'Pernikahan Dini', unique teen romantic series<\/p>\n
By Tony Ryanto<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A 26-episode, one-hour TV drama series entitled
\nPernikahan Dini, with Saturday prime-time airing (8:30 p.m.-
\n9:30) by RCTI, is enjoying immense popularity. Its rating of 17,
\ncompared with most, lying only between 7 and 9, is exceptional,
\naccording to Rukmi, of the station's programming department.<\/p>\n
Pernikahan has been described as unique, boasting a strong
\ncast, a fine storyline, making it completely different from most
\nteen drama-romantic-comedies. But if you look at it objectively,
\nit is an updated version of a Mira W. novel-based-35mm movie
\ncalled Di Balik Jendela SMP (SMP standing for Sekolah Menengah
\nPertama or Junior High School), a Gramedia Film production.<\/p>\n
In the 1980s there was a theatrical movie entitled Pernikahan
\nDini, starring Mathias Muchus and Gladys Suwandi. That happens to
\nbe the movie that has inspired the current series.<\/p>\n
Thus the principal magnet must be the neat packaging and the
\npowerful come-hither appeal of its leads: singer Agnes Monika and
\nteen heartthrob Syahrul Gunawan, of the \"Jin and Jun\" series
\nfame, observes one weekly tabloid editor.<\/p>\n
Monika is Dini, a junior high student who's bright, smart, but
\na little out of control -- the idol of today's teenagers. Not
\nsurprisingly, what she does often goes beyond the boundaries of
\npropriety. Subsequently, her parents (Rudy Salam as Duta and
\nLydia Kandou as Shinta) are over-protective.<\/p>\n
Running parallel to this is a subplot centering on Dini's
\nbrother Dody (Attlariksyah), who is unjustly accused of raping a
\nwoman named Dyah (Verra Rachmi), while in fact he is the one who
\nhad come to her help shortly after the mishap.<\/p>\n
Seeing the woman in pain, with her dress in disarray, he took
\noff his jacket and covered her.<\/p>\n
When asked by her mother (Asniar, played by Yatty Surachman)
\nwhom the culprit is, Dyah does not say anything, but the jacket
\nmakes Dody a suspect.<\/p>\n
Without giving viewers a moment of relief, the first few
\nepisodes are full of shocks and surprises, leaving the viewer
\nwondering where the story will lead to.<\/p>\n
Gunawan (Syahrul Gunawan) is a country boy who leaves Lembang,
\nWest Java), for Jakarta, attending the same junior high school
\nDini goes to.<\/p>\n
The high point of tension in the story is premarital sex
\nbetween the two leads. As Syahrul Gunawan put it to The Jakarta
\nPost, the MBA (married by accident) story is expected to open the
\neyes of ABGs (anak baru gede or teenagers) to the realities of
\nlife.<\/p>\n
He adds that shooting is still going on. \"But due to good
\nplanning, we are not doing things in a hurry. This means that we
\nwill be able to concentrate on standards.\"<\/p>\n
Similar to the male lead in the just-concluded drama series
\nAku Ingin Pulang, the male lead is loved by two women, one a big
\ncity girl, the other from a small town.<\/p>\n
As could have been predicted, Gunawan and Dini will get to
\nknow each other and get closer and closer. The girl in Lembang,
\nRatna (Della Puspita) loves him, but is fiercely opposed by the
\nyoung man's mother, Bu Drajat (Meriem Bellina).<\/p>\n
With this in mind, it is easy to comprehend why viewers are
\ncurious to know how the story will end following the \"accident\".
\nTo whom will Gunawan get married: Ratna or Dini?<\/p>\n
The title itself is interesting because \"dini\" can have two
\nmeanings. \"Pernikahan Dini\" could be either \"Marriage of two
\npeople that are too young to enter matrimony\", or simply \"Dini's
\nmarriage\".<\/p>\n
Understandably, Pernikahan Dini could not be too closely based
\non the Mira W. story, because a 26-episode series is too
\nextensive and voluminous for it, giving ample opportunity for the
\nwriter to improvise, thereby enriching the positive and negative
\naspects of premarital sex and how they are perceived by society
\nin different parts of Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Back in 1940, Indonesians had occasion to see an unforgettable
\nblack-and-white Italian film called Tomorrow is Too Late.
\nDirected by Leonide Moguy and written by Oreste Biancoli and
\nAlfred Machard, the film marked the debut of Pier Angeli.<\/p>\n
She and a fellow junior high school student, while on a school
\nexcursion, are \"stranded\" in a forest hut during a rainy night.
\nAn \"accident\" could not be avoided. The teachers and students are
\nshocked, but everything has to be solved, and a solution is
\nultimately found with the help of Vittorio de Sica, who plays
\nProf. Sandi.<\/p>\n
Tomorrow became all the talk among junior as well as senior
\nhigh school students in Jakarta at the time.<\/p>",
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