After 14 years, the popular sitcom returns to the small screen with Spanar Jaya X, which celebrates diversity and a more contemporary storyline
ONE of the best loved Malaysian sitcoms of the 1990s is making a comeback — though sadly, its main star Zaibo is no more.
Come Feb 2, Spanar Jaya, which zooms in on the adventures of the wild and wacky employees, family and friends of devoted mechanic Pak Selamat, returns to the small screen.
As Spanar Jaya X, the sitcom’s latest reincarnation coincides with its 20th anniversary and doubles as a tribute to Zaibo a.k.a. Pak Selamat who lost his battle to cancer last year.
Featuring a balance of old and new actors, they include Opie Zami who plays the loud-mouthed, bumbling Mat Rock, zany Douglas Lim, award-winning Sangeeta Krishnasamy, and heartthrobs Ben Amir and Uqasha Senrose.
Spanar Jaya X is produced by Enfiniti Productions and directed by the series’ one-time cast member Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri, whose character Iskandar occasionally makes guest appearances to help his old pal Mat Rock solve major crises.
The sitcom sees Mat Rock “inherit” motor repair shop Spanar Jaya from Pak Selamat who has left the Klang Valley to manage another business venture in a neighbouring state.
Mat Rock, however, is not competent as a boss, and soon runs Spanar Jaya into debt.
Fortunately, Pak Selamat has sent his niece Syasya (Uqasha), a brilliant accounting graduate, to lend Mat Rock a hand, and Zaki (Ben), a relative of Iskandar, to replace him as the chief foreman.
The 13-episode Spanar Jaya X, which comes on air at 9pm on TV3 every Tuesday beginning Feb 2, will also have well-known actors making cameo appearances. The first among them will be Nabila Huda Suhaimi of Munafik fame.
The first season of the sitcom was filmed in October last year at Jelas Juta Studio in Sungai Buloh.
Below is an interview with Ahmad Idham and main cast members Opie, Douglas, Ben, Uqasha and Sangeeta.
TELL US ABOUT THE NEW CHARACTERS. ARE THEY “SUCCESSORS” TO THE PREVIOUS CHARACTERS?
Ahmad Idham: They are “successors” in some ways but they do not have similar personalities.
HOW IS THIS NEW MAT ROCK CHARACTER COMPARED TO THE OLD ONE?
Opie: He is just the same, slightly more mature, but still clumsy and chaotic. He may be the boss now but he is an incompetent one. Nevertheless, he is willing to learn and improve himself.
HOW DO THE OTHER CHARACTERS FIT INTO THE ORIGINAL SPANAR JAYA STORY?
Douglas: I am the wisecracking Uncle Henley who is Mat Rock’s trusty assistant and friend. This marks my fourth sitcom since Kopitiam, and my first Malay sitcom.
Spanar Jaya producers Enfiniti roped me in during Ola Bola The Musical and since I loved the sitcom so much, I decided to be part of it.
Ben: I am the chief foreman Zaki who is usually serious, and in love with Syasya the beautiful accountant.
Even though Syasya is more intelligent than him, he has leadership qualities and they have great respect for each other.
While he looks all macho, this single father has a soft and gullible side, besides being very faithful to his boss Mat Rock.
Uqasha: I am Syasya who is level-headed and the most serious character of the lot. She is reluctant to join Spanar Jaya but her uncle Pak Selamat encourages her to work there as it “will be fun”.
At work, she has lots of disagreements with Mat Rock because he is clueless and rather lazy.
Sangeeta: I play Vicky who teaches English to Mat Rock. Her tuition centre is next door. She is nice and friendly, especially to Syasha, and they confide in each other.
Vicky may not be into machinery and cars, but she slowly learns all about running a motor repair shop from Mat Rock.
In return, she helps them resolve personal problems as well as those relating to the business. Vicky is honest and trustworthy, and that makes Uncle Henley admire her.
HOW IS IT LIKE WORKING WITH YOUR CO-STARS?
Opie: They are great, very hardworking, disciplined and easy to get along with. Douglas is very knowledgeable and witty.
Ahmad Idham: Opie is very at home with Mat Rock, he improvises a lot, when we need to develop the character.
As for the others, I’m still in the process of developing their characters, and I’m tweaking things here and there.
They are all very committed and readily give feedback on how they see their characters evolve.
Douglas: It is my first time with most of them, except Opie and Idham. It is always fun to be on the set, and Ahmad Idham helps us a lot.
Ben: I’m honoured yet nervous to play Ahmad Idham’s character Iskandar.
He advises me to be myself and not copy him.
Uqasha: It is great to have Sangeeta and Douglas on board, especially the latter who is so cool and brilliant.
I love comedy, even though I appear mostly in serious dramas. And I’ve learnt a thing or two about car repairs on the set.
Sangeeta: I’m enjoying myself. We’ve got live wires all around especially Douglas and Opie. I’m normally serious but comedy makes me happy and motivated.
WHO IS YOUR FAVOURITE NEW CHARACTER AND WHY?
Opie: Syasya, as she is clever, sweet and level-headed. She’s the voice of reason.
Uncle Henley is full of great ideas, though he presents them in an eccentric manner. He is this weird yet brilliant friend to Mat Rock.
Ahmad Idham: Syasya, a girl next door who may be naive but is the epitome of beauty with brains. The same goes to Vicky. Uncle Henley is a live wire and he gets most of the funniest lines without upstaging Mat Rock. They’re both very colourful leading men.
Douglas: Uncle Henley, since he is witty, opinionated and cool, a contrast to the bumbling Mat Rock. He is old school and jolly, too, whereas Mat Rock is clueless.
I also like MJ, another assistant who is a Michael Jackson fan. He is played by Kalairasan Sivalingam of Ola Bola fame.
Ben: Vicky — she is sweet and kind-hearted.
Uqasha: Uncle Henley — he is the wise and kind uncle of the story.
Sangeeta: Zaki — he is a gentle giant and romantic at heart. He looks serious but can be crazy and funny.
WHO DO YOU GET ALONG BEST ON THE SET AND WHY?
Opie: Douglas, Uqasha and Ben. They ask me a lot of questions and share a lot of ideas with me on how to come up with good weekly stories.
Ahmad Idham: Opie since he’s one of my close friends all these years and we grew up together on Spanar Jaya. Douglas is super-friendly and very knowledgeable
Douglas: That'll be Opie, as he’s the craziest member of the gang.
Ben: Opie, because he is always cheerful and playful.
Uqasha: Ben and I are great friends because we are contemporaries.
Sangeeta: Douglas, who is full of wit and wisdom.
WHAT IS THE BEST IMPROVEMENT TO SPANAR JAYA?
Opie: The show’s characters are IT-savvy, and that is keeping up with the times. We also “interact” with TV viewers from time to time.
The cast is a lot more multi-racial than before. It is a Malaysian, not a Malay comedy series.
Ahmad Idham: It has lots of current issues to tap, thanks to social media. In the old seasons of the sitcom, social media was still in its infancy.
Douglas: It’s got a lot more Bangsa Malaysia humour than before. Comedy unites us all.
Ben: It’s got new characters who are IT-savvy and it keeps up with the times.
Uqasha: It celebrates diversity. There are Malaysians from all states with their respective dialects and humour, including Kelantanese.
Sangeeta: The female characters are strong, and in many instances they save the day!
ANY GUEST ACTOR YOU WOULD LOVE TO SEE APPEARING IN SPANAR JAYA X?
Opie: Henry Golding of Crazy Rich Asians.
Ahmad Idham: The leading men and leading ladies of cinema such as Remy Ishak and Maya Karin of course. I want to have as many of them as possible.
Also, sports icons such as Azizulhasni Awang and maybe politicians like Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.
Douglas: Alumni such as Radhi Khalid. I’m sure he will be back for some episodes.
Ben: Bront Palarae, Remy Ishak and Maya Karin.
Uqasha: Datuk Rosyam Nor!
Sangeeta: Tony Eusoff and Henry Golding!
TELL US ABOUT YOUR FRIENDSHIP WITH ZAIBO OVER THE YEARS.
Opie: This series is a tribute to him because it continues the legacy of his beloved character Pak Selamat. He was a really nice guy, and he taught me a lot about being a sitcom star — no slapstick, be meticulous in coming up with jokes, and always stick to the script.
Ahmad Idham: He was full of comedy ideas, and loved to share them with me. He was positive and humble.
A father figure to all, he advised his juniors on how to improve their acting and conduct themselves in public.
Douglas: Zaibo had given me lots of tips as a comedian over the years, especially interacting with Malay-speaking audiences.
Uqasha: He was a father figure to us all. He advised us to prepare meticulously since doing comedy is never easy and not everyone can make people laugh.
WILL YOU BE DIRECTING ANY EPISODE OF SPANAR JAYA X IN FUTURE?
Opie: That’ll be great, but not so soon. I’d willingly write a couple of episodes of the show though.
Ahmad Idham: Opie is a good director. I’d love to give some of the cast members a chance to script episodes one day.
Douglas: It would be great if all of us did so, at least an episode each.
Ben: Great idea!
Uqasha: No, I don’t think I’m ready yet.
Sangeeta: I’d love to.
DO YOU THINK SPANAR JAYA X CAN BE TURNED INTO A FEATURE FILM ONE DAY?
Douglas: Good idea to have a Spanar Jaya movie where the main cast goes on a hilarious adventure.
Ben: Why not? Popular drama series like Juvana and Kami have been made into movies and fans loved them.
Uqasha: I’d prefer Spanar Jaya characters appear in a movie where they team up with other characters from leading sitcoms, such as Pi Mai Pi Mai Tang Tu.
Sangeeta: How about having Mat Rock guest star in some future movie?
TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEXT PROJECTS.
Opie: I’ll be in a telemovie titled Opocot next month on Astro Warna, starring Ieda Moin. I’m also producing two films, namely, Kron with Zahiril Adzim and Warkah with Syazwan Zulkifli.
Ahmad Idham: My horror films Townmall and Anak Perjanjian Syaitan will be out in the first quarter of this year. They mark my return to the horror genre.
Douglas: I’ll be in Ola Bola The Musical which will be restaged next month. Then I’m off to join the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in March. There is also the Made In America comedy play in New York City with Gavin Yap.
Sangeeta: Later this year I’ll be on a Finas scholarship for a two-month script-writing course at the New York Film Academy.