Guess What? Rano Karno

Actor Rano Karno has great respect for the actors who came before him, including the late Benyamin Sueb, who played Doel's father on the TV series Si Doel Anak Sekolahan (Doel the Graduate).

He would like to develop a museum to honor these actors. "I really want to collect and display photos and mementos of late actors, but we don't have any place to do this," he said last week during lunchtime at the Warung Si Doel cafe in Bandung.

The owner of PT Karnos Film started painting three months ago, producing portraits of Benyamin, Pak Tile and other characters from Si Doel Anak Sekolahan, including Mandra, Karyo, Mak Nyak, Zaenab and Sarah. The portraits now adorn the yellow-colored walls of his cafe's newest outlet.

"Doing the paintings is just for fun," said the son of the famed actor Soekarno M Noor.

He has no plans to exhibit his 18 works because he does not want to detract from the work of "real" artists.

Rano is also concerned about the fate of historic buildings in Jakarta, most of which have been destroyed or renovated. He deeply regrets that the Jakarta administration decided to demolish the old Chinese residences in the Senen triangle. (Sir Ramadani)