When Munafik – a film written, directed and starring Syamsul Yusof – came out in 2016, it was a huge hit in Malaysia and the neighbouring countries.
Audiences connected with the story that explored faith within the horror genre, as well as performances from Syamsul and Nabila Huda.
Now, a decade later, there is an Indonesian remake starring Arya Saloka and Acha Septriasa titled Munafik: Melawan Iblis out in cinemas.
Similarly, this film centres on Ustaz Adam (Arya), who is called upon to perform exorcisms whenever someone in his community is believed to be possessed.
His latest case sees him facing a powerful demon that promises to wreak havoc on Adam’s life.
Undeterred by the demon’s threat, Adam vanquishes it.
But soon, terrible things begin happening in his life, putting his faith to the test.
Things take an even darker turn when his next possession case involves Nurse Fitri (Acha), whose condition bears an eerie resemblance to the demon that had earlier issued the threat.
At a press meet in Kuala Lumpur recently, Arya hoped that Malaysian audiences would respond just as well to his performance as Adam.
“I’m not as good as Bang Syamsul, but I did my best in becoming the Indonesian version of Ustaz Adam.
“I hope I succeeded,” the 35-year-old said humbly.
When asked if he’s worried audiences would compare his performance with Syamsul’s, Arya answered: “It doesn’t really bother me if people compare us.
“Every film, especially a remake, will have differences. Even in Hollywood, characters like Batman and The Joker have been played by different actors over the years.
“And each actor brings a different colour and a different character to the role.
“Take Heath Ledger and Joaquin Phoenix, for example. They both brought something different to The Joker.
“Ultimately, it comes down to the audience’s preference. Which one do they like more?”
Nonetheless, his hope is for audiences to like both his and Syamsul’s performances.
To ensure there is little room for criticism of his portrayal of Adam, Arya took more than a month to dedicate himself to revisiting and reading the Quran.
In that time too, he learned ilmu ruqyah, which is defined on the Internet as the Islamic practice of spiritual healing and protection through recitation of specific Quranic verses.
“Alhamdulillah, I already knew how to recite the Quran and could read it before this film.
“But because I knew how good Bang Syamsul was when reciting the Quran (in the 2016 film Munafik), I felt motivated to improve myself,” said the Habibie & Ainun 3 actor.
“My teacher had watched the Malaysian version of Munafik, and he told me, ‘MashaAllah, the Malaysian Ustaz Adam’s Quran recitation is very good’.
“After hearing that, I became motivated to relearn everything from iqra’ (the first word in the Quran), so I could correct my pronunciation, letter by letter, as well as my tajwid and recitation.
“So I made the most of the workshop period, especially when it came to learning the Quran again,” the actor said.
He added that his teacher was an ustaz who specialised in the Quran and ruqyah.
“I learnt ruqyah and Quran recitation with him,” Arya said.
Admitting that memorising all the verses used in the film was not easy, Arya said: “Alhamdulillah, it was quite challenging, but Allah made it easier for me.”
According to Arya, director Guntur Soeharjanto (Ayat-Ayat Cinta 2, Makmum 2) selected the verses featured in the film and occasionally changed them during production.
“Technically, all the verses in the Quran can be studied for ruqyah, but we have to choose which verses we want to use.
“During our readings and workshops, some things in the script were also changed by Pak Guntur.
“For example, originally I wasn’t supposed to recite Ayat Qursi, but Pak Guntur asked for Ayat Qursi to be added.
“There were also other verses that he wanted to change because he felt certain verses would be more suitable to recite in those scenes.
“So once I had memorised something and it was changed, I had to memorise it all over again,” he said.
Regardless of the hurdles, Arya thanked his director for giving him plenty of guidance, which allowed him to create his own version of Adam.
Munafik: Melawan Iblis has already made an impression in Indonesia, where it opened on Sept 3.
Its advance screenings were reportedly sold out nationwide, and it quickly topped the Indonesian box office, outperforming several international releases.
Similarly, the film topped the Malaysian box office in the week it opened on Oct 1 and had earned RM2mil after six days of screening.
Munafik: Melawan Iblis is showing at cinemas nationwide.
