CINEMA: Lonely hearts

 
This article is taken from NST online
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/Features/20080625160611/Article

SEPI (Malay)
Directed by Kabir Bhatia
Starring Afdlin Shauki, Vanida Imran, Nasha Aziz, Tony Eusoff, Eja, Pierre Andre, Baizura Kahar, Syed Hussein.

WHEN Kabir Bhatia’s first film Cinta hit the screens two years ago, it did well at the box office and won four awards at the 20th Malaysian Film Festival, including Best Picture.
It even spawned an Indonesian version called Love. Naturally, after all the buzz surrounding Cinta, people must have a higher expectation of Sepi.
Kabir and screenwriters Mira Mustafa and ara must have worked hard to make Sepi a notch above their first film.
Sepi is about three individuals — Adam (Afdlin Shauki), Sufi (Tony Eusoff) and Imaan (Baizura Kahar) — whose life stories are interspersed throughout the film.
Adam falls in love with Ilyana (Vanida Imran) who is already engaged to someone else at the time.
Sufi’s happy marriage life turns tragic when his wife dies in an accident.
As for Imaan, she is in love with her college mate, Khalil (Pierre Andre), but a guy named Ian (Syed Hussein) steals her attention.
Unlike the premise of five intertwining and different stories offered in Cinta, all the three stories in Sepi stand well on their own.
This gives time for character development and allows the audience to “bond” with the characters.
It is also interesting to see the scene where the three meet after an accident, tying the three stories together.
Certain parts of the film are rather languid. This is especially true when Sufi chances upon Marya (Eja), an unhappy, married woman who has yet to have children of her own.
A loony Suzie (Nasha Aziz), who hounds Adam, provides much-needed comic relief.
Newcomer Baizura Kahar is impressive.
In fact, this is what Kabir, Mira and ara excel in — tugging at the heartstrings.
This is very much in line with the film’s title, reflecting the overall theme (sepi means lonely in Malay).
The film opens today(2008/06/26) in 49 cinemas nationwide. Do catch it, and don’t be afraid to shed some tears.
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FENDI: hopefully i got time to watch this movie before going back to Arau.