Silat has had a role to play in many martial arts action movies for some time now. But one has to admit that never has the style itself taken up such a huge spotlight than in recent years with international action star Iko Uwais paving the way with the 2009 hit, Merantau, followed by its hybrid use in the urban action thriller, Seruban Maut (a.k.a. The Raid) and its upcoming sequel. On that note, get ready for some more Silat action of a female variety!
On Monday,
Twitchfilm forwarded news from a report at
The Mail and
Guardian last Thursday on the filming of a new martial arts action drama titled
Yasmine. The film itself is four years in the making, and is reportedly one of the first few commercial films of its kind in its current location of the sovereign state of Brunei in up to fifty years.
Yasmine is described as a coming-of-age story about a young girl with dreams of becoming a Silat champion. The film brings 20-year old newcomer, actress Liyana Yus to the forefront as the film’s lead, who spent the past year getting into her role, training in Silat for up to five hours a day.
The production is led by crew members from several parts such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia, with Hong Kong’s own former Jackie Chan Stunt Team member, fight choreographer Chan Man Ching. Yasmine is being directed by Siti Kamaluddin, part owner of Origin Films and Origin Artistic Management with her brother, producer Khairuddin, and will release in 2014.
I’m sort of reminded of director Natasha Arthy’s efforts in the 2007 action drama,
Fighter, in that both films sound like they compare similarly in nature. But with a different cast and crew for this type of mixed action genre, we could see a few surprises from
Kalamuddin and her crew on what lies ahead as
Yasmine gets closer to completion. So stick around through next year and follow up on the film’s progress by clicking
HERE.
