Elyana faces her demons
Dukun gave actress Elyana Emrizal her first and last screen role, writes Dennis Chua
SINGER-actress Elyana Emrizal looked her usual cheerful self when met at the Press preview of Dukun at TGV Suria KLCC recently. The 31-year-old, who is suffering from stage four lymphoma, is still undergoing chemotherapy and has taken traditional medicine to fight her illness, yet she did not seem worried about it.
“Thinking of good things and promoting a great movie — my first and last — prevents me from worrying about my illness. I’m keeping my mind positive in the hope that complete healing will result,” she said.
“My last chemotherapy was in 2017, and I’m fortunate my hair has grown back quickly. I’ll be going for another round of treatment again at year’s end but for now, herbal concoctions and the power of positive thoughts are my remedies.”
Best remembered for her teen romantic comedy Dunia Baru The Movie in 2008, Elyana braved her childhood fear of monsters to play the disciple of one.
“Dukun was the first of two serious movies I’ve done thus far, the other was Gong, also in 2006. Gong featured ugly monsters but the monster in Dukun is beautiful yet equally vicious,” she said.
“The ‘human monster’ who terrified Elyana in Dukun was witch doctor Diana Dahlan, played by Datin Seri Umie Aida. Her character petrified Elyana in some scenes where she behaved like a possessed woman and attacked fellow prisoners.
“My character, Nadia, was put under a spell by Diana and had to perform the same eerie dance with her ‘mistress’. It was a difficult challenge because I freaked out when I came face-to-face with monstrous characters. Fortunately Umie was of great help.”
Describing Nadia as her most challenging role, Elyana, who was then only 18, said Umie gave her dance lessons in Pudu Jail, where most of their scenes together were filmed.
“We did a few painful but interesting body contortions, smiling at each other all the way. After a few days, Umie gave me a permanent evil stare and told me to reciprocate,” she said.
“I’m a cheerful person by nature, and found it difficult to look evil. Umie told me to imagine that I was face-toface with an unsightly monster and that worked,” she said, adding that Nadia, her first and last screen role, is a “gift to fans for posterity”.
“I won’t be acting in movies any more because of my illness, but I may still appear in TV specials and even sing from time to time.”
When asked about Dukun’s delayed screening after 12 years, Elyana said it did not matter as long as audiences appreciated the superb acting and thought-provoking storyline.
“Work was tough but I got along great with everybody on the set since I was the ‘baby’ among them. Director Dain (Said) and main actors Umie and Faizal (Hussein) shared lots of acting tips with me,” she said.
Dukun tells the story of lawyer Karim who is searching for his missing daughter Nadia.
His desperation leads him to take up the case of Diana who is on trial for the gruesome murder of businessman Jeffri.
As he digs deeper into the case, Karim realises that Diana is linked to his daughter’s disappearance and she plans to make Nadia her successor.
Dukun, which opened on April 5, stars Bront Palarae, Namron, Soffi Jikan, Adlin Aman Ramlie and Chew Kin Wah. It has raked in more than RM6 million at the box office so far.