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Lukman Sardi: Fulfilling the dream
(Kapanlagi
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(Kapanlagi.com) (Kapanlagi.com)
(Kapanlagi.com)
Award-winning actor Lukman Sardi is hoping, if everything goes as planned, that his dream of releasing a movie that he has directed will soon be realized.
Lukman said recently that he was working on completing the final scenes for his upcoming feature film.
'We have been shooting since January last year. It's quite a big movie, which has involved a very long process. We still need to work on a number of details if we are to release the film in December or January,' the 43-year-old said.
'I'm not trying to be perfect. I just want everything to be in keeping with what I planned for my first movie.'
Lukman said the film was a drama that focused on human aspects against the backdrop of Indonesia's political upheaval in May 1998.
'The background is political and historical, but the movie is not primarily about those two things. It's about how the major events at the time ' the riots, the student killings and the downfall of Soeharto influenced a lot of lives,' he said.
Being a director has been a longtime dream for the well-known actor.
'I always want to push myself to the next level. I can never leave filmmaking; it's part of my life, part of who I am. As an actor, I saw that the next level in this world was to become a director,' said the father of 4-year-old Akiva Dishan Ranu Sardi.
Lukman said the offer to undertake the project came from a friend, and that he immediately accepted because of the story and its scale.
'He dared me to be the director. Many people said the story was too sensitive, as many of the senior figures involved in the events of 1998 are still alive. The film is also big in its scope, requiring thousands of extras for the scene covering the occupation of the House of Representatives (DPR) by students.
'This was a challenge I willingly accepted,' said Lukman, whose father was the late violin virtuoso, Idris Sardi.
The film's large scale was a blessing in disguise, he said, because with so many details to work on, the film was never going to be ready for release during the legislative and presidential elections.
'We needed, for example, to use CGI [computer-generated imagery] to portray scenes inside the State Palace and the House,' he said.
Lukman began his movie career as a child actor in 1978 in the drama, Kembang-Kembang Plastik (Plastic Flowers) under director Wim Umboh. He went on to star in a number of other movies, with his last film as a child actor being the 1980 drama, Gema Hati Bernyanyi (The Echo of a Singing Heart).
After graduating in law from Trisakti University in Jakarta, Lukman first worked as an insurance agent.
However, he finally answered his true calling in the world of film by starring in the 2005 political biopic, Gie, under the direction of prominent filmmaker Riri Riza.
Since his reemergence in the movie world, Lukman has starred in more than 40 films, including the critically acclaimed Berbagi Suami (Sharing Husbands, 2006); Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Warriors, 2008); Sang Pemimpi (The Dreamer, 2009); Sang Pencerah (The Enlightened, 2010); Sang Penari (The Dancer, 2011), and Soekarno in 2013.
His most recent role was in Negeri Tanpa Telinga (Country without Ears), in which he played the leader of a political party in a political satire produced and directed by Lola Amaria.
Lukman has played a number of political and historical figures, including Ahmad Dahlan, the founder of Indonesia's second-largest Muslim organization, Muhammadiyah, in Sang Pencerah and the nation's founding father, Mohammad Hatta, in Soekarno.
'I always love getting involved in period movies and playing historic characters. I really loved history back in school. Period movies are my favorites, as I get to work in the job I love and on a subject I love,' he said.
Lukman's directing career seems to be on the verge of blooming; he is already planning to direct another movie next year.
'Yes, I have another movie to do. I can't wait. I'm definitely addicted to directing.'
