An Insta-famous famil
Hanis Zalikha talks to Syahirah Mokhtazar about motherhood and her son’s new reality show
BACK in those days when blogging was all the rage, Hanis Zalikha amassed a huge following during her university days through her blog inibelogsaya.blogspot.com. From a blogger, the pretty young woman (whom fans call Keknis) is now an actress and a TV host.
These days, Keknis shares her daily updates and stays connected with fans through Instagram where she has a whopping 3.9 million followers!
The 28-year-old married actor Hairul Azreen in 2015 and is now mum to adorable Yusuf Iskandar who is pretty much a celebrity himself with two million followers on Instagram.
In fact, the entire family (including grumpy cat Bujibu Chempel) are Instafamous. Hairul has 2.9 million followers and Bujibu has 1.1 million. Talk about a famous family!
NEW REALITY SERIES
It’s a growing trend these days to see celebTV rity kids land their own reality show.
The latest to jump on the bandwagon is Yusuf who has his own reality TV show on Astro titled My Little Heroes — Yusuf And Bujibu where he will star alongside the cat.
The duo have been inseparable since Yusuf’s birth, and are well-known for their adorable antics which are often posted on their social media accounts.
But with so much exposure on social media already, what made Hanis agree to let her son and his feline friend star in their own reality show?
“Well, there were so many funny moments between the two that we didn’t record and put up on social media. The show will showcase antics between the two that will tickle the hearts of viewers.
“I can’t explain how special the friendship and bond is between them.
It’s always heartwarming to see them together because Yusuf is extremely cheeky while Bujibu is kind of grumpy,” says Hanis.
However, Hanis and Hairul set some ground rules before production even began filming the duo.
“It wasim portanttoustha tYusufdidn’ t have to recreate or act out any scenes just to dramatise things or make the moment funnier so we requested that the crew only follow their trail and film what is candid.
“We don’t want our son to have to ‘work’. He’s barely 2 years old. With Hairul and being in the entertainment scene, know how things work so we didn’t want to put pressure on Yusuf.
“Overall it is a fun process filming the reality show and
I’m excited for the viewers to see more of Yusuf and Bujibu and their adventures together,” adds Hanis.
ALL PREPARED
Both Hanis and Hairul will also appear in the show to share parenting tips and stories of their experiences as first-time parents.
But Hanis is also aware that exposing her family on the reality show will also elicit criticism from viewers.
“I’m prepared for that. Hairul and I are aware of it occurring before we agreed to be involved with the show. People will always have something to say, whether good or bad, like how we raise our child, for example. However, as celebrities, we have to remind ourselves not to be overly sensitive and accept criticism.”
Raising Yusuf with no helper is certainly a challenge for both Hanis and Hairul.
“Last year, I had to turn down a few actwanted ing jobs as we to focus on raising Yusuf. But I’ve been running my Cakenis business (her scarf brand) and, thankfully, it’s doing pretty well,” says Hanis.
“This year, I want to focus on making my business grow and I’m excited about that,” she says, adding that if more job offers pour in, she will have to weigh the options first.
Spanning eight-episodes, My Little Heroes — Yusuf And Bujibu will premiere on Jan 31 at 9pm on Astro Ria (channel 104) and Ria HD (Channel 123).
syahirah.mokhtazar@nst.com.my