President of the Indonesian film production company, Multivision Plus, Raam Punjabi is a famous Indian Indonesian producer who is also referred to as 'Indonesia's own soap king' due to the many soap operas he has produced. Raam is currently one of the most successful producers in Indonesia and with his production company, he has become one of Indonesia's most well-known production powerhouse. Moreover, Raam is also responsible for creating and producing many of Indonesia's most popular comedy and drama series such as "Pengalaman Pertama", "Wah Cantiknya!", "Gara-Gara" and more. In 2013, Raam won the ASEAN Spirit Award along with directors Hanung Bramantyo and Hestu Saputra for the 2012 drama film, "Cinta Tapi Beda". We caught up to interview Raam recently to speak more of his latest venture, "Soekarno: Indonesia Merdeka" and how he managed to deliver a compelling story on the life of Indonesia's most prominent figure.
Hi Raam, why did you decide to take on and produce "Soekarno"? You see, Soekarno was a very inspirational person. He inspired everybody and that's the main reason I did a movie on him. Because he united the country, he created the slogan of 'One Nation, One Country, One Language'. I believe his way of thinking inspired many people including me, and no one can replace him as the founding father of Indonesia, which is why I made a movie on him. Will you be making more films on other Indonesian presidents? Well, I have a few ideas and plans in mind, but honestly speaking, it will not be as gung-ho as I was for Soekarno. Soekarno is the man who really inspires me from my young age and then when I came into this business, the first thing I had in mind was to make a movie about Soekarno. You see at the age of 20, Soekarno was already thinking about liberating the country, compared to the youth and young adults nowadays, what are they thinking in their mind? Clubbing? Drugs? So, what I can say is that I really wish we have more 'Soekarnos' who can unite the country. The film recently won three awards at the Bandung Film Festival 2014. How do you feel about this? It was great knowing that my hard work finally paid off and is being appreciated.