Magistus Miftah's Story: From Fried Chicken Stall to the Big Screen

Success stories often come from unexpected paths. This is the case for new dance instructor, Magistus Miftah, who is now stepping into the world of acting through the film Ghost in the Cell directed by Joko Anwar.

The film, which will be released in theaters starting April 16th, marks Miftah’s debut after he successfully passed the audition, which was attended by hundreds of applicants.

Miftah’s unique story begins with a simple moment at a fried chicken stall with his friend. At that time, his friend spontaneously said, “Miftah, I’m waiting for you to star in a film, a film by Joko Anwar.”

Although he initially doubted himself, feeling that he was just a dancer, Miftah chose to acknowledge the statement. Unexpectedly, a month later, fate seemed to answer.

His friend sent him a screenshot of the casting call advertisement for the film Ghost in the Cell uploaded by the production house, Come And See Pictures.

“I immediately saw it and thought, ‘Wow, God, this is real. This is the time,’” said Miftah, quoted on Wednesday (February 25th).

He felt that the character of Novilham in the script was very suitable for him, as if it was created for him.

Miftah’s initial interest turned into fear when he read the script. The content felt very personal and similar to his own life.

He initially suspected that the writing team had been observing his daily life. However, this doubt was answered when he learned that the script had actually been written in 2018, long before the audition process began.

“It turned out that the script was written much earlier than my audition. But when I read it, it was like, ‘This is so me.’ And that’s a bit scary. I felt like, ‘Am I being watched?’”, explained Miftah.

During the production process, Joko Anwar gave Miftah a lot of creative freedom to explore the character of Novilham. One of them was the director’s request to include unique terms that Miftah often used when teaching dance.

Miftah then brought in his everyday language, such as choreography instructions that sounded humorous in the scenes inside the prison cell: “wash your hair, wash your hair, soap up, rinse, rinse, down, look up.”

After ensuring that these terms were polite and safe from censorship, Miftah felt proud to be able to portray the character of Novilham in a very authentic way.

For him, being involved in this major project is a real manifestation of what he acknowledged at the fried chicken stall some time ago. (Ant/Z-1)