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Mendadak Dangdut
Promotional poster
Directed by	Rudy Soedjarwo
Written by	Monty Tiwa
Produced by	Leo Sutanto Elly Yanti Noor
Starring	Titi Kamal Kinaryosih Dwi Sasono
Cinematography	Rudy Soedjarwo
Edited by	Rudi Soedjarwo Adjeng MJ Khrishto Damar Alam
Music by	Andi Rianto
Distributed by	SinemArt
Release date	10 August 2006 (2006-08-10)
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Indonesia
Language	Indonesian

Mendadak Dangdut (Suddenly Dangdut) is a 2006 Indonesian musical comedy-drama film directed by Rudy Soedjarwo and written by Monty Tiwa. Starring Titi Kamal, Kinaryosih, and Dwi Sasono, it details the rise and fall of an alternative rock-turned-dangdut singer and her sister-cum-manager.

Shot over a period of seven days, Mendadak Dangdut addresses social themes such as poverty. The film's release was preceded by a soundtrack album, which was ultimately more commercially viable than the film itself; one single, "Jablai" ("Rarely Caressed"), became a staple of dangdut concerts for several months. The film, which received mixed critical reception, proved a breakthrough role for Kamal and won 12 awards, including Favourite Film at the 2007 Indonesian Movie Awards.

Plot

Petris (Titi Kamal) is an egotistical and emotional alternative rock vocalist at the start of her career. She often argues with her sister and manager, Yulia (Kinaryosih). One day they are caught with a large amount of heroin, which belongs to Yulia's boyfriend, in their car. They escape the police and reach a nearby village, where a travelling dangdut concert is located. The performer has quit, and thus the concert needs a new singer. Yulia, who considers it a way to escape the police, tells Petris that they should join the group. At first reluctant, Petris then agrees and takes up the stage name Iis.

While with the group, Petris lives with its owner/manager Rizal (Dwi Sasono), whom she admires and for whom Yulia begins falling. Petris improves her vocals and becomes aware of the poverty and misfortune endured by the people in villages where she performs. She and the group become famous and receive numerous job offers; meanwhile, the sisters feel relieved as they are no longer pursued by the police. After several weeks Petris and Yulia have a big fight, which leaves Yulia in tears. Petris, feeling guilty, chases after her sister and finds her at Rizal's house. Seeing her sister's pain makes Petris more understanding of other people.

After counting the proceeds, the sisters leave the house. However, they are approached by police and are caught in an attempt to escape. Petris tells her sister to escape, taking all the blame upon herself; Yulia gives herself up after seeing her Petris arrested. At the police station the sisters are told that they are no longer wanted for the drug charges, as Yulia's ex-boyfriend had been caught, but must serve time for escaping the police. While in prison, Petris becomes a singer and entertains her fellow inmates.

Cast

• Titi Kamal as Petris
• Kinaryosih as Yulia
• Dwi Sasono as Rizal
• Vincent Rompies as Gary

Production

Mendadak Dangdut was directed by Rudy Soedjarwo. In an interview, Soedjarwo said that he directed the film to contrast city people and villagers, including economic differences; he often inserted messages on morality into his films. The script was written by Monty Tiwa, who initially had difficulty selling it as studios considered it uncommercial. He also wrote the film's soundtrack. The two had previously worked together on Soedjarwo's drama film 9 Naga (9 Dragons; 2006).

Former fashion model Titi Kamal was cast as Petris. For the role, Kamal took vocal coaching in both pop and dangdut. The low-budget work was filmed over a period of seven days in various parts of Jakarta.

Release and reception

Menadadak Dangdut was released in Indonesia on 10 August 2006, with a soundtrack album preceding it in July and a novelisation released not long afterwards. The film was a moderate box office hit but was outperformed by its soundtrack; one of the songs from the film, "Jablai" ("Rarely Caressed"), became a staple of dangdut concerts after the film's release. The film saw another theatrical release on 1 November 2007, this time in Malaysia.

Benny Benke, reviewing for the Semarang-based newspaper Suara Merdeka after a press screening, found the film to be fresh, fun, and interesting, with a down to earth plot and good soundtrack. In a review for Tempo magazine, Yos Rizal S. and Evieta Fadjar wrote that the plot suffered a little from a lack of logic, but that the dangdut music was well packaged for city dwellers. Sita Planasari A., in another review for the magazine, described the film as clearly meant to entertain; she found the acting in Mendadak Dangdut to be strong, but wrote that the plot suffered from a lack of logic and that the cinematography was like that of a soap opera.

The film proved Titi Kamal's breakthrough role, as she was cast in several prestigious films and received numerous recording opportunities afterwards. Meanwhile, Soedjarwo continued using an express shooting style with his next box-office hit, the horror film Pocong 2 (2007).

Awards

Mendadak Dangdut was nominated for seven Citra Awards at the 2006 Indonesian Film Festival, winning one. At the 2007 Bandung Film Festival, the film won two awards, while at the 2007 Indonesian Movie Awards it won seven Golden Screens. For her work in the film, Kamal won Best Contemporary Solo Dangdut Singer at the 2007 Anugerah Musik Indonesia for dangdut.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack album to Mendadak Dangdut included ten songs, with seven sung by Titi Kamal.

Track listing

References

Footnotes

1. ^ The Jakarta Post 2006, Hits and misses.
2. ^ Rizal S. and Fadjar 2006, Film Cepat Saji.
3. ^ Planasari A. 2006, Terjebak Dangdut.
4. The Jakarta Post 2008, Movie Makers.
5. Tempo 2006, Titi Kamal: Mendadak.
6. ^ Iwan 2008, Rudi's return to horror.
7. ^ Benke 2006, Kelucuan Serbamendadak.
8. ^ Filmindonesia.or.id, Penghargaan Mendadak Dangdut.
9. Laurentius 2006, Dikira Pemulung.
10. ^ Laurentius 2006, Dunia Film Harus.
11. Suara Merdeka 2006, "Mendadak Dangdut" Menggoyang.
12. The Jakarta Post 2009, Titi, a wedding singer.
13. ^ Herman 2007, Tampik Rekaman Dangdut.

Bibliography

• Benke, Benny (4 August 2006). "Kelucuan Serbamendadak" [Full of Funny Surprises]. Suara Merdeka (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• Herman, Ami (26 December 2007). "Tampik Rekaman Dangdut" [Opportunities to Record Dangdut]. Suara Karya (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 29 May 2012. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• "Hits and misses of Indonesian films 2006". The Jakarta Post. 24 December 2006. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• Iwan, Rizal (8 March 2008). "Rudi's return to horror dashes expectations". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 4 August 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• Laurentius (10 August 2006). "Dikira Pemulung" [Thought a Beggar]. Suara Karya (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• Laurentius (18 August 2006). "Dunia Film Harus Merdeka" [The World of Film Must Be Free]. Suara Karya (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• ""Mendadak Dangdut" Menggoyang Malaysia" ["Mendadak Dangdut" Rocks Malaysia]. Suara Merdeka (in Indonesian). 1 November 2007. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• "Movie Makers". The Jakarta Post. 23 January 2008. Archived from the original on 4 April 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• "Penghargaan Mendadak Dangdut" [Awards for Mendadak Dangdut]. filmindonesia.or.id (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Konfidan Foundation. Archived from the original on 6 August 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• Planasari A., Sita (11 August 2006). "Terjebak Dangdut" [Trapped by Dangdut]. Tempo (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• Rizal S., Yos; Fadjar, Evieta (14 August 2006). "Film Cepat Saji ala Rudi" [Quick Serve Films ala Rudi]. Tempo (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
• "Titi, a wedding singer for Wulan and Adilla". The Jakarta Post. 31 March 2009. Archived from the original on 13 September 2009. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
• "Titi Kamal: Mendadak Dangdut". Tempo (in Indonesian). 8 May 2006. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2012.

External links

• Official website
• Mendadak Dangdut at IMDb

• 2006 films
• 2006 comedy-drama films
• 2000s musical comedy-drama films
• Indonesian musical comedy-drama films
• Films about singers
• Films directed by Rudy Soedjarwo
• 2006 musical films