Up close and personal with M. Nasir

In the next room, an up-and-coming female singer is being interviewed, accompanied by an entourage of three. In this room, there is only M. Nasir who drove to the meeting place and adhered to the rule of signing in and getting a visitor’s pass without much fuss. After chatting with this reporter for more than an hour, he took his leave. He gave the impression of being a humble, intelligent and an easy-going fella.  

The 48-year-old artiste is blessed with a sense of humour; he takes swipes at his own public image – at times, punctuating his remarks with hearty laughter. Yet, Nasir is very serious about the entertainment industry and is bashful when the topic touches on his many talents.  

M. Nasir

One doesn’t really know what to expect of this man who has managed to keep his life private despite being in the public eye for almost three decades. We know him as a singer, composer, producer, actor, director, writer, painter and TV host (and something he would be uncomfortable acknowledging – sex symbol).  

Puteri Gunung Ledang director Saw Teong Hin who has worked with Nasir admits he wouldn’t hesitate to work with him again.  

“Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t find him to be difficult at all. He’s particular about the kind of project he’s involved in, but once he’s committed himself, he is very professional and well prepared,” reveals Saw.  

“And I cannot imagine anyone else playing Hang Tuah.”  
(Aku juga sependapat dengan Teong Hin)

So is Nasir a difficult and uncommunicative individual?  

Well, he was hardly untalkative during this interview held at The Star’s office in Petaling Jaya.  

“Most of the time I am talking and people think I don’t talk much. I’m always talking, talking, talking,” says Nasir with a guffaw. 

No wonder then, when he gets together with an old pal like Ramli Sarip, they can talk for a long time and sometimes their topics of conversation are so wide that other musicians do not understand what the two are going on about.  

Ramli, 52, and Nasir have been friends for 25 years. That friendship began when Nasir was a fan of Sweet Charity, Ramli’s band in the 1980s. Nasir’s band at that time, Kembara, was once the opening act at a Sweet Charity concert.  

Later, when both artistes embarked on solo careers, Nasir was once again asked to open for Ramli at his concerts. 

No wonder then, at last week’s Anugerah Planet Muzik (a Singaporean music awards ceremony held to honour musicians in the region), it was Nasir who was chosen to present Ramli with the APM 2005 Special Award. 

According to Ramli, Nasir is a thinker with a sensitive side. “He is a sentimental guy. We are both shy people. I am a bit anti-social actually, but Nasir has become less shy.” 

While it is true Nasir has been more accessible in recent years, it is also obvious he is uneasy when the spotlight is turned on him. Asked to pose for photos, his immediate reply is that he doesn’t pose but he sportingly leans against the wall and smiles for the camera.  

Anyone who follows Nasir’s career knows that he is also a respected figure in the local entertainment industry, and rightfully so.  

His contribution over the years has been limitless and from the looks of things, he plans to do more for the flagging industry. Nasir realises that knowledge is the best weapon. An avid reader, he is interested in various topics – especially philosophy and poetry. Even for his TV viewing, he favours HBO movies and the documentary channels. Hence, his lyrics are never simple, with many references to classic lore and stories from the Quran.  

Nasir reveals: “Until now people are still asking what the (Tanya Sama Itu) Hud Hud song is all about. The story is told by the lyrics, by the mood of the songs. Some of the lyrics are like modern poetry and sometimes we cannot explain it.” 

Admittedly the fans don’t mind, singing along happily to his songs. 

Writing meaningful lyrics was something he wanted to do from the very beginning so he learned poetry by listening to songs and reading other people’s work, then writing it himself. As a matter of fact it was his lyrics that paved the way for him to be in the music industry.  

Singapore-born Nasir's ambition while studying at the Boys Town Vocational Institute in the island republic was to be a scientist. Then he wanted to be a painter, and earned his fine art diploma from Nanyang Academy of Fine Art.  

He recalls: “I was doing my diploma and staying with a friend, and the friend’s brother got a job with Polygram to compose songs for Alleycats. I was a wedding singer before, so I suggested to him that I write the lyrics. Erm, I didn’t want to say that I wanted to write the songs because he was a composer (laughs). A few weeks later, he got the job as a producer. And I got to write more lyrics.” 

He is now leaning back dangerously on his chair (as the interview moves on to the topic of his early days), focusing on his fingernails and avoiding eye contact. 

2005: M. Nasir tries his hand at pottery while in Turkey for the new TV series, Destinasi Dunia, which is screened on Astro Ria. In the programme, Nasir looks for communities who keep traditional forms of music alive.

“They were not very good lyrics if you ask me,” he finally adds with a laugh. “I coached them to sing in Malay and when I coached them, I had to sing also. So they thought I could, erm, erm, sing, so ...” he abruptly ends the reminiscing and then quickly changes the subject to his producing experience.  

He was 18 at that time. Thirty years down the line, he is still churning out songs, and also dismissing the art of creative skill with a wave of his hand. “It’s all a myth that you need peace and quiet to find inspiration. It is all inside you. You just press it out.” 

Nasir was married to Junainah Johari, a singer from trio Ideal Sisters in the 1980s, who passed away in 1998 from asthmatic complications. He had five children with Junainah. In 2000, he married actress Marlia Musa and has a four-year-old daugther, Suci Musalmah, with her. His first son, Mohamed Ilham who is 20, is now in a band called Hati, which has been deemed a band to look out for. 

Nasir talks about his family fondly and says that he is constantly surrounded – be it in the office or at home – by bustling activity. 

There is a consensus among the media that Nasir has lightened up considerably in the last few years and is less elusive when it comes to interviews. 

For a guy who writes a lot of songs and produces albums for other folk, Nasir is still working on new material for his next album.  

“I have been recording for almost four years now, and maybe even more. My last album was in 2001,” he pauses and asks, “You know what my last album was? Yes, Phoenix Bangkit. It was a long time ago. I don’t remember. I finish one thing, I just forget about it. I just go on with other projects.” 

His other projects include working on a book – his thoughts about everything under the sun – writing a script for a movie he is going to direct, and in April he will be starring in a movie about gangsterism (directed by newcomer Brando Lee). 

Currently, he’s also in the midst of producing Search’s long awaited album. 

Okay here’s the thing on his new album: he hopes to release the album in May, but he’s still hazy about how many songs it will contain or what direction he wants the album to take.  

“Everything keeps changing all the time. And in four years, things can change, you know.” 

True enough, it is hard to peg Nasir’s music. Even he is unable to do so. During his Kembara days and after resuscitating his solo career in 1988, the music was rock-based. Then the songs were Nasir’s observations about Malaysian life and the arrangements had elements of traditional music. 

Nasir explains: “Then 10 years ago, I was influenced by Qawwalli music. Now I want to go back to rock. If anything, my music is kind of a fusion but you can’t use that word because that term is used for jazz. But it is a fusion of many things; and the song’s semangat (soul) is what I want to express according to my feelings and thoughts at that moment.” 

Guess the category has to remain as “M. Nasir’s music”. Then again, that creates another problem. One that Nasir knows only too well.  

“After a while, you get bored with one kind of sound. And then there’s the danger of being labelled and pigeon-holed.” 

Nasir feels that people question the authenticity of Malay music which is really a combination of other cultures, mainly from China, India and the Arab world due to Malaysia’s diverse background. Another question etched in his mind is, where is the Malaysian music scene headed?  

“There’s always a clash of interests on my part because I am in the pop scene and yet in less than 20 years we might not have Malaysian music. When we talk about pop music we talk about the westernisation of Asia. And that question appears from time to time and you can’t have a straight answer, a sure answer.”  

It is these questions that gave him the idea of documenting folk music of this region and after that, world music.  

His idea kind of materialised with production company Beyond Events, and he embarked on a journey to do just that for a TV programme titled Destinasi Dunia and travelled to places like Turkey, India, Nepal and Vietnam late last year. 

Destinasi Dunia is aired on Astro Ria every Thursday at 9pm and shows Nasir investigating and discovering local communities who keep traditional music alive.  

His most cherished experience was in Turkey. “I already had an idea about Turkey. Its cities, buildings and, of course, the music. The story about wars, and the young Turks, the history of architecture and culture and the landscape.”  

Although it comes off more as a travel piece than a documentation of folk music, Nasir nonetheless has plans to continue with the series as long as he can, and cover countries like Morocco, Indonesia and of course, Malaysia. 

As for his other ventures, Nasir doesn’t try to understand or know what other people think about what he is doing.  

There is no illusion that M. Nasir does exactly what he wishes and has managed to be the best in a system that wants to tag him, even when it cannot.  

Oleh Fariza Saidin

Dengan tersenarainya di antara 49 filem bagi 49 negara untuk pencalonan lima filem bagi merebut Anugerah Academy kategori Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik, Puteri Gunung Ledang telah mencatatkan satu lagi sejarah dalam perkembangan filem di Malaysia.

Sejak bermulanya pengeluaran filem cereka di Malaysia (termasuk Singapura) pada tahun 1933, inilah pertama kali Malaysia menyertai negara-negara lain dalam usahanya mencapai tahap yang lebih tinggi iaitu ke upacara Anugerah Academy yang ke-77 yang dijadualkan berlangsung di Los Angeles pada 27 Februari 2005.

Sungguhpun kedudukan Malaysia goncang dan agak sukar melepasi halangan, namun apa yang diperoleh Puteri Gunung Ledang itu sudah cukup membanggakan kerana untuk disenaraikan pun bukanlah suatu perkara mudah.

48 negara lain yang mencalonkan filem masing-masing bukanlah calang-calang filem dan bukan mudah pun untuk disingkirkan. Keadaan Puteri Gunung Ledang tinggal nyawa-nyawa ikan tetapi tidak mustahil pula akan bersaing di Hollywood nanti.

Perlu diingat, Malaysia terpaksa berdepan dengan 88 negara yang diminta oleh pihak penganjur mengemukakan filem masing-masing dan setelah dinilai, Puteri Gunung Ledang antara yang tersenarai. Bukankah ini suatu yang membanggakan?

Kemampuan menduduki calon yang lima, sebagaimana yang ditetapkan, banyak bergantung kepada kejayaan sesebuah filem itu ketika menyertai festival-festival filem antarabangsa terutama Cannes Film Festival.

Kejayaan

Dalam senarai 49 negara itu, lima filem telah menyertai Cannes Film Festival yang berlangsung bulan Mei lalu.

Nobody Knows (Jepun) masuk ke kategori Feature Films In Competition (bertanding), manakala House of The Flying Daggers (China) disenaraikan dalam kategori Feature Films Out Of Competition (tidak bertanding).

Di Cannes itu juga, Yagira Yuuya yang membintangi Nobody Knows memenangi anugerah Aktor Terbaik.

Selain daripada itu, filem yang diarahkan oleh Hirokazukore-eda ini turut memenangi anugerah Filem Terbaik pada Flanders Film Festival yang ke-31 di Ghent, Belgium.

Dalam sejarah Anugerah Academy, Jepun telah mencapai kejayaan dengan 11 pencalonan di mana tiga antaranya memenangi anugerah - Rashomon (1951), Gate of Hell (1954) dan Samurai, Legend of Musash (1955).

China yang mencalonkan House of the Flying Daggers yang dibintangi Andy Lau, Zhang Ziyi dan Takeshi Kaneshiro telah memenangi anugerah Filem Terbaik, Pengarah Terbaik (Zhang Yimou), Pengarah Seni Terbaik dan Suara Terbaik di Golden Rooster Award yang berlangsung di Beijing.

China (termasuk Hong Kong) belum pernah memenangi Anugerah Academy tetapi beberapa kali disenaraikan ke pencalonan bagi kategori Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik - Ju Dou (1990), Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Farewell My Concubine (1993) dan Hero (2002).

Masuk pada kategori Un Certain Regard (tidak dipertimbangkan) ialah Kontroll (Hungary), Whisky (Uruguay) dan Earth and Ashes (Afghanistan).

Dengan penyertaan di Cannes itu sudah cukup bagi Hungary mendabik dada, ini ditambah pula kejayaan Kontroll di Aubague Film Festival (Peranchis) memenangi anugerah Mozart Prize of 7th. Art dan Hungarian Film Week memenangi anugerah Senimatografi Terbaik, Anugerah Kritik, Filem Paling Popular dan anugerah istimewa Sandor Memorial Award.

Perlu diingat, Hungray lapan kali berjaya ke pencalonan filem yang lima, dan hanya sekali beroleh kejayaan - Mephisto (1982).

Filem Uruguay berjudul Whisky yang diarahkan bersama oleh Juan Pablo Rebella/Pablo Stoll mencapai dua kemenangan di Gramado Film Festival (Brazil) - Filem Terbaik dan Aktres Terbaik (Mirella Pascual) manakala di Lima Latin American Film Festival (Peru) sekali lagi Mirella Pascual mencapai kemenangan di samping memperoleh anugerah Lakon Layar Terbaik.

Uruguay pernah sekali menerima pencalonan filem yang lima - Place in the World (1992) tetapi dibatalkan kerana melanggar peraturan dan syarat.

Filem daripada negara yang hancur dilanda peperangan (Afghanistan) yang berjaya ke Cannes, Earth and Ashes (Atiq Rahimi) belum lagi menerima sebarang anugerah pada festival-festival filem antarabangsa sama seperti Puteri Gunung Ledang. Tetapi menurut pengkritik, Earth and Ashes merupakan salah satu daripada lima filem yang akan ke pencalonan Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik.

Bayangkan! Betapa Puteri Gunung Ledang menghadapi jalan terlalu sukar untuk tersenarai antara lima Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik.

Dalam pada itu, India turut terpilih memasuki senarai dengan filemnya Shwaas (Sandeep Sawant). Filem ini memenangi anugerah Filem Terbaik pada National Film Award dan anugerah Aktor Terbaik (Arin Nalawade) pada Screen Weekly Award.

Tahun lalu (2003), Devdas (Sanjay Leela Bhansali) lakonan Shah Rukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit dan Aishwarya Rai telah tersenarai tetapi digagalkan oleh Barbarian Invansion (Kanada), Evil (Sweden), Twilight Samurai (Jepun), Twin Sisters (Netherlands) dan Zelary (Czechoslovakia).

India belum pernah memenangi sebarang Oscar tetapi berjaya tiga kali ke pencalonan kategori Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik - Mother India (1957 dibintangi Sunil Dutt, Nargis dan Rajendra Kumar), Salaam Bombay! (1988) dan Lagaan (2003) yang dibintangi oleh Amir Khan.

Taiwan pernah memenangi Oscar pada tahun 2000 dengan filemnya Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (dibintangi Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh dan Zhang Ziyi). Kali ini Taiwan sekali ini mencalonkan filemnya, 20: 30: 40: arahan dan lakonan Sylvia Chang.

Filem ini telah dipertandingkan di Berlin Film Festival, tetapi gagal menenangi sebarang anugerah.

Bagaimanapun, Taiwan telah dua kali menerima pencalonan lima Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik - Wedding Banquet (1993) dan Eat Drink Man Woman (1994).

Pencalonan

Menurut sejarah Anugerah Academy, pencalonan bagi kategori Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik ini bermula pada tahun 1948. Pada masa itu di masukkan ke kategori Anugerah Penghormatan (Honorary Awards) dengan Peranchis memenangi anugerahnya melalui Monsieur Vincent.

Kemudian pada tahun 1956 kategori Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik diwujudkan dan filem Italy, La Strada yang dibintangi Anthony Quinn dan Giuliette Masina muncul sebagai pemenang lalu mengalahkan Captain of Kopenick (Germany), Gervaise (Peranchis), Harp of Burma (Jepun) dan Qivitoq (Denmark).

Sepanjang 56 tahun kewujudannya, Peranchis menduduki tempat di atas sekali dengan 32 kali pencalonan bagi kategori lima Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik, kemudian diikuti Italy (26), Sepanyol (18) Sweden(13), Jepun (11), Russia (9), German (8), Hungary (8), Netherlands (7), Poland (7), Denmark (6), Israel (6), Mexico (6) dan Yugoslavia (6).

Antara 32 pencalonan itu, Peranchis memenangi sembilan Oscar. Antara filem-filemnya: Monsieur Vincent, Black Orpheus (1959), Man and Woman (1966), Madame Rosa (1977) dan Indochine (1992).

Kali ini Peranchis tersenarai dengan filem Chorus yang diarahkan oleh Christopher Barratier.

Italy yang mencalonkan Keys to The House arahan Gianni Amelio setakat ini telah memenangi 10 oscar.

Selain La Strada antaranya ialah Bicycle Thief (1949), Night of Cabaria (1957), 8 1/2 (1983), Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow (1964) dan Life is Beautiful (1998).

Di Venice Film Festival, Keys to The House memenangi anugerah Sergio Trasatti Award dan Cinema Avvenire Award.

Sepanyol yang turut tersenarai dengan filemnya Sea Inside (Alejandro Amenabar) telah berjaya dengan tiga Oscar - To Begin Again (1982), Belle Epoque (1993) dan All About My Mother (1999).

Pada Venice Film Festival yang lalu (yang mana Puteri Gunung Ledang turut serta), Sea Inside memenangi anugerah Aktor Terbaik (Javier Bardem) dan Grand Special Award.

Manakala bagi kategori Pasinetti Award pada festival filem yang sama, filem tersebut memenangi anugerah Filem Terbaik, dan Aktor Terbaik (Kim Rossi Stuart).

Bagi Sweden pula filemnya As in Heaven (Kay Pallock) pernah tersenarai untuk 13 kategori pencalonan. Daripada 13 itu, tiga filemnya memenangi anugerah Oscar Virgin Spring yang diarahkan Ingmar Bergman (1960), Fanny & Alexander (1983) dan Under the Sun (1999).

Disamping itu, Malaysia juga terpaksa menandingi kekuatan Greece, Switzerland dan Netherlands yang telah memenangi banyak anugerah.

Greece dengan filemnya Touch of Spice (Tassos Boulmetis) telah berjaya di Thessaloniki Film Festival (Greece) dengan memenangi Filem Fiksyen Terbaik, Pengarah Terbaik, Sinematografi Terbaik, Penyuntingan Terbaik, Bunyi Terbaik, Rekaan Set Terbaik dan Audience Award.

Filem Switzerland Mein Name Ist Bach yang turut tersenarai telah memenangi anugerah di Swiss Film Prize - Filem Fiksyen Terbaik, Aktor Pembantu Terbaik ( Gilles Tschudi).

Manakala filem Netherlands, Simon telah berjaya di Netherland Film Festival dengan membawa pulang anugerah Filem Terbaik, Aktor Terbaik (Cees Geel) dan Pengarah Terbaik (Eddy Terstall).

Switzerland tigas kali memenangi Anugerah Academy - Dangerous Moves (1984) dan Journey of Hope (1990), manakala Netherlands juga tiga kali - Assault (1986), Antonia's Line (1995) dan Character (1997).

Satu lagi cabaran Malaysia ialah Belgium dengan filemnya, Alzheimer Case yang mana di Joseph Platean Award (Ghent, Belgium) memenangi anugerah Filem Terbaik, Aktor Terbaik (Jan Decleir), Pengarah Terbaik (Erik Van Looy), dan Skrip Terbaik.

Selain Malaysia, dua filem negara jiran (Filipina dan Thailand) turut tersenarai bersama negara yang bermusuh dan sedang berperang sekarang - Palestine dan Israel.

Filipina dengan filemnya Crying Ladies (Mark Meily) pernah mengondol anugerah Filem Terbaik di Metro Manila Film Festival dan Thailand dengan filem Overture yang diarahkan oleh Itthisoontorn Vicchailak.

Palestin pula diwakili filem Olive Harvest (Hanna Elias) dan Israel dengan Campfire (Joseph Cedar).

Negara-negara lain yang pernah memenangi Anugerah Academy ini yang turut sekali lagi tersenarai ialah Argentina, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Canada, Czehoslovakia, Germany dan Denmark.

Argentina yang mencalonkan Los Embrace (Daniel Burman), pernah sekali memenangi Anugerah Academy - Official Story (1985), Bosnia & Herzegovia dengan filemnya No Man's Land (2000) bersama Days and Hours (Pjer Zalica).

Canada yang berjaya tahun lalu dengan filemnya Barbaraian Invasion kali ini mencalonkan Far Side of the Moon (Robert Lapage) dan Czechoslovakia yang tersenarai dengan Up and Down pernah memenangi tiga kali - Shop on Main Street (1965), Closely Watched Trains (1967) dan Kolya (1996).

German pula yang pernah memenanginya melalui Tin Drum (1979) dan Nowhere in Africa (2002) tercalon dengan filemnya Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel) dan Denmark yang mencapai dua kali kemenangan - Babette's Feast (1987) dan Pelle the Conqueror (1988) - tersenarai dengan Five Obstructions (JergenLeth/Lars von Trier).

Negara-negara lain yang turut tersenarai dan memberi cabaran kepada Malaysia ialah Austria, Brazil,Bulgaria, Chile, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Korea, Iceland, Iran, Macedonia, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia & Montenegro, Slovenia, Afrika Selatan dan Venezuela.

Menurut pemerhati filem, tiga antara lima filem yang dijangka berkemungkinan besar dipilih ke pencalonan yang lima Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik ialah Nobody Knows (Jepun), House of The Flying Daggers (China) dan Earth and Ashes (Afghanistan).

Dua filem lagi masih terbuka luas. Mana tahu satu antaranya untuk Puteri Gunung Ledang? Tidak mustahil sesuatu yang memeranjatkan akan berlaku?

Walau apa pun, pengumuman pencalonan filem-filem (termasuk Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik) yang bakal menyertai penyampaian Anugerah Academy ke-77 nanti akan dilakukan di Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater, Los Angeles pada 25 Januari 2005.

Oleh yang demikian sama-samalah kita tunggu keputusannya sama ada Puteri Gunung Ledang berjaya atau pun tidak dicalonkan ke kategori Filem Berbahasa Asing Terbaik.

Sumber :- Utusan Malaysia, 19 Jan 2005