Of Mat Rock and gang
Spanar Jaya X is produced by Enfiniti Productions and directed by the series’ one-time cast member Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri, whose character Iskandar occasionally makes guest appearances to help his old pal Mat Rock solve major crises.
The sitcom sees Mat Rock “inherit” motor repair shop Spanar Jaya from Pak Selamat who has left the Klang Valley to manage another business venture in a neighbouring state.
Mat Rock, however, is not competent as a boss, and soon runs Spanar Jaya into debt.
Fortunately, Pak Selamat has sent his niece Syasya (Uqasha), a brilliant accounting graduate, to lend Mat Rock a hand, and Zaki (Ben), a relative of Iskandar, to replace him as the chief foreman.
The 13-episode Spanar Jaya X, which comes on air at 9pm on TV3 every Tuesday beginning Feb 2, will also have well-known actors making cameo appearances. The first among them will be Nabila Huda Suhaimi of Munafik fame.
The first season of the sitcom was filmed in October last year at Jelas Juta Studio in Sungai Buloh.
Below is an interview with Ahmad Idham and main cast members Opie, Douglas, Ben, Uqasha and Sangeeta.
Ahmad Idham:
They are “successors” in some ways but they do not have similar personalities.
Opie:
He is just the same, slightly more mature, but still clumsy and chaotic. He may be the boss now but he is an incompetent one. Nevertheless, he is willing to learn and improve himself.
Douglas:
I am the wisecracking Uncle Henley who is Mat Rock’s trusty assistant and friend. This marks my fourth sitcom since Kopitiam, and my first Malay sitcom.
Spanar Jaya X producers Enfiniti roped me in during Ola Bola The Musical and since I loved the sitcom so much, I decided to be part of it.
I am the chief foreman Zaki who is usually serious, and in love with Syasya the beautiful accountant.
Even though Syasya is more intelligent than him, he has leadership qualities and they have great respect for each other.
While he looks all macho, this single father has a soft and gullible side, besides being very faithful to his boss Mat Rock.
I am Syasya who is level-headed and the most serious character of the lot. She is reluctant to join Spanar Jaya but her uncle Pak Selamat encourages her to work there as it “will be fun”.
At work, she has lots of disagreements with Mat Rock because he is clueless and rather lazy.
I play Vicky who teaches English to Mat Rock. Her tuition centre is next door. She is nice and friendly, especially to Syasha, and they confide in each other.
Vicky may not be into machinery and cars, but she slowly learns all about running a motor repair shop from Mat Rock.
In return, she helps them resolve personal problems as well as those relating to the business. Vicky is honest and trustworthy, and that makes Uncle Henley admire her. They are great, very hardworking, disciplined and easy to get along with. ouglas is very knowledgeable and witty. Opie is very at home with M t Rock, he improvises a lot, when we eed to develop the character.
As for the others, I’m still in the process of developing their characters, and I’m tweaking things here and there.
They are all very committed and readily give feedback on how they see their characters evolve.
It is my first time with most of them, except Opie and Idham. It is always fun to be on the set, and Ahmad Idham helps us a lot.
I’m honoured yet nervous to play Ahmad Idham’s character Iskandar.
He advises me to be myself and not copy him.
Ben:
Uqasha:
Sangeeta:
Opie:
hmad Idham:
Douglas:
Ben:
Uqasha:
It is great to have Sangeeta and Douglas on board, especially the latter who is so cool and brilliant.
I love comedy, even though I appear mostly in serious dramas. And I’ve learnt a thing or two about car repairs on the set.
I’m enjoying myself. We’ve got live wires all around especially Douglas and Opie. I’m normally serious but comedy makes me happy and motivated.
Sangeeta:
Opie:
Syasya, as she is clever, sweet and level-headed. She’s the voice of reason.
Uncle Henley is full of great ideas, though he presents them in an eccentric manner. He is this weird yet brilliant friend to Mat Rock.
Ahmad Idham:
Syasya, a girl next door who may be naive but is the epitome of beauty with brains. The same goes to Vicky. Uncle Henley is a live wire and he gets most of the funniest lines without upstaging Mat Rock. They’re both very colourful leading men.