DESPITE being one of the three leads in new film Escape, Elizabeth Tan finds it a little difficult to talk about her character Eva.
“All I can say is that Eva has the most plot twists in the story,” says the 26-year-old singer and actress.
In Escape, directed by Ikhwansha Hazer, Eva is the love interest of Adam (played by Kamal Adli) but she later falls for Hamzah (Amar Asyraf).
Adam, who is accused of being a terrorist, is locked in a room and the only way for him to escape is to cooperate with the authorities.
What the authorities want from him is information on the location of a chip which contains details about firearms which he allegedly smuggled a few days before.
But there’s a big problem. Adam is suffering from amnesia and has no recollection of anything at all, let alone the chip and its location.
The plot thickens when Adam starts to regain his memory and realises that the so-called authorities are in fact a terrorist group that wants to get hold of the firearms for their own evil agenda.
“I can’t tell you much about Eva, for fear that I may let out some spoilers,” says Tan, who nonetheless calls it “an exciting journey” for her to be part of the cast.
“Working with Ikhwansha (Hazer) and the other cast members has been good exposure for someone like me who is still fairly green.”
Escape is her third film, after appearing in Usop Wilcha Meghonjang Makhluk Muzium (2015) and Busker (2018).
It was only after this project that she filmed Syafiq Yusof’s Misteri Dilailla (2019).
However, due to some problems with Escape, Misteri Dilaila opened first in the cinemas.
Asked what made her accept the part despite the lower remuneration package, Tan says she cannot be choosy as she is still new to the film scene.
“Looking back, I’m glad I accepted this offer. The experience taught me a lot.
Tan adds that the film’s genre, what the director calls “cerebral thriller” (a mixture of thriller with elements of shock, action, romance and light comedy), was also a plus point.
While filming was completed in 2018, problems cropped up and the ending had to be reshot last year.
Tan is unfazed by the delay, calling it a blessing in disguise.
“I was a little green back in 2018 but when the scene was reshot, I had become more confident. I guess it all worked out fine,” says the actress.
Fellow actor Amar and director Ikhwansha Hazer are naturally impressed by her positivity.
“One thing about Lizzy — she is ever ready to learn and improve herself,” says Amar, whose opinion is echoed by the film director.
Sparring partner
Among the reasons Amar Asyraf accepted the offer was the fact that he got to act alongside actor Kamal Adli again.
“It has always been a pleasure for me to work with him,” shares the actor, who had worked with Kamal for more than 10 times in the past.
Amar says that there’s a plus point of doing a project with someone with whom one has had the opportunity of working before.
“There’s already this chemistry from our past projects. Without much coaxing or direction, we both know how to react to each other.”
Like Tan, Amar also finds that the script is nothing like what he had come across since he began acting professionally in 2011.
The original screenplay was also written by the film’s director Ikhwansha.
“It was a script like no other. Seeing that this would be something new for me, it also presented me with a new set of challenges,” says the 33-year-old actor.
Amar adds that despite both of them having graduated from the National Academy of Arts, Culture and Heritage (Aswara), this would be his first time working with the director, who happened to be his junior.
“I got to know him when I accepted this project. Fortunately, working with Ikhwansha proved to be a joy. It was easy to discuss with him ideas as to how I could portray Hamzah,” he says.
“Unlike most other films, we only had 12 days to wrap up filming. It meant all of us having to do more than double the usual work within the short span of time.
“In this film I also did most of the stunts myself, such as fight scenes and those that required a lot of jumping,” recounts the actor.
But facing new challenges is among the things Amar looks forward to, just so that he could improve his acting skills.
Amar also admits that Hamzah is one of the most challenging characters he has ever played.
“What I found difficult to make his ‘antagonist character’ look like the good guy to the audience.”
Directorial debut
Escape is Ikhwansha’s directorial debut. The 33-year-old director was previously a scriptwriter for award-winning director Osman Ali.
His scripts included the 2014 movie Sejoli.
This being his first film as a director, Ikhwansha admitted to having butterflies in his stomach as he waits for the response from moviegoers when the film finally opens in cinemas.
“Think of movies like Saw, think of directors like Christopher Nolan, and you’d get what I mean by calling the film’s genre a cerebral thriller,” says the director.
Ikhwansha’s challenge in making this project a reality includes the “limited budget”.
“With such a small budget, I was very lucky to be able to rope in some reputable names,” he shares.
The cast includes Zamarul Hisham, Datuk Jalaluddin Hassan, Riz Amin, Jue Aziz, Pablo Amirul and Fiza Fukazawa.
“I was very lucky that these actors accepted the roles. There wasn’t much monetary gain but everyone worked hard and gave their utmost to Escape,” he says.
“It was like a miracle that production wrapped up on the 12th day,” he adds, referring to the tight shooting schedule.
A major challenge occurred during the editing process when Ikhwansha found 10 minutes of footage missing.
“Until today, it remains a mystery to me,” he says.
He tried everything to salvage it but to no avail.
While Ikhwansha knew he had to re-shoot the scene, there was also the financial aspect to consider.
It took him almost a year before he could find another person to fund the re-shoot.
By the end of last year, the cast and crew spent another seven days to film the 10-minute ending.
“In retrospect, I believe it was a blessing in disguise.The re-shot scene was an improvement,” says Ikhwansha, with both Tan and Amar agreeing with him.
The film, produced by DMY Creation and Dreamland Productions Sdn Bhd, is supposed to open next week. However, due to the Covid-19 outbreak and the current Movement Control Order, it has been postponed.
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