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Sita Nursanti: Born to sing, happy to act
If you mention the name Sita Nursanti, some of us might wonder: “Sita who?” But if you say Sita “RSD”, then we will go: “Ah, that Sita!” JP/DIAN KUSWANDINIStill capturing people’s attention whenever she’s on stage, Sita, former RSD band member (Rida Sita Dewi), has never been forgotten despite much fresh talent mushrooming in the music scene
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f you mention the name Sita Nursanti, some of us might wonder: “Sitawho?” But if you say Sita “RSD”, then we will go: “Ah, that Sita!”
JP/DIAN KUSWANDINI
Still capturing people’s attention whenever she’s on stage, Sita, former RSD band member (Rida Sita Dewi), has never been forgotten despite much fresh talent mushrooming in the music scene.
Taking her own path after the trio’s break up in 2003, Sita confesses that life has given her more opportunities than she expected to develop her talents. And one of those opportunities was to explore her acting skills.
“A long time ago, I used to wish I could act in a film or at the theater’,” said the 36-year-old, smiling. “That wish finally came true.”
The opportunity didn’t come up just once. After a supporting role in musical Nyai Dasima, Sita landed a role in the movie Gie in 2005, and since then, she has been filling her schedules with acting, acting and more acting.
“Singing has long been my comfort zone,” she said after performing at the April Festival in Jakarta recently.
“Acting, although it’s still quite new for me, brings me lots of excitement. Sometimes it still makes me nervous, too. But it’s a lot of fun,” she added.
Mixed feelings of nervousness and excitement is exactly what she’s been experiencing while preparing for her big role in They Call Me Nyai Ontosoroh, a play she will also perform in Belgium and The Netherlands in May.
In the play, adapted from the famous Pramoedya Ananta Toer novel Bumi Manusia (This Earth of Mankind), Sita will impersonate Nyai Ontosoroh, a concubine who fights against injustice and discrimination.
“When I first heard about the plan to take the play to The Netherlands and Belgium I said: ‘Wow, that will be great!’” Sita recalled. “I later jokingly asked if I could join [the group] as a makeup artist or porter – you know, carrying their luggage,” she laughed.
Surprisingly, Sita said, the promoter from Institut Ungu offered her the main role because the actress assigned to play Nyai Ontosoroh canceled.
“But that main role offer terrified me… really,” Sita admitted. “I mean, I have never been the lead.”
Sita, however, eventually took the chance to see how far she could go.
“I can say this is one of the biggest leaps I’ve ever made,” said Sita, who also hosts a radio program on Cosmopolitan FM.
In 2007, Sita performed in the group’s much-acclaimed extended version of Nyai Ontosoroh. She played the supporting character Magda Peters, while actress Happy Salma played Nyai Ontosoroh. Saying she was a nervous about people’s expectations, Sita admitted she still needed to build more confidence.
“[Actress] Happy Salma did a great job when she played the character,” she reasoned. “So, I thought, ‘Ouch, could I even make it?’”
But in the end, she continued, “I told myself I had to take this chance to learn more.”
Eager to learn, Sita kept on accepting offers to act.
“I jumped into acting because I thought it could be one way for me to develop my talent,” she said. “I considered every offer as an opportunity for me to grow.”
However, Sita confirmed she didn’t intend to replace singing with acting. Singing, after all, has been the love of her life for a long time.
”I chose which school to go based on its vocal group,” she laughed. “I supposedly could enter the best senior high school in Bandung, SMA 3, but I entered SMA 5 instead because it had the best singing opportunities,” she added.
She admitted she had never dreamed of becoming a professional singer.
“I didn’t know what I really wanted to be. Deep inside, I only knew I loved singing – but I never thought I would become a singer.”
During her time at Parahyangan University in Bandung, however, she became a backing vocalist for acclaimed singers, as a job on the side. From there, an opportunity to enter the showbiz opened, with composers Ajie Soetama and Adi Adrian suggesting she form a trio with her friends Dewi Lestari and Rida Farida. They released their first album Antara Kita (Between Us) in 1995. After four albums, however, the girls separated following Dewi’s decision to focus on her new career as an author.
“I don’t regret the split,” she said. “RSD was a very easygoing group – we had no specific targets; we were happy with our own activities and didn’t feel burdened by anything,” she added.
Until today, Sita said, the three still maintained what she called a “fun relationship”.
“When we came together again in 2007, and we were preparing to perform in 12 cities, I realized we had not changed,” she said. “We still had the same habits and were the same people. RSD is the definitely the best thing I’ve ever had,” she added.
While Rida is now a singing teacher and Dewi has become a bestselling author and solo vocalist, Sita said her biggest dream remained to release a solo album.
“Believe it or not, last year, it crossed my mind: ‘OK, while I love acting. I have to focus on my solo album in 2010’,” Sita said, laughing as she added”, I don’t know why, but the more I focus on my album, the more acting offers I receive.”
“So, now I guess I will just go with the flow,” Sita said. “I believe there is a time for everything, including for my solo album.”
