Actor Tora Sudiro goes with the flow

Actor Tora Sudiro goes with the flow

Bruce Emond, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

For Tora Sudiro, getting from point A of the entrance of a
South Jakarta cafe to point B of his waiting table means making a
few pitstops along the way.

As the actor knows at least one person at each of the three
other occupied tables, a bit of obligatory gladhanding and jokey
asides are all part of his newfound brush with the fame game.

He first came to prominence in late 2003 in the role of Sakti,
every girl's idea of a sweet, caring male friend who is inching
his way out of the closet, in the critically acclaimed film
Arisan.

An onscreen kiss with costar Surya Saputra -- and the
attendant "is he or isn't he?" question about his sexuality --
kept Tora's name on the front burner of smoldering gossip rags.

A year later, the 31 year old has played in several television
soaps, displayed his comedic talent as a member of Trans TV's
popular show Extravaganza and is the lead actor in the upcoming
Banyu Biru, a feature costarring Dian Sastro.

And, of course, to the surprise of some, not least himself, he
won the best actor Citra at December's Festival Film Indonesia
(FFI).

Those fearing a bad bout of celebrity-itis can rest easy: Tora
does not seem to have lost the "wow" factor about all the changes
going on in his life.

He also can be disarmingly funny at his own expense. About the
FFI awards, where he wore an understated jacket and pants,
despite the dress code of "glamorous", he quipped, "Well, at
least I looked different from the rest".

The happy-go-lucky, almost naive quality in his answers is a
refreshing contrast to the polished, infotainment-wary defense
mechanisms of most stars. And it may well have to do with the
fact that instead of having to deal with the mythical rejection
and hard knocks of acting, he virtually stumbled upon his career.

Tora was born in Jakarta when the World War II movie Tora!
Tora! Tora! was playing in local movie theaters, but his
businessman father and model mother divorced when he was young.
Although both subsequently remarried, Tora's mother was killed in
a car accident when he was seven.

He lived with his grandmother for a time, before eventually
settling with his father. The patchwork of tattoos covering his
arms and shoulders -- revealed in one scene in Arisan -- tell of
his teenage aspirations to be in a rock band.

"When rockers get together and get drunk, it's kind of a given
to get a tattoo. And then you get drunk again, and again you have
to do," he said with a laugh.

He left for New Zealand and Australia as a teenager, spending
six years there, he noted wryly, "as a student who never
studied".

Upon his return to Jakarta, Tora married and is now the father
of a five-year-old daughter. He was working in an advertising
firm when the opportunity to act came his way.

"I got to know Teteh (director Nia DiNata) when the ad firm
did some work for her film Ca-Bau-Kan. I didn't meet up with her
for a long time, and then I was called in. They asked me if I
would like to play in Arisan, as a gay man. I thought, great."

Originally up for the role of Nino, the character who is more
comfortable with his sexuality than timid Sakti, Tora's cinematic
reference point was the mincing, pouting, hilariously precious
Emon, originally played by Didi Petet in the Catatan Si Boy
movies in the late 1980s.

Instead, he was given the role of Sakti, and, with fellow cast
members, went through an intense three-month preparation.

He was also told to forget about playing it for laughs.

"We would all go to a cafe together, and Teteh would have us
watch people. None of the cast really knew each other before but
we met every day for three months and became like old friends.
Teteh taught me to open my eyes, and Joko (Anwar, who cowrote the
screenplay) would always tell me, 'Don't be a sissy', because
that wasn't what they wanted."

Joko, who is the regular film columnist for this publication
and has cast Tora in his directorial debut Janji Joni, said the
actor proved the right choice for the part.

"Except for the gay aspect, he was basically playing himself,"
he said, not meaning it as a backhanded compliment. "I think he
has a bright future ahead of him, because he really wants to
learn more about film and acting as a craft."

One of the most affecting scenes in the movie is when Sakti,
believing his secret is finally out, breaks down.

Tora said it was not easy getting the waterworks going.

"My mood was always happy during shooting, but on that day
they told me I had to cry. I couldn't do it. Rachel (Maryam)
tried to get me to do it using techniques she learned in theater,
but I still couldn't do it. And then Teteh came, and she told me
to go into a corner, and think of my late mother, so I could cry.
And it worked."

Arisan garnered mostly favorable reviews, and a lot of fans
for Tora, including women drawn by his tall (184 cm), lean looks.
Tora said that when he watches the movie now, he becomes his own
worst critic about what he should have done.

But it was that kiss that stole the show.

Screams, gasps and yelps rang out in movie theaters, leading
to wire service stories about the reactions to Indonesia's "gay
revolution".

"Actually, the reaction was a bit much," Tora said."Everybody
talks about the kiss, but it really wasn't anything indecent. But
maybe it's because of our culture .... people have heard of gay
people, but they had never actually seen it.

"And if people want to think I'm gay, that's fine. That means
that I must have done a really good job of acting."

With a Citra to his name, Tora also realizes that a lot is
riding on Banyu Biru, due for a March release, to prove that it's
not a case of first time lucky.

Banyu, he said, "... is someone disappointed with his family,
with his parents, very closed. But he meets a lot of different
people, and tries to face up to things".

The talent of the supporting cast is not lost on him; as well
as Dian, who won the best actress Citra, there is Slamet Rahardjo
and Didi Petet.

"So many people liked Arisan, so if the second one is just
ordinary, yeah, how will that be? ... I know that Slamet won
Citras in several categories, I'm used to watching him in the
movie theater, and then he's standing next to me. It's enough to
give you a panic attack. But he's a calming presence."

If fame is measured by having a fried tempeh seller shout out
Sakti's name on the street as you pass by -- even if he had
watched the pirated version as the movie was still in theaters --
then Tora has arrived.

Tora argues that success has not changed him.

"I just go on with my life. The Tora of yesterday is the same
as today. I don't want to become arrogant, because then I
couldn't act anymore. ... Sure, I've lost my privacy, but I enjoy
it."