Not just for laughs with comic actor Mat

Not just for laughs with comic actor Mat

Adhi Abhiyasa
Contributor
Jakarta

Anyone who says a cache of beautiful faces is the only trick to
earn high ratings and commercial benefits should stand corrected
right here, right now.

Turn on private TV station TransTV any night of the week from
6 p.m., and you will find the reason why we should not let our
airwaves become dominated by all those pretty faces displaying
their ugly acting.

What you get instead are healthy laughs and good times from
the modest local sitcom Bajaj Bajuri, telling about the daily
life of an ordinary family, consisting of naive bajaj (three-
wheeled motorized pedicab) driver Bajuri, his not-too-smart wife
(Oneng) and her meddling mother (Emak).

Like all parents, Emak wants her beautiful daughter to land a
kind-hearted, good-looking and wealthy man. Alas, Oneng set her
heart on Bajuri and married the pot-bellied guy, who works as a
bajaj driver to make ends meet.

Emak and Bajuri are embroiled in daily feuds on you-name-it-
topics, from the uang arisan (contributions for the monthly
communal money pot) to a wedding party. The funny situations that
arise from the interaction of these three main characters --
along with the memorable supporting cast of characters, from a
vampy neighbor to one who prefaces every statement with
"Sorry ..." -- are guaranteed to keep you chuckling right through
to the next episode.

It is safe to say the show's fans all over the nation owe
their enjoyment to achingly funny Mat Solar aka Nasrullah. The
41-year-old actor knows for sure how to make his comical
character of Bajuri create humorous situations without having to
grandstand or camp it up, the failing of so many other sitcoms.

According to Nasrullah, serious preparation goes into each
episode. During the early episodes, Nasrullah did not even mind
playing the role of scriptwriter along with actor.

Now that he wants to focus on deliver his best acting as the
woebegotten bajaj driver, the producer has hired a team of eight
professional scriptwriters to make sure no actor has to make up
improvised jokes due to dull and poorly written scripts.

"I play well as Bajuri because the script support me in doing
so. It is tight and does not let the actors make too many
improvisations," says the Jakarta-born comedian.

In real life, Nasrullah has been able to improvise and go with
life's detours.

Very few people know that prior to becoming a comedian,
Nasrullah was a film actor in the mid-1970s. After a string of
dramatic roles, including the one in Mendung Tak Selamanya Kelabu
(Every cloud has a silver lining), he sharpened his acting by
joining Teater Mama, which regularly performed comedy plays on
state-owned TVRI television station from 1978-1982.

"That was one of the most exciting periods of my career,"
recalled Nasrullah.

He and his fellow members of Teater Mama introduced a new kind
of comedy by having a studio audience, giving their comments and
reactions to the jokes. We at home guessed that all the actors
were so good at improvising that the studio audience could not
help but laugh.

The truth?

"I've told you before, I am not going to do a program with a
bad script. At Teater Mama, we practiced so hard, thus we managed
to create an ambiance that makes every line and joke we deliver
look smoothly spontaneous. The fact is that everything was
written in the script and the director was so disciplined,
improvising was almost impossible," said Nasrullah.

Performing regularly on the country's only TV station at the
time was a rare chance. Nasrullah's career as a comedian seemed
on the right track but it did not last. His decision to become
actively involved in the United Development Party (PPP) that was
vying against the ruling Golkar grouping effectively put a stop
to his rise.

It was no joke when the government banned him from TV
appearances from 1982-1990 simply because of his political
preference. Worse still, no film studio offered him roles in
their productions.

"But I took everything in stride. They might ban my creativity
but not my brain," Nasrullah said. The period allowed him to go
back to school and study at the University of Indonesia's School
of Political and Social Sciences for 10 semesters.

Several years later, the end of the Soeharto regime allowed
Nasrullah to return to the stage. He got offers to perform in
various TV programs, but it was the creation of Bajaj Bajuri two
years ago that has brought his talents to the fore once again.

The 30-minute sitcom is popular nationwide, showcasing
Nasrullah as a comedian or, as he puts it, a comic actor.

"Boy, if only you knew how hard it is to become a comedian.
You need an awfully big stock of funny jokes and have to be ready
to be spontaneous at all times. And let me tell you, I was an
unsuccessful comedian. Now just call me an actor who plays comedy
characters."

This comes from a funny guy who -- with his devilish grins and
devastating look every time his mom-in-law scolds him for not
bringing home enough money -- has managed to convince us that the
local TV scene is not dead -- and the unrelenting dose of pretty
faces is much more than our recommended daily requirements.

Fame has not gone to his head. He is still a happily married
man, a father of three who refuses to be interviewed on a
weekend. He stubbornly keeps his lucky charm of a faded yellow
small towel on his shoulder even during a break from filming.

Surprisingly, being serious is the personal trait that
continually emerges during an interview with Nasrullah.

From recounting his past of being kicked out of the film
industry to his dream of making Bajaj Bajuri, everything is told
in a brain-driven seriousness that we don't really expect from a
comedy actor.

Most of the time, his structured sentences remind us how smart
this funny guy is. In fact, he only dipped into comedy once
during the whole meeting, when telling why he married a native
Jakartan woman.

"Oh, I wish I could marry a bule (Western) girl, but fate
brought me a local 'product'. What can I say, singkong (cassava)
meets singkong again, ha ha ..."