POPULAR action hero Zul Ariffin considers Tombiruo: Penunggu Rimba a landmark in his career, and the serious injuries he suffered during the filming do not mar his memories of it.
In fact, the star of blockbuster J Revolusi is delighted to share his latest body of work, as it marks his debut playing an indigenous Sabahan, who speaks the Kadazandusun language and the Sabah Malay dialect it influences.
“I tore my right knee ligament performing some stunts on the second day of filming, and doctors had me rest for two weeks.
“Towards the end of my 60 days on the set, I suffered a slipped disc and had to undergo physiotherapy sessions for six months,” said Zul at the launch of the trailer for Tombiruo at The Bee, Publika, Kuala Lumpur, recently.
Zul’s character, Ejim is one of two Kadazandusun twin boys rejected by his biological parents at birth, and dumped in the forest. He is found and adopted by a headman and ex-soldier who lives near Keningau.
“Ejim grows into a brave and strong warrior, trained by his foster father Pondoluo. As an adult, he defends his village from being uprooted by a developer from Kota Kinabalu who plans to build a hydroelectric dam,” said Zul.
He wears a terrifying mask, and assumes the identity of Tombiruo, which means “ghost” in Kadazandusun. Villagers of the interior look up to him as the “defender of the rainforests” and their way of life.
Zul was coached in the dialect by Sabahan author Ramlee Awang Murshid, who wrote the 20-year-old novel the film was based on.
Filmed in July last year in Hulu Langat and Kundasang, Sabah, Tombiruo also stars Farid Kamil, Nabila Huda, Faye Kusairi and Datuk M. Nasir. It opens on Oct 12.