ACUTELY intelligent. A keen eye for detail. An uncanny ability to connect things together. Brusque, direct and full of idiosyncrasies. Solves crimes.
Sound familiar? The name Sherlock Holmes comes to mind. But those involved in the production of a new local TV series have hopes that a new name will spring to mind when those attributes are put forth.
Titled Jibril, the 10-episode series features a lawyer with autism spectrum disorder who never loses a case. Although hard to deal with and practically OCD when it comes to certain things, Jibril never misses a clue and is always ahead of the curve. Oh, and he also looks dashing and is impeccably dressed.
Jibril, a collaboration between Media Prima TV Networks (MPTN) and streaming service Viu, sees 29-year-old Johorean Aeril Zafrel taking on the titular role.
When met, together with the cast and crew, on set at the charming D’Mass Villa resort in the serene and luscious green environs of Hulu Langat, Selangor, the hunky actor, whose real name is Suhairil Sunari, said that it was all “elementary”.
“Of course the main reference for this type of character would be Sherlock Holmes, so I watched the TV series and movies. There’re also courtroom drama scenes here, so I caught some Hollywood legal series as well.
“That said, this role is a very interesting and challenging one for me. Jibril has lots of quirks. I had to make him different but at the same time, likable,” said the husband of actress Wawa Zainal, and star of such dramas as Patahnya Sebelah Sayap and Cinta Jannah.
FEMME FATALE
Jibril also stars Lisa Surihani, Tony Eusoff and Sangeeta Krishnasamy, who were all excited about the fresh concept and layered storyline of the series.
Multiple award-winning actress Lisa, who has been in showbiz since 1997, jumped onto the project right after reading the script. “After being in the industry for so long I had wished for stories like this. It’s got elements of investigation, deception and mystery. The characters are very human, quite real and raw, I just couldn’t say no,” said the 32-year-old KLite, known for Ombak Rindu, Istanbul Aku Datang and Dendam Orang Mati.
The wife of singer, actor and director Yusry Abdul Halim added that she was the antagonist in the series, although she didn’t want to spoil the surprise for viewers by spilling the beans on it.
“I play Mona, who owns a famous event management company. Everything gets interesting when something happens during one of the events that I organise. On the surface, I’m a successful and confident woman but there are other things to discover along the way,” said the mother of two on her femme fatale role.
The “event” here is a technology conference where a prominent figure is assassinated. But the crime is executed in a very peculiar manner that it stumps everyone.
ALTERNATE REALITY
Enter Bidayuh actor Tony Eusoff, who plays a police detective assigned to the perplexing case and is pressured by his superiors to get to the bottom of things quickly.
“I play Captain Jonathan Tuah Merawi, a police detective from Sarawak, who is forced to seek the help of a lawyer with a spotless record of winning cases due to his uncanny ability to meticulously collate details in order to tackle these hard-to-solve mysteries. As the investigation deepens, many other things come to light,” said the 41-year-old Kuching-born actor, who has starred on the big and small screens as well as in many theatre productions.
Tony, whose real name is Anthony Joseph Hermas Rajiman, added that the story was exciting and fresh and conveniently set in an alternate version of Malaysia.
“It’s kind of like a parallel universe, so anything can happen. Of course, it’s still within a logical and plausible setting. But watch out,” said the star of P Ramlee The Musical, Saloma and Kelip-Kelip Di Kota London.
A WATSON TO SHERLOCK
With Jibril’s various oddities, someone needs to interpret them to make sense of his world. That task falls on a fellow lawyer, Jackie, played by Sangeeta Krishnasamy.
The spunky and ambitious character is assigned to assist Jibril on his case, where she deciphers his unconventional approaches. “Jackie is the heart of the team, she is the gateway for the viewer to understand Jibril’s world. She’s tough and courageous and making her mark in a male-dominated world,” said the 33-year-old actress on the empowering role.
Sangeeta, who speaks fluent Malay, English and Tamil, studied law at the University of London. “Playing a lawyer was something I was already privy to and comfortable with. One of the more challenging aspects was in doing some of the action scenes. Overall, my character is basically like what Watson is to Sherlock,” she said.
Sangeeta became a household name after playing an inspirational teacher in the biographical drama Adiwiraku last year, which won her the Best Actress award at both the 29th Malaysia Film Festival and Anugerah Skrin 2017. Already an established actress in the Tamil scene, Sangeeta is also credited with being the first Malaysian to appear in a Kollywood movie, Goa, back in 2009.
A FRESH OFFERING
The aim of Jibril, produced by Konda Kondi Studios and Playground Productions, is to give local viewers something different to the usual soppy, conflict-ridden love and relationship TV dramas that abound.
Playground Productions co-founder and director of Jibril, Megat Shahrizal Mohamed Yusoff, 39, said that this would be Malaysia’s first legal investigative drama. Apparently the initial idea for Jibril came about after he attended a mock trial presentation at Universiti Teknologi Mara five years ago.
“It was written and directed by Imran Sheik Muhamed. We became good friends, kept in touch and we had always wanted to work with him. He’s very passionate about this character Jibril,” he said.
The opportunity finally came about last year and Imran has been very involved in the project as an associate producer. Talking about the cast, Megat explained that they were individuals that he had wanted to work with from the very beginning.
“We had written some of the scripts with them in mind and it’s great that they said ‘yes’ to the project after reading it,” he said.
PERFECTLY SUITED
As for the all-important titular character, he added that Aeril possessed a certain aura that fits the role perfectly.
The actor with a steely gaze won Megat over with his intense portrayal of a criminal profiler for the police force in the crime thriller Mandatori which aired last year. “I was particularly impressed with his lead role in that TV drama and thought that he would bring a certain gravity and realism to Jibril.
“Also, Jibril looks really good dressed in suits, so the actor playing him had to look sharp and carry it off well. Fortunately, Aeril fit the bill nicely,” he said with a laugh.
Producer for Jibril and Playground Productions co-founder, Tuan Faisal Azmy Tuan Kob, said that one of the biggest challenges of making Jibril was to get the legal elements of the show right.
“It’s in essence a legal investigative drama. So creating a setting with a legal background takes a lot of technical legal knowledge to follow behind. That was a major challenge in doing this,” said the 38-year-old producer, fondly known as Tapai.
He added: “We utilised whatever resources we had to make it as accurate as we could for the viewers to watch.”
IT TAKES TWO TO TANGO
Another element in the making of the TV show was the collaborative effort of everyone involved. “Even with the script already available the actors came in and had room to explore and make it their own thing as well,” said Tapai.
He explained that they brought in the services of theatre actor and trainer Abdul Qahar Aqilah as an acting coach on the set to get into the nitty gritty of the characters and their further development.
“It’s kind of a magical chaos that happens every time we do stuff with others and collaborate. That’s the magic of filmmaking or content making,” he said.
The collaboration between MPTN and Viu has also resulted in two other 10-episode TV dramas: The dark comedy Salon, which aired last month, and investigative thriller The Bridge, which premieres on Nov 26.
Salon, directed by Kabir Bhatia, stars Julia Farhana, Iman Corinne, Idris Khan and Josiah Hogan. The Bridge, which stars Bront Palarae, Rebecca Lim, Cheryl Samad and Gavin Yap, is directed by Lee Thean-Jeen and Jason Chong.
Talking further about the collaboration with Viu, Tapai added that those who watch Jibril on the streaming service will get to see certain uncensored bits and longer scenes than if they were to catch it on ntv7.
“That’s one good reason for people to watch Jibril on Viu. It’s kind of like the director’s cut of the story. The storyline also features different layers, a world behind the world. Things are not what you expect and as the episodes progress, viewers can go back to the earlier ones to understand the clues and see things differently. It’s all cliffhanger endings,” he said.
It seems like the complex storyline, which also involves AI (artificial intelligence) and an illusive anti-technology terror group, promises to satisfy viewers who are thirsty for new local content that is fresh, modern and edgy.
Jibril premieres on Oct 22 at 10pm on ntv7, with new episodes every Monday and Tuesday, and simultaneously on Viu as well.