Writer: Hanna Zainal

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Watch this if you liked: "Duyung", "Skrip 7707"

We have all heard of the tragic tale of the Iranian Siamese twins, Ladan and Laleh Bijani. The twins met their end on a surgical table in a 2003 operation to separate them by surgeons in Singapore. Inspired by the story, Razak Mohaideen decided to make a film out of it.

At the heart of this story is a pair of Siamese twins, Lana (Fouziah Gous) and Lina (Yasmin Hani) who are joined at the head. They have been like this for more than 20 years and have overprotective parents played by Mustapha Kamal and Ziela Jalil. One day, the twins are offered a place to study at university and they accept. There, they are forced to attend each other's classes, given their different interests. Lana loves music and Lina is studying Mass Communication. There, they become friends with several students played by Irma Hasmie and newcomer Ros Ramona Qadira. They also meet a surgeon called Dr. Hassan (Fahrin Ahmad) who is willing to separate them.

This all happens on their very first day at the uni and does make you think - why is the resident surgeon going all out to offer his services to the girls when he just met them? Up until that scene, there was absolutely no signs that Lana and Lina wanted to be separated or expressed any desire to. Other than that, from the outside, Lana and Lina's family seems well to do and it is a bit puzzling why they could not separate the twins when they were younger. But then, we wouldn't have a story, would we?

Acting wise, both Fouziah and Yasmin gave a good and believable performance as sisters. They were no doubt 'tortured' because of the pain they had to endure for the camera while being stuck to each other. The other cast members also do a good job. As for the special effects makeup, Thai experts did it. At one point, it seemed like their clothes were sewn together even though they used 'fibre' for the effect.

Filmmaker Razak Mohaideen had some decent ideas for this movie. Unfortunately, he did not present it well. Even so, you might want to watch this film, if only to catch the first pair of local Siamese twins on screen and all those makeup effects.


Cinema Online, 14 January 2010