As this is his first experience of directing a feature film of his very own, director Opie Zami gets upfront, brutal and honest about his opinions and the controversy during and about the film itself. Cinema Online's interview with Opie Zami was conducted on 2 April at GSC Mid Valley. Hi, Opie. Congratulations on directing your first feature film! Thank you so much! Were you scared when you had to direct a film? (Laughs) No, well, this is the first film I have directed that will be shown in theatres but I did have experiences directing dramas before this. Why did you choose Saiful Apek as the lead for your film? The choice of actors was not just because of me, it wasn't only up to me but to everyone in the team. I give suggestions and the producers will either agree or not to work with me and the actors. But I thank the actors for making the movie what it is. Was it your intention to cast a lot of stars from "Raja Lawak"? I didn't even think of casting people mostly from that show consciously. Of all these people you see in the film, 90% of them are my friends that I know and am comfortable with when I work with them. They are people who give it their all, rather than people I would rather not want to work with. To be honest, the end of the story was a little confusing. Could you explain it to us, without giving anything away, of course? Actually, if you want to know more of what happens at the end, it will be available in part two; hopefully there'll be a part two. I wanted to leave it at that to create a mystery in itself for the audience. The horror in the film is only from the audience's perception.
Who wrote the script for your film? There has been some unexplained controversy about this and I'll try to explain. There is a writer for the script. When I received the script, I did not accept the thing as a whole. I only wanted to make the movie about Tok Chai. I don't know if this is true or not but apparently the scriptwriter mentioned that "If Opie directs, I do not want my name to be on the credits." I don't have a problem with the scriptwriter, but apparently he has a problem with me. Why did you choose to direct a horror film? As a director, I don't decide on a specific genre. I'm not bound to anything. But since right now there is a wide market for such films, audiences will want to see it, and we feel entitled to give the audience what they want. In your film, you also showed a group of policemen in the film as comedy relief. Why did you choose to portray them in a comedic light? Most of us have all seen "Gerak Khas". It is an iconic television show, and this was how the police were portrayed, comedically. So that's how police are portrayed on film, or television. I just used that kind of police portrayal in my film. But I know it's not how the real cops act. I just do it for entertainment. How did you feel during the premiere screening of the film? I was scared to see the reactions of the audience at the press preview, but with the amount of laughs I've heard during the screening, it made it all worthwhile. Thank you so much for talking with us. You're welcome, Cinema Online!