AFTER previously portraying the character of Melaka’s famed 15th-century Bendahara 20 years ago, actor Aqasha has officially been announced as the lead actor playing Hang Tuah in the upcoming Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical, which is set to take place in October, Kosmo! reported.
The production team said Aqasha was chosen based on his maturity and ability to convey the emotional depth of the legendary warrior, while also bringing a fresh interpretation to the role previously played by Stephen Rahman Hughes.
The production dismissed allegations of favouritism in the casting process following claims by certain parties over a lack of transparency during auditions.
According to the organisers, all participants were assessed fairly by a panel of profes- sional judges.
Also announced were Aisha Retno and Mila Mohsin as Puteri Gunung Ledang, while Luqman Hafidz will play the Sultan of Melaka and Yusuf Hashim takes on the role of Gusti Adipati.
Mimi Fly and Nadia Aqilah were also announced as Bayan.
(The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.)
