Zul Ariffin anticipates audiences' response to "J Revolusi"

Writer: Ashraf Nasser

Zul Ariffin is satisfied with his acting in "J Revolusi".

Zul Ariffin can be spotted more on the small screen rather than the silver screen, especially through romantic drama series that make viewers – the ladies, notably – fall for the strapping actor.

However, despite him often portraying romantic characters in dramas, Zul harbours the dream to star in an action-packed film.

His dream finally came true when he was offered to star in "J Revolusi" as lead character Jay Zulkarnaian.

The movie, by Grand Brilliance and Infinitus Productions, is focused on Malaysia's UTK (Unit Tindakan Khas / Special Actions Unit), in which Zul plays one of the elite members of the team.

Aside from Zul, the Zulkarnaian Azhar-directed movie also features a stellar line-up of frontliners including Farid Kamil, Nur Fazura and Izara Aishah. The supporting cast includes Azad Jazmin, Dato' Hans Isaac and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighters.

During the recent preview of "J Revolusi" at mmCineplexes, eCurve, Cinema Online had a little chat with Zul about the action movie that is expected to be the biggest local blockbuster this year!

The cast of "J Revolusi".

Cinema Online: Can you tell us a bit more about your character in "J Revolusi"?

Zul Ariffin: In the movie I play the character Jay Zulkarnian. He is a UTK member on a mission to save his sister, who is a spy, from being killed by the bad guy. At the same time, he is also framed for killing a fellow team member during an operation.

Why did you take up the offer to star in "J Revolusi"?

Actually, I've always wanted to star in an action movie, but our industry nowadays leans more towards romantic movies. When more action movies start being produced, I start dreaming about starring in one and finally my dream comes true when I get to star in an action movie for the first time. It's even more intriguing as I get to work with amazing actors such as Farid Kamil, Nur Fazura, Izara Aishah and many more.

When I received the script for the movie, from the start I was determined to give my best and not care about any injuries that I might face and if possible, I wanted to do all my action scenes without a stunt double.

There's a fight scene between you and Izara Aishah, can you share a bit on how it was like filming it?

Yes true. There are female members in the UTK and all of them are well-trained, so we feel that we need to shine the light on them too, hence why we made this scene. It took quite long to film it as we started filming at 10am and only wrapped up at 3am. Another reason why we wanted to make this scene is to show that even petite women can beat brawny men.

Did you refer to any other film characters to play Jay?

No, I did not refer to any other movies to play Jay because if I did look for references, I would indirectly be "copying" them. I do not wish to copy at all as I wanted to develop the character myself.

What were the challenges you faced during the filming?

Not a lot, because almost 90 percent of the actions scenes I did them myself. It was only the scene where I had to use a cable to 'hang' myself that I did not dare to do as I never had the experience, but after this I would do it myself considering that now I already have the know-how.

We heard that you bought a high-powered motorcycle for the movie and it was involved in an accident?

I gave the idea to producer Gayatri to add in a motorcycle action scene and offered to buy the motorcycle myself. I have always wanted to own a motorcycle and this was my best excuse to buy one. Unfortunately, two weeks after that, it was involved in an accident while a stunt performer was riding it.

However, the motorcycle has been repaired and I intend to present it to a lucky viewer. I plan to do so as I think that it would be something special for the audiences. We will be doing a contest with many interesting prizes. One of them is a Mazda!

"J Revolusi" is now showing in cinemas!