Soldiers' heroic actions always stun prominent actor Lukman Sardi. When he was a boy, he dreamed of becoming a soldier.

But it turned out that his artistic blood was stronger than the army desire, leading him to become one of the country's leading actors.

"I think that being a soldier - their uniforms, muscular body and everything - is really cool. I just love it," Lukman recently said.

After many years of burying his childhood dream, he finally got a chance to step into a soldier's boots. The 38-year-old man even retired as a teacher and left his wife to become a cadet in a military school.

He later unites with other cadets, bravely fighting against the Dutch colonialists to defend Indonesia's independence. Well, not in the real world anyway as those activities are just scenes in his latest movie, Merah Putih, a war movie about the struggles of young Indonesian cadets, who bond together despite their background differences to defend for the country's freedom.

In the film, Lukman plays Amir, the man who leads several young cadets in fighting against the Dutch soldiers.

"It's a dream come true. I'm really excited about doing this movie. Although it is just a movie, I had a chance to be trained like a real soldier in a military camp for 10 days.

"I had to wake up early in the morning, run for miles and learn Indonesia's history and how to use guns. The trainings took both physical and mental strength."

He also had to stay away from his family and pregnant wife for months, as he and the crew traveled to many cities across the country for the film making.

The hardest part is, he said, when the crew took the scene of an ambush against Dutch convoy on a bridge in Semarang, Central Java.

"It took six days to make the scene. We worked under the scorching sun. It was really hard for us because we had to maintain our performance on top of this difficult situation and conditions."

Lukman, however, felt grateful to get opportunity being part of this movie, as he could work with international experts who had made a lot of box-office movies.

"This movie is a tribute to our heroes. It shows about their sacrifice, how they defend this country to their death. I hope this film will be the start of the awakening of other independence-themed movies.

"The soldiers in the past set an example to the present generation that we need to do something for our country."

Born in Jakarta on July, 14, 1971, Lukman started his acting career at five, starring in Kembang-kembang Plastik (Plastic Flowers).

Since then, he has been through various characters in dozens of Indonesian movies, such as Gie, Sembilan Naga (Nine Dragons), Jakarta Undercover, Berbagi Suami (Love for Share) and Naga Bonar Jadi 2 (Naga Bonar Becomes 2).

He is now seeking other challenging roles.

"I want to play a real woman, not a transvestite like Robin Williams in *Mrs. Doubtfire' or Dustin Hoffman in *Tootsie'."

While waiting for that g role, Lukman is now concentrating on making the Merah Putih sequels, which will form the Merdeka Trilogy.

- Triwik Kurniasari

JP/Triwik Kurniasari

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