The Oldies

" The Oldies "


Remember Mang Udel? He once also known as Pak Broto in TVRI drama series, Losmen, in the middle of 80s. I just found him today. Found? Yea!

Not so many people know that he's still alive in his 80. He who always brings his "Ukulele" every time he performs for TV show (he once famous with his comedian group, "Los Gilos" with the late Bing Slamet and Mang Cepot in year 50s), looks so old and tiredful (yea, no wonder lah!). Well, comparing to his impressive acting in "Losmen" and his last movie (I guess), "Pasir Berbisik", who played together with Christine Hakim and Dian Sastro (the only young Indo celebs - beside Nirina, the MTV VJ - who I adore).

I was looking for him to have his comment for the late "Ismail Marzuki", one of the greatest composer Indonesia ever had. He once played a band with Marzuki named "Empat Sekawan".

To find him is like looking for a needle on the grass. Nobody knows his existence, even his close friends who once played with him. So, I tried my luck by asking (again) to Parfi (a Film Star Association), then some guy suggested me to ask Cinematek (an Indonesian Movie Library) instead. And after waiting for quite some time, none of them have his contact address (sadly to say, considering they work in an institution called library!).

So, Internet is the only option to find a missing pieces. And, I got it! I found an article about Mang Udel in Sinar Harapan newspaper, online version.

So I contacted the editorial staff to get the writer's number. But too bad, I didn't get the number as he only works as a contributor (so?). Fortunately, though she doesn't have his number, she could get me to Mang Udel's house in Jl. Moh. Yamin, Menteng! Yaiy, yaiy! What a relieved!!

At 4pm I finally found his house which close to the main road. Lives next to his daughters, his house is quite dark, loaded with antiques and some old stuffs (hell, pretty scary at night! :D). So I met him immediately and got surprised with his homeliness. He once was a big star in his era, and now, everyone forgets him (something common in Indo world!).

Then I've arranged to interview him tomorrow afternoon (after taking some shots of Chairil Anwar's cemetery for this week's show), though he doesn't really remember his time with Marzuki. Make sense, as he's old enough to memorize, and Marzuki died in 1958. Somehow, it's worth to try, isn't it?