Marvellous success
It was girl power at Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian 32 last Sunday with versatile Mira Filzah and Siti Nordiana scooping up top awards, writes Dennis Chua
Mira Filzah wins big at Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian 32.
SHE is Malaysia’s sweetheart of the small screen, known for playing wholesome, adorable yet principled and strong women in Malay dramas such as Pujaan Hati Kanda. Fans love her team-ups with tough guy Remy Ishak, who played her love interestin Pujaan and, most recently, her mixed martial arts exponent brother in Sangkar.
Even English-speaking moviegoers “fell in love” with her character Fizah, a university student in London who helped deliver postal votes home in the film Rise: Ini Kalilah.
Mira Filzah Badioezaman, 26, from Ipoh, has also branched out into hosting television programmes, most notably the reality talent show 3 Juara on TV3 three years ago and long-running women’s magazine Nona since last year. She can also sing, as proven by her duet with Singaporean Aliff Aziz, SandarPadaku , the theme song for the 2017 drama Meh, Sandar Pada Aku! which starred both of them.
Mira, who won Popular New Female Artiste at the Anugerah Bintang Popular Berita Harian 29 (ABPBH 29) and Choice Actress at the Anugerah Drama Festival Kuala Lumpur 2016, is now the “queen” of ABPBH 32. She narrowly beat another multi-talented artiste, veteran singer and actress Siti Nordiana Alias, 34, or Nana, to win Most Popular Artiste at the annual Berita Harian readers’ choice awards held at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre in Putrajaya recently.
Both Mira and Nana received the most number of nominations in ABPBH 32. Mira was nominated for Popular TV Actress, Popular Film Actress, Popular Versatile Artiste and Popular TV Host, while Nana was nominated for Popular TV Actress, Popular Female Singer, Popular Group/ Duo (with Alif Satar), Popular Versatile Artiste and Popular TV Host.
Mira won Popular TV Actress and Popular Film Actress while Nana took home Popular Female Singer and Popular TV Host.
“Thank you so much. It’s an amazing night for me,” said Mira upon receiving her award. “However, I feel that I’ve got a long way to go, and I’ve got to work extra hard to be worthy of a top prize.”
Mira added that she would do her best to “break out of her comfort zone” by playing villainous characters, handicapped or long-suffering women, and real-life inspirational people.
“Many of my seniors in the industry are role models whom I look up to, such as Fauziah Ahmad Daud, Erra Fazira, Datin Paduka Umie Aida, Fasha Sandha, Nur Fazura Sharifuddin and Nabila Huda Suhaimi. My aim is to strive to be an actress of their standards, they’ve set the benchmark high.”
When asked about her popular teamups with Remy, she said she was comfortable working with him as he was a “sharing and caring gentleman”.
“Remy has taught me a lot about acting, and I admire his good work ethics, discipline and passion for acting. It’s great working with him, but I’d love to play leading lady to other talented actors as well. It was fun ‘sparring’ with Zul Ariffin in Sangkar.”
Nana said Mira deserved to win the top prize as she “had worked very hard for her success”. “We’ve both been neck-to-neck in this race for the top prize, and there can only be one winner. Congratulations, Mira!” she said.
BEAUTIFUL MOMENTs
On her part, Nana admitted that “things have been looking good” for her in the last few years. “Besides winning Gegar Vaganza 2015 on Astro, I’ve also taken home the Popular Female Singer in ABPBH 30, and with my protege Zaaim Abdullah, I won Mentor 7 on TV3 last year,” she said. “This year is my biggest victory in ABPBH, taking home two trophies on the same night. Thank you, my dearest fans, for making this happen. It’s the most beautiful moment in my career.”
Nana began her singing career in 1999 and has six albums to her credit. She was best known for her duets with the late pop singer Achik of Spin, and they were known as the pop duo Achik & Nana. Her bestknown songs include Tak Ada Cinta Sepertimu, Terus Mencintai, Nisan Cinta and Hatiku Milikmu, while her best-known television dramas and telemovies include Dia Semanis Honey, Suri Hati Mr Pilot and 30 Pesanan Suara. She has also hosted Gema Gegar Vaganza, a spinoff of singing contest Gegar Vaganza which focuses on spiritual music.
Syafiq Kyle won Popular TV Actor and Fattah Amin, who could not attend the twohour awards show, won Popular Film Actor. Syafiq, 27, is popular as the compassionate religious teacher Ustaz Adam who guided a prostitute “away from sin” in director Shahrulezad Mohameddin’s drama series Nur and its sequel Nur 2.
“I’ve worked really hard to reach where I am. I’ve learnt a lot in the process. It was a pleasure working with Amyra Rosli who played Nur and Shahrulezad, who is kind and friendly,” he said.
He admitted that Remy gave him a good fight and had utmost respect for him. “Remy is a great actor. Likewise Zul Ariffin. I’m pretty new in film, and even though I didn’t win I’m delighted to have been nominated for Popular Film Actor, for my first film Langsuir with Hannah Delisha,” said Syafiq, who will star with Mimi Lana in the film Pusaka on Oct 31.
Actress, singer and TV host Janna Nick, 24, won Popular Versatile Artiste, her second win in ABPBH. She took home the Popular TV Actress title in 2017. “Wow! It’s been a great fight. There was Siti Nordiana, Alif Satar and Mira Filzah battling with me in this category. I still have a long way to go, and I promise I will do my best,” said Janna, whose hit television dramas include My Coffee Prince, Leftenan Zana and Bukan Cinta Aku.
Singer-songwriter Hael Husaini and Sarawakian songstress Dayang Nurfaizah marked their first winning collaboration in ABPBH as Popular Group/Duo. Their hit single Haram was the top winner at the Anugerah Juara Lagu 33 (AJL 33) early this year. Hael, 31, who received the award on their behalf, said: “It’s an honour to work with one as beautiful as Dayang. She’s a great friend and mentor and I hope our partnership in music will grow from