FOR renowned thespian Jo Kukathas, ‘Sayang Sayang’ is more than just another film credit.
Her role in the film has been waiting for her for almost a decade — surviving delays, funding challenges and unexpected production demands that eventually brought her to Peninsular Malaysia’s east coast.
The story first came to her attention about 10 years ago, when someone pitched an idea about a woman running a school for deaf children, inspired by their domestic helper.
When Taiwanese director Tang Hsiang-chu later arrived in Malaysia with a similar project, the connection was made through a video of Jo and the original pitcher.
“I didn’t do an audition,” recalls the 64-year-old theatre doyenne.
“I thought they wanted to audition me, but I realised I had already been cast. Tang-ge showed me the video and said he had always wanted me to play the role.”
Jo had already agreed to the project back then, even though Tang was unaware of two hurdles: she does not speak Tamil and does not drive. Her character, Nancy, does both while running a charity home.
When filming began and the plot changed, she wondered how to tackle these setbacks, but her love for the story kept her committed.
“I don’t speak Tamil. My extended family is Tamil-speaking, so I grew up hearing it and could understand quite a bit,” she says.
“But speaking it is a different matter. It’s like a muscle. When your tongue is accustomed to one language, you don’t use the muscles Tamil speakers use.”
Jo worked with a Tamil teacher to learn the basics, while a fellow actor helped with her lines and pronunciation.
It was only her second role requiring her to speak in Tamil, after ‘Red Kebaya’ in 2006.
With ‘Sayang Sayang’, the challenge came as a surprise due to a script change just before filming began.
“I was like, what? I felt that if I needed to do it, I really had to work hard to pull it off. I wanted to be worthy of taking the role,” she says.
FEELING LIBERATED
Another transformation required of her was shaving her head.
While the production team repeatedly checked if she was sure of going through with it, Jo did not hesitate.
Having grown up around relatives who shaved their heads for religious reasons, she was used to the practice.
When cameras rolled to capture the moment, the crew seemed to expect an emotional reaction, but Jo felt no nerves.
“They took a video of my head being shaved. I think they wanted to see whether I would cry, but I didn’t feel anything weird at all. I even asked whether I should fake it,” she laughs.
Instead, she found it liberating. Noticing her new growth coming through grey, she decided to stop dyeing her hair — a natural choice given her preference for short hair.
In ‘Sayang Sayang’, Jo plays Nancy, who returns to her hometown with her deaf and non-speaking teenage son, Ajay, hoping to start a sign language class.
Their efforts bring them into contact with Mina, a deaf Malay girl, and San San, a deaf Chinese girl, whose dreams are shaped by family and social expectations.
The Malaysian-Taiwanese co-production, directed by Tang, explores identity, acceptance and connection beyond spoken language.
It also stars Nandagopall Mohan, Mhia Firdaus and Sasha Tang, set against the landscapes of Terengganu.
The film has earned five nominations at the upcoming 63rd Golden Horse Awards, including for Best Supporting Actress, Best New Performer and Best Original Screenplay.
Jo describes making the film as an emotional experience.
“I love its quietness,” she says. “It’s a beautiful film. I went back and forth over six weeks, and I really enjoyed going to Terengganu.”
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A TRUE THESPIAN
Away from the screen, Jo remains deeply involved in theatre as a director and performer.
She recently directed ‘The Secret Drawer’, an Instant Cafe Theatre production presented in Mandarin, Cantonese, English and Bahasa Malaysia, that explores family histories and political memory.
Jo enjoys directing in languages not her own, having previously worked on 2008’s ‘Air Con’ in Kedahan Malay, English and Hokkien.
“We’re Malaysian, so we’re used to hearing Chinese on the street. I really enjoy directing a play in another language,” she says.
She has also started teaching acting and directing at Taylor’s University.
Looking ahead, Jo has a possible restaging of ‘The Secret Drawer’, another film project and an experimental, environmentally themed performance in a German forest next June with Malaysian dancer Raymond Liew.
For an artiste who has spent decades moving between theatre, film and roles in different languages, stepping into unfamiliar territory remains part of the appeal to Jo.
In ‘Sayang Sayang’, that willingness to venture beyond familiar ground has brought a long-awaited character to life — and offered a reminder that the most rewarding roles are often the ones that take years to reach the screen.