Wednesday October 11, 2006
Fender’s new voice
By SZETOO WEIWEN
AC MIZAL arrives at the press conference looking resplendent in his light purple baju Melayu with his signature long hair that falls just below his shoulders. He’s late, and he knows it, but bear in mind that this man is no diva. It has been 15 years since Zaini Mizal – fondly known to his fans as AC – stepped into the entertainment industry and the man just keeps getting better and better.
His recent theatrical debut as Gusti Adipati in the acclaimed Puteri Gunung Ledang The Musical proved his worth as an actor. His powerful and emotionally realistic portrayal as the Majapahit King captured the hearts of the audience. Many lauded him as the best performer in the musical.
The popular emcee and host of Astro’s AC Di Sini will now take on a new role by giving life to one of the characters in the Bahasa Melayu version of the CGI-animated hit movie, Robots. The movie which premiered early last year is about a young robot named Rodney born to a working class family.
 |
AC Mizal recording the voice of Fender for the Malaysian-dubbed version of Robots. |
The character Fender provides most of the laughs in the show, with his detachable body parts that fall apart during the most unbelievable moments of the movie and it isn’t surprising that funnyman Robin Williams voices the role to perfection.
In the Malay version of the movie, AC Mizal – whose vocal skills have taken him from singing to emceeing to acting – will give his all in voicing the cherry-coloured robot named Fender. After all, it’s no small feat stepping into the shoes of the Robin Williams. And apparently Williams – famous for his breakneck speed of speech – had the character Fender written just for him.
The 35-year-old admits that his character’s lines are very quick but as he practised, fast-talking gradually become second nature. While dubbing the movie, the local talents had to adapt to the dialogue and pace set by the movie rather than vice versa.
“It was very fun and interesting,” says AC of his experience. Recording of voice-overs only began three weeks back and was completed late last month. This movie also marked the first time he collaborated with fellow TV host Aznil Nawawi. Other local celebrities who were involved in the dubbing of Robots included the likes of Sazzy Falak, Shamsul Ghau Ghau, movie veteran Azean Irdawaty, ERA FM DJs Rostam and Nana, as well as the stars of reality series, Akademi Fantasia.
Viewers may find the idea of a Malay version of Robots rather odd as what made the original movie so bizarrely amusing and comical was its witty one-liners and pop-culture references. Can the local producers capture those elements in this localised version and retain its originality?
“I know it may be a bit weird seeing the movie (Robots) in Malay at first but I’ve seen the full movie and, to tell you the truth, it looks good. The voices and all work very well,” assures the actor who was last seen on the big screen in Afdlin Shauki’s Baik Punya Cilok. According to AC, he agreed to do the voice-over for Fender partly because his children loved the movie and he wanted to try something new.
Now that Robots is done, AC will be focusing on his other projects that will keep him busy till the end of the year. Apart from acting and hosting, the former frontman of local rap group 4U2C will begin producing his second solo album after Raya. AC has practically done everything in the entertainment business. He has emceed, done theatre; he sings and acts; over the next few months, he will be producing a film – a musical comedy named Icon starring fellow actors Awie and Hans Isaac.
“Things are going very well for me now. When I left Gerak Khas (the drama series), I was jobless for almost eight months but things have picked up since then and it has all been good,” smiles AC.
RSS
