Indra's trademark camp stage persona takes a backseat

Indra's trademark camp stage persona takes a backseat

By Bruce Emond

JAKARTA (JP): Like many entertainers known for their high
humor quotient, Indra Safera keeps a subdued presence off stage.

He politely answers a pat round of feeling-out questions, but
there is the conspicuous absence of his trademark camp stage
persona, so familiar from commercials, his stint as host of the
gossip magazine show KISS and as an MC and deejay. No staccato
asides or high-pitched laugh interrupt the conversation; he
initially proves to be a thoughtful interview if not a dynamic
one.

His guard only comes down when he talks about his goals in
life and, pointedly, about being burned by the media.

Now 31, he longs to set up his own talk show in the mold of
successful U.S. programs -- "I learned my English from watching
Sally Jessy Raphael, Oprah and Geraldo" -- but his first venture
into the domain was short-lived. He is a self-confessed
perfectionist with a short attention span; when a project is not
working or becomes stagnant, he chooses to move on to try his
talents at something new.

He is also passionate in protesting the media's intrusions
into his private life. It may appear a disingenuous grievance
from a man who hosted a gossip show, but his ire mainly seems to
stem from reporters' heavy-handed tactics. To his detriment, he
does not suffer fools gladly, even when they are armed with the
considerable might of a pen.

In an interview conducted almost exclusively in English at his
office at Hard Rock FM, Indra talked about his roundabout path to
a career in entertainment, his future plans and the nagging
question which will not go away.

Question: Did you always want to become an entertainer?

Answer: No, I never planned to be an entertainer, it just
happened that way. I went to college in Hawaii studying
management, and after that I went to San Francisco. I worked at
Nieman Marcus (department store) for about 10 months. I loved it,
but my friends kept on telling me to come back to Indonesia. I
came back and worked at an advertising agency for about three
months and didn't like it very much. I moved onto a tour agency
and worked there, maybe because it would make my parents happy.

But I had always done things like perform on Independence Day,
so I was used to being in front of people. And then I was asked
to emcee a show, it was for (private airline) Sempati, before it
went out of business. And I remember it was Rp 500,000, which was
a big payday. And it all went from there.

Q: Then you went into television...

A: I bumped into a friend, Harry de Fretes, who asked me if I
wanted to be on his comedy show. I did segments with us reading
bits of humorous news, me with Becky (Tumewu). I did that for a
year. Nearly everybody who has worked with Harry, like from the
show Lenong Rumpi, has become successful.

I also did Catatan Si Boy (he played Emon, a fey, spoiled
Jakarta rich kid, in a character made famous by actor Didi Petet
in a series of movies in the 1980s). But I hated the slowness of
it and how uncertain it was. And I hated it when construction
workers would shout after me "hey, Emon!". I was pissed off and
so I quit.

I went to Indosiar and originally they wanted me to be
somebody to compete with (TV chef) Rudy Chaeruddin. But I hate
copying other people. And then I did KISS, and I loved that show.

Q: Why did you leave?

A: After a while, there was no more challenge. There was the
conflict with the station, the vision of what the show could be.
I don't want to stay in something that I don't like, I can't do
it.

Q: What do you think of the new host, Eko? Are you friends?

A: Well, we don't go bowling together, if that's what you mean.
I've met him but I don't know him well. We don't like to
criticize people in Indonesia, but some people say he is copying
my style. But a lot about the show has changed, like the creator
of the show is also gone.

Q: You also did the talk show Korek. What was your aim with that
project?

A: It was to deliver a message, to educate people, especially the
younger audience. But you cannot do these things alone. You have
to have a marketing team behind you which can conduct evaluations
and things like that, which can put the program out there for the
audience.

The station wasn't really serious about a talk show. They
would ask "why are you having (female impersonator) Tato Daddo on
the show, he's a banci (fairy) and "(actress) Inneke
Koesherawati, she has such a terrible reputation". They didn't
see that they were interesting. Korek was acceptable to the
audience, and other stations put on good shows to compete against
it. But it wasn't going anywhere and I couldn't force it. We were
only a small group.

My plan is to see how it's done in the U.S. I don't want to do
something that is just regular. My idols are people like Tantowi
Yahya, who is so good at what he does. There is an art to it all.
A show like Ricky Lake's has about 18 cameras in the studio; we
had about three. But I will have to sacrifice a lot if I want to
come back with the skills.

Q: How do you see your role as an entertainer?

A: My job is to deliver messages. If I am doing a show, I like to
be involved in all aspects of it, which can mean the planning,
decorations, etc. Sometimes my clients are surprised that I'm
such a perfectionist, that I want to have a hand in making the
show right. My job is to keep everything smooth -- I cannot just
do only what I'm supposed to do and go home.

My job as an entertainer is to learn, learn, learn. You have
to adjust to your audience, to fit in with what they want. For
instance, I've done a show for new military graduates, and the
jokes went off fine. If I do a show for secretaries, I know they
like a lot of dirty jokes because it is so different from their
regular lives with the boss.

But not all of my shows are the best. I fail when people go
home before the show is over, because they somehow haven't got
the message. I'm most afraid when people don't laugh.

I am proud that I can be a bilingual entertainer. I'm setting
up an artists' management firm so we can have professional
entertainers who perform to a particular standard. We still lack
singers who can communicate in English, and some of them are very
shy.

Q: What do you think of the outcry over comedy group Bagito
lampooning President Abdurrahman Wahid?

A: Well, it was so cruel because it was so physical, the phone on
the head. I think it will take time for them to come back. My
market is very segmented, but theirs goes across the board, so
what they do reaches more people.

Sometimes I go physical, but I always read what is happening.
If I'm on stage, I'll do it, but if the performance is being
televised, then no. You have to think about the person, and that
the family and friends would also be watching at home.

Q: But your stage persona is very camp, and your jokes can be
cutting. Are there subjects you will not get into?

A: I won't touch private things, like sexual preference.

Q: It seems like the media is always asking you if you are gay...

A: Yes. And I think that if I answer "yes I am", what good does
that do, because it only hurts my family and friends, and if I
say I'm not, there's lot of people who will just say I'm lying.

Aren't there more important questions the media can ask me?
I've done interviews with magazines for what I thought were going
to be profiles, but they always ask me the same question: "Are
you gay?" Or they will use a headline like "Indra Safera talks
about gay life". Those things hurt.

And if people don't like me or my style, I always say, then
just switch channels.