears her biggest role to date in Jamila dan Sang Presiden (Jamila and the President), based on a play by Ratna, which also featured Atiqah.

Playing the title role, Atiqah immerses herself as a prostitute who awaits her death sentence and refuses any leniency from the President. As she spends her time behind the bars, we get to know her story of being a victim of women and children trafficking, and the fallacy of political corruption.

A heavy story, indeed, but for Atiqah, the heaviest part is keeping her character relevant.

"This is my longest role to date. I've played the character in a stage years before, traveled to different cities and did many performances, so basically I lived with this character. Now I have to revisit Jamila, in a different medium. That's not easy."

What helps her stepping in the old shoe is the team behind the film. Ratna, who directed the play on the stage, now directed the film, marking her first directorial effort, and many of the stage crew members were also involved in the film.

Her cast mates are, again, some heavy weights like Surya Saputra, Fauzi Baadila, Ria Irawan, and the aforementioned Christine Hakim, whom Atiqah shares most of her screen with, and whom Atiqah points out, "Knowing her all this time, I'm not that surprised with her totality. And when you're acting with her, nothing you can do but to be better, and give your all out, total performance as well."

Still, despite all the familiar elements, Atiqah is required to do what she has done in her previous films: reading scripts over and over again.

"My mother always insisted that I read the script as often as possible, no matter if I already memorize the script from the beginning to the end. It helps seeing the story evolves, actually. You read, read, and read, and you begin seeing clearly what your character is supposed to be like, and that helps me getting into my character."

Admiring her mother's debut as a film director as "a director with a strength", she could not help but giggling every time she remembers how, "my mum often got panicky on technical glitches! Luckily she was helped by her brother Sam (Sarumpaet) as an assistant director, but still, seeing her out of her tough persona and her worried look, it just cracked me up!"

Luckily, the film does not turn out to be a laughing matter. A film with a coherent content, the film is easily singled out for being starkly different from other local films released recently.

Despite the strong political theme, and being a direct descendant of a political person, Atiqah smiles and assures us that, "I'm not interested in politic. At least not yet for the time being."

For such a promising actress, this is a good assurance, indeed.

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